Students anxiously wait for their scores

The children in my class eagerly awaited the moment when they would return their test papers, but they were also nervously afraid of the bright red pen marking each score. Getting used to studying in the first grade of junior high school was not easy, especially when studying with "grains of rice on the floor" in a school with strict entrance exams in Hue City (Thua Thien-Hue). The children tried their best to get used to the new learning environment and adapt to the new learning methods.

However, in the stories about school told by my daughter, I realized that many children are burdened with countless pressures of studying, grades, and achievements. Some students were "shocked" when they received a score of 5 for their first 15-minute math test, their faces fell on the table, sobbing and feeling sad for a whole week because of their limited abilities.

ILLUSTRATION: DAO NGOC THACH

There was a friend who missed several pages in her biology notes. When the teacher checked, he discovered that she had been following a schedule of extra classes all morning and didn't finish her notes until late at night when she got home. She had to secretly take them out to do homework for one subject during another subject's class.

The group leader next to him was an excellent math student and rarely gave up on a difficult problem in class. But when it came time to hand out the history and geography tests, he was nervous, his hands clenched, his eyes closed as he peeked at the score, then was shocked to see the score of 8. His friend turned to him and said: "There is a war tonight in my house"...

Parents face their children's scores with a harsh look

Are we putting on our children too big a coat when we expect them to get perfect scores, to be good at all subjects, to be well-rounded in all aspects? Although we know that each child has different abilities, strengths and weaknesses, parents often see the same mold and force their children to study, test and take exams.

After a long day of studying with a stressful amount of homework, studying hard and struggling with more than a dozen final exams, now is the time for children to wait anxiously and nervously for their scores.

How many parents calmly accept their children's exam results, even though they are just final exams to assess their students' ability to absorb lessons and to serve as a basis for adjusting teachers' teaching methods? We still face our children's scores with a harsh gaze, with great expectations, and with comparisons with the abilities of their peers.

We forget that we once wished our children to be born as normal children, that we hoped they would find joy in every day at school, that they would reap the sweet fruits of learning through their own efforts and will to overcome difficulties. And then we rush to force our children to chase after the race for grades?

We forget that we were startled when we saw statistics about the rate of children with anxiety disorders due to academic pressure, and that we told each other to loosen our expectations on children when here and there were rumors of foolish children choosing negative paths to escape the suffocation and oppression of a dense academic schedule. Yet we still focus on comparing each score, questioning and threatening when test results are not as expected?

Anxiety is surging in children's hearts at the very moment they look forward to each grade. And the mid-year parent-teacher conference is approaching, hoping that no tears will be shed amidst the criticism and denials from adults.