What To Do When Your Child Is Failing Examinations

Albert Einstein was not a brilliant child when he was small. He was dull and forgetful. He was unable to memorize any single sentence. He always scored one of the lowest grades in his class. His peers and playgroups used to make mockery of him especially each time his temper tantrums took the better side of him. There were no characteristics or traits which portrayed him as a genius-to-be. His class teacher once called him a "dull brain." Albert Einstein was only known for his undying curiosity. He was never tired of asking why something happened, why did it happen the way it happened etc. His curious quality finally brought him into the limelight. Now, if you think very well, you will see with me that somebody who asks salient and intelligible questions is better than the one who memorizes 1, 000 pages of a book! Why? It is because curiosity is the path to critical thinking and reasonings. Curiosity develops the brain and enables it to think widely: assess, dissect, weigh, compare and contrast, and analyze variable elements before drawing conclusions or inferences. Curiosity is the highway to invention, discovery and exploration. When Albeit Einstein's teacher called him a "dull brain", his mother did not accept it. She laid her hands on his head and called him a "world-class genius." Not too long, what his mother said about him happened. He bagged his PhD in 1905; at the age of 26. I said it repeatedly in my book on child development titled "53 Impacts Of Poor Parenting On The Collapsing Global Society", that the attitudes of parents to their children make or mar them. Period! Children see the world through the eyes of their parents. They are what their parents call them. Albert Einstein's mother called him a world-class genius when he was not yet even among the best 50 pupils in the class. While his class teacher was seeing him as a dull brain, his mother was seeing him differently. She saw a world-class genius in him. If you tell your child that he/ she is a star, he/ she will begin to manifest stardom. If you call him/ her a fool repeatedly, he/ she will believe that truly there is nothing good in him/ her. The force to shine and do exploit will die with constant abusive and derogatory words against that child. Children are different from adults. If you call an adult a fool because he has offended you, it doesn't mean anything to him because he knows that he is not. It is not so with children! Parents should not be mad with their children and wards when they lag behind in class tests, get poor grades, or even fail examinations. An infallible record has shown that children who scored the least grades in their examinations still reached the pinnacles of education where those who scored the highest grades reached. It can only take them some time to do so. If they persist in their studies and be supported by parents and guardians or caregivers, they will reach the academic pinnacles that those that scored high grades reached. I personally know many students who were very dull academically at schools but finally graduated as medical doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, and engineers etc. What a dull pupil or student needs is focus and determination, provided that the parents or guardians or caregivers provide the needed financial support. It is not all the presidents, kings, and movers and shakers of the Earth that scored highest grades in their examinations. In fact, many great people of the Earth, including inventors, discoverers, explorers, astronauts and others, were not much educated. Parents should learn a lesson from Albert Einstein's mother. She did not even shout or quarrel when they called her son a "dull brain." She only prayed for him and left everything in God's hand. Do not kill your child when he/ she fails an examination. Rather, sit very close to the child and encourage him/ her to study harder. Get good and appropriate books for him. Get home teachers too for him. The smart android phones in your child's hand is the shortest route to failure. That is the highest reason that your child or children is/ are failing their examinations. It will be an illusion of the highest order on the side of parents to expect higher academic performances when the killer smart android phones are in their hands. They cannot score high grades when the phones are in their hands morning, afternoon, and night. Karl Max said,"The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people." Why did Karl Max say that? Was it for nothing? Was it a Freudian slip? So many technologocal inventions we have today were not there when he said it. Yet, it happened. It means that he foresaw the laxity, indifference, drunkenness and loose life and conducts of the world's future generations! Yes, he saw it very clearly. The pornographic pictures, games and other things that the children and youths of today spend several hours to watch daily are already enough to cause absorptive retardation to the brain. Don't you know that? Parents are to blame for their children's inability to come out with flying colours in their examinations. They know that their children are not making adequate preparations for their examinations. They feel satisfied with it. If the smart android phones are not taken away from their hands or given very little time, the status quo ante bellum will remain helplessly! Parents should not impose any course or career on their children. Allow your son or daughter to study any course he/ she likes or is able to do! If you impose any course on your child, you have done more harm to him/ her than good. The child may not go far! A lot of students in the universities hate the courses that they are doing. Many of them just wanted to be admitted into the university irrespective of the courses given to them! Education is education! Let no man deceive you that some particular courses are superior to or more preferable than others. If your friend's or colleague's son/ daughter is a medical doctor, it doesn't compulsorily mean that your own must be a medical doctor too even when your child is not science-inclined. Not all medical doctors are successful people. Not all engineers are rich. Not all lawyers are affluent. Tips to prevent examination failures include: 1. Let the person who failed the examination take some time off to rest and relax his/ her mind before beginning to study again. It is wrong to start off immediately with studies without allowing the mind to relax. 2. Create a study plan which will outline major topics where examination questions, especially the main ones, will likely come out from. 3. Tell the person who failed the examination that everyone else also fails at one time or the other. It is not peculiar to him. 4. Give him/ her an assurance that success cannot elude him/ her again. 5. Assure him/ her that there is an opportunity to improve. 6. Tell him/ her that it is better to try and fail than not to try at all. 7. Tell him/ her that failure leads to success because it points to areas that require corrections and improvements. 8. Don't abuse the person or make mockery of him. If you have money,give him to make him happy. Tell him/ her that you are there for him in his/ her trial time. 9. Let the person who failed examination do a thorough revision covering his/ her syllabus or curriculum. 10. Self confidence is indispensable. 11. Let him/ her get past question papers and solve the questions. 12. Let him/ her do away with the smart android phones in his/ her hands. If not, he/ she won't possibly get good grades. 13. Eschew friends who won't contribute to your success. Run away from them. Kindly share with your friends and loved ones. Don't keep it with you, please!