Many parents feel they’re “failing as parents” if they can’t provide their children with the latest toys, games and gadgets, and yet by giving their children so much, parents are fuelling a ‘must have’ culture, it has been claimed.
Mums and dads are also feeling the pressure to enrol their children “into every conceivable club or after school activity that is available” and this is undermining precious family time.
These comments come from Graham Gorton, a headmaster and the chairman of the Independent Schools Association, reports the Telegraph.
Graham shared the comments during a speech at the Independent Schools Association’s annual conference yesterday.
“Over recent decades we seem to have created a ‘must have’ culture amongst our young people,” he said.
“Many see that they may be perceived to be failing as parents if they do not ensure that their children have the latest gadgets and electronic devices along with their peers.
“Many parents also, I suspect, feel pressured to enrol their offspring into every conceivable club or after school activity that is available, including through the weekends.”
Graham also said, “Long gone, it seems, are those times when a whole weekend ahead with nothing planned was seen as a luxury and a perfect opportunity to spend time together and share those valuable and irreplaceable moments of childhood.”
Graham’s not the first to comment on consumer culture and our kids. Previously, the problems of buying off children with products and the impact this has on their classroom behaviour was spoken about by Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.
"Often it's the well-off middle classes that buy off their children through the computer and the TV,” said Mary.
“That then isolates them within the home, and then they're surprised when their child isn't coming to school ready to learn."
Time we put our wallets back in our pockets, and get back to basics?
