KOCHI: Lazy mornings with endless time, extended session of indoor and outdoor games with neighbourhood friends, a long-awaited visit to one's grand parents - these are the images that a vacation typically evokes. But those days of indulgence might just be on its way to a slow death. With vacation classes cropping up in every nook and cranny and with both academic and 'extra-curricular activities' getting increasingly competitive, both parents and students are now on a spree to pack in the maximum number of classes within the one month free time.“There are children who take up as many as four classes. Each class is an hour long. They come here with their lunch. After finishing their classes in the evening they leave with their parents. During the first one or two days, the children are a bit reluctant, crying and making a commotion. But within a week they get into the groove and regularly attend the classes,” says Deepa Rajan, office in-charge at Kochi Kalalniketan.Meanwhile, seeing the demand, institutes offering these vacation classes have expanded their activities, coming up with a wide array of options. This includes everything from drawing and painting, to sports to unconventional classes like clay-modeling. These are no doubt useful ways of spending time, but psychiatrist believe that an overdose of classes can prove to be counter-productive.“If a student goes to a vacation class purely out of passion, it might do him good. But in most cases these vacation classes are decided by adults without any consultation with the children. Moreover many of these classes seem to have been prepared for the benefit of the parents rather than the students. Since parents have to go for work they see vacation classes as some activity for the students. Hence often it happens that the classes do not in any way compliment with the child's aptitude or taste. Another danger involved is that, when students do not enjoy these classes, many tend to bunk them and go for other activities. Since these classes are less monitored than schools, the students find it easy to walk off unmonitored.”, says Psychiatrist at the Medical Trust Hospital C J John.Spending time with children and being attentive to their real interests would be more beneficial, says Lakshmi Ramachandran,Principal, Global Public School. “Instead of going to a vacation class, if students could run up and climb a few trees, smell a few flowers, I would feel it would be more rewarding. Even in the case of non-academic classes, it becomes structured. I would be happiest if students spend their vacations at home with their parents. Increasingly we find the gap between parents and children widening. Most of us have about a month's leave. If one parent could take some time off from work and spend it with their children, it would be really worthwhile in the long term. A child helping his/her mother with a new recipe would be far more interesting than any cookery class,” she says.
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