Entertaining teenagers

Some people have mentioned that if teenagers have adequate facilities to be entertained, they will not resort to crime. This is a superficial measure that does not tackle the main problem. The main problem is the lack of moral values and the lack of imagination. If they have the proper moral values, they will not resort to crime. If they have imagination, they will be able to entertain themselves. You don't need expensive facilities to entertain children. For example, you just need a field and a ball and they can play the well known games or they can create their own games.

Our society is geared towards materialism. Children born in a materialistic society will have their imagination, curiosity and creativity stunted. They are too busy wanting to acquire materials instead of trying to develop their inside skills. We need to encourage children to develop their inside skills rather than skills in how to acquire materials.

The current education model has also problems. A common reason given to children is go to school, do well and you should be able to find a good job which will allow you to acquire many materials you want. The government, schools and some parents believe that this is the principal reason to go to school. No wonder children feel a lot of pressure and lack entertainment value from schools.

Since children are grouped together, no matter how you put it, the environment is competitive. This also puts a lot of pressure. Although learning about competition and pressure is important, they should not be taught about this concerning their abilities.

Schools should be a place for children to be entertained. Learning must be shown to be fun. Why is it not fun? Several reasons.

• Motivating why they are learning something is lacking. Teachers must explain why things are important in relation to society and to their pupils.
• Quick learners get bored because of the slow pace.
• Slow learners get bored because they cannot keep up and so cannot understand.
  

For the last two points, the solutions has been to split the children into classes depending on their abilities. There is nothing worse that to be labeled at such an age. I do not think this is wise and should be avoided at all cost. So how can the children of the same year be taught together? Well, focus on the first point and only cover what everyone can do. For quick learners, they can collect as much learning material as they please maybe online or by post. As they go through the material, they can ask the teacher if they get stuck. They could be allocated time to ask. For slow learners, they can go at a pace that suits them. How can they be examined (compared)? They will be only examined on the learning material that they have requested. This way the competitive nature is hidden more than at present.

There is a problem in letting children do what they want to do. When there is lack of guidance, they can easily get lost. They may only want to do what they want to do.