A lack of play and quality time for children with their parents is likely to lead to rebellion in adolescence, parenting groups said yesterday after an online post showing an intensive schedule for elementary-school students went viral.
In a post on Facebook on Tuesday, a cram school in Taipei praised the achievements of two siblings named Felix and Jenny, who are in the sixth and fourth grade respectively.
The post included their weekly schedule, which leaves time for only six hours and 20 minutes of sleep each night.
Photo courtesy of National Cheng Kung University’s Taiwan Languages Testing Center
The schedule showed that they wake up at 5:50am every day for two hours of study using the Kumon system before going to elementary and cram school on weekdays until 7pm. They practice piano and English until 11:30pm, and do homework and eat dinner on the bus.
Their weekends are also packed with homework, classes, piano practice, swimming lessons and other activities, with the schedule showing no down time.
Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) commented on the issue yesterday before attending an awards ceremony for indigenous language promotion.
Parents should consider children’s needs when planning their schedules based on their age, Pan said.
People should never stop learning, so parents should focus on balancing their children’s mental and physical needs, he said.
The cram school’s Facebook post prompted some parenting groups to call for it to be reported as a child abuse case.
Sleeping so little every day is not good for a child’s growth, National Alliance of Parents’ Organizations chairman Hsiao Tung-yuan (蕭東原) said.
The alliance sees many cases in which parents organize too many activities for their children, even if it is not clear the child actually enjoys them, Hsiao said.
Most children try to comply with their parents’ wishes, especially prior to junior-high school, but if the pressure is too great, it creates conflict when they become teenagers, he said.
Self-directed study and play is important for elementary-school-age children, sometimes teaching more than school does, he said.
“Classes and lessons should not replace quality time with parents,” Action Alliance on Basic Education chairman Wang Han-yang (王瀚陽) said.
Many parents underestimate the importance of free time, Wang said, adding that Felix and Jenny’s schedule left no time for interaction, reflection or play.
The Taipei Department of Education said it had asked the children’s school to look into their situation.
The school said that they were doing well and were healthy, adding that it would continue to monitor their progress.
While parents have great expectations for their children, adequate sleep has been proven to correlate with growth and academic performance, the department said, calling on parents to allow their children sufficient time to sleep.
Cram school owners should take care when sharing photographs and names of minors, as it might put undue exposure and stress on the children, it added.
Additional reporting by Yang Mien-chieh and Kan Meng-lin
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS