We taught a variety of courses over the recent Easter break
in a number of locations. Some of the parents told us that their children had
really enjoyed the work and were happy. The relationship between a child being
happy and a child working in an Easter break seems, at first sight, to be
mutually exclusive. Charles de Montesquieu (1689-1755) maintained:
“If we
only wanted to be happy, it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other
people, and that is almost always difficult, since we think them happier than
they are.”
I wonder if we could also maintain that a child
who is very intelligent and works hard at school is happier than a child with
lower aspirations. There are many parts of a child’s life that make up the total
child. Doing well at school is important but must not be all consuming to all
concerned.
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