Vietnam National University

University of Languages and International Studies

Faculty of English Language Teacher Education School of English 2

4B Reading-Writing Assignment Submission Sheet

This section is to be completed by the student before submission. Use block capitals.

Student's Name: PHAM ANH THU

Student ID No: 17040060

Module Code and Title: 4B - English for academic purposes

Assignment Title: School is bad for children?
Date of submission: 09/04/2020
I confirm that the work submitted has been produced through my own efforts.

Student's Signature:. Thư

Conditions:

✔️There will be automatic deductions of 10% for work, which is 10% over
or under the word limit.
✔️ Errors in referencing will result in up to 10% deduction of marks.
✔️Plagiarism will be penalized with 0 (Zero). If permitted to resubmit, a
maximum of 40% will be awarded.
✔️Work not submitted on time without prior approval will be failed and a
maximum mark of 40% awarded for the resubmission.
 “School is bad for children?”
Ver 3

Children are sent to school at certain age because it’s believed that an academic
institution is an appropriate place where children have the chance to develop their
abilities. It is undeniable that school has positive impacts on students’ development;
however, schools are not always beneficial for students. In my opinion, school is not a
good place for students due to its negative implications for both children’s mental
health and schooling behaviours.

Schools are regarded as one of the reasons which lead to students’ mental
illnesses such as stress and aggression. First of all, most schools are constructed based
on an exam-oriented system which overemphasizes high score; it means that students'
intellectual capacity is often evaluated only through test results. For example,
according to Kirkpatrick & Zang (2011), in China, score is considered the only
criterion which people based on to evaluate children. Students who get better results
might be provided more chances to be exposed to better educational environment. In
the competitive environment, students not only work hard to catch up with their peers,
but they also try their best to do better than their friends. Besides, in each school year,
students often cope with a huge number of exams. The constant pressure from their
peers and testing as such burdens students’ mind and makes them depressed.
Secondly, students may suffer from some extreme discipline methods at school such
as verbal and corporal punishment that leads to anxiety. Elbla (2012) claimed that
many school-age children suffer from verbal punishment for their misbehaviours.
Teachers often use bad words such as: donkey, stupid, goat to talk about some
students in front of class, which humiliates them. An interview which was conducted
by Elbla (2012) reported that the victims who suffer from these hurtful words
developed the sense of anxiety. Not only do students suffer from verbal punishment,
but they also experience physical punishment. It is reported that students were the
victims of physical abuse when they were at elementary school (Kilimici, 2009). The
interviewed victims said that they felt fear to their teacher and school.

School’s environment and stress from school lead to a myriad of students’

misbehaviors such as cheating and violence. Firstly, it seems that students start
cheating because they are under pressure of giving correct answer and getting high
scores as well. In the competitive environment, only students with higher scores may
enter the prestigious universities, and have more chances than the lower in terms of
job opportunities (Kirkpatrick & Zang, 2011). Besides, Holt claimed that students are
expected to give the correct answers, otherwise they will be punished. According to
Feinstein & Mwahombela (2010), students experienced physical punishment because
of giving incorrect answers.Therefore, students cheat to achieve better scores and
avoid to be punished. Gradually, cheating becomes a common habit at school, which
may affects children’s personality formation. Secondly, some children are often
bullied at school by their peers. In a survey conducted in 1997, Rigby reported that
students are bullied at least once a week. In response, the victims tend to be armed
themselves with weapons such as knives and guns and be more violent in the future.
According to Brockenbrough et al. (2002), the victims often turn into the bullies, who
are called victim-bully. It is reported that this group engage in fight more often than
the others (Brockenbrough et al., 2002). Additionally, they may react aggressively
toward their peers who inadvertently provoke them (Pellegrini, 1998).
It is believed that school still plays an important role in children’s development
process since it provides knowledge and skills for kids; however, based on the
evidence I mentioned above, schools affect students' behaviours and cause some
mental health illness . I believe that school cannot offer the appropriate environment
for students to develop themselves since the school environment and the burdens
which it bring. Therefore, in order to have a better environment for kids to enhance,
the educators should consider some solutions such as changing academic program
curriculum, discipline methods and the like to remove the limitations of the recent
education.
References:
1, Rigby, K. (1999). Peer victimisation at school and the health of secondary school
students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 69(1), 95-104.
2, Brockenbrough, K. K., Cornell, D. G., & Loper, A. B (2002). Aggressive
attitudes among victims of violence at school. Education and Treatment of
Children, 25, 273–287
3, Kirkpatrick, R., & Zang, Y. (2011). The negative influences of exam-oriented
education on Chinese high school students: Backwash from classroom to child.
Language testing in Asia, 1(3), 36.
4, Pellegrini, A. D. (1998). Bullies and victims in school: A review and call for
research. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 19, 165–176.
5, Feinstein, S. & Mwahombela, L. (2010). Corporal Punishment in Tanzania's
Schools. International Review of Education, volume 56 (4), 399-410.

6, Holt, J. (1969). School is bad for children. The Underachieving School.

7, Kilimici, S. (2009). Teachers' perceptions on corporal punishment as a method of

discipline in elementary schools. The Journal of International Social Research,
volume 2 (8), 242-251.