评论
打印
The pressure to make ordinary children exceptional has become almost an epidemic in sports. I had high hopes for soccer, which can be played by all makes and models of children, big, small, and in between. But in most states soccer has become as competitive and selective as baseball, football, and hockey. The star mentality prevails, and the less talented youngster simply doesn't get to participate. Play is out and competition is in.
迫使普通孩子出类拔萃的压力几乎已经成为体育方面的一种流行病。我曾对足球寄予厚望，因为各种体质、各种类型的孩子，身材高大的、个子矮小的，以及介乎两者之间的，都能踢足球。但在大多数州，足球已经像棒球、橄榄球和冰球一样成为竞技性的体育项目，参加者都是经过严格筛选的。明星心态盛行，而天赋稍逊的孩子压根儿就没有机会参与。玩耍已经过时，而竞赛则大行其道。
The pressure for exceptionality is equally powerful at the secondary level. High school students are pressured not only to get good grades but to get into as many advanced-placement classes as possible. Around the country private tutoring centers are sprouting up like dandelions in the spring, offering lessons in everything from beginning reading to taking college entrance exams. Other parents urge their children to start dating at an early age so that they will have good interpersonal skills and a better chance to win the most eligible mates.
追求卓越的压力在中学这个层面上同样很大。中学生经受的压力不仅仅是要取得好成绩，还要尽量多地进入各种快班。在全国各地，私人开办的辅导中心正在像春天的蒲公英一样迅速出现，它们开的课从初级阅读到大学人学考试一应俱全。其他父母则鼓励孩子年纪轻轻 就与人约会，为的是让他们培养良好的人际交往能力，有更好的机会赢得合意的配偶。
Clearly, there is nothing wrong with wanting children to do their best. It is not the normal, healthy desire of parents to have successful children that is the problem, but the excessive pressure some parents are putting on children.
显然，希望孩子们竭尽全力并没有什么不对。问题不在于父母希望孩子成功这种正常的、 健康的愿望，而在于有些家长对孩子施加了过多的压力。
Why this push for excellence? Since parents today are having fewer children their chances ofhaving "a child to be proud of" are lower than when families were larger. The cost of child rearing has also increased dramatically, so a successful child also protects one's investment. But most of all, many of today's parents have carved out their own successful careers and feel very much in charge of their lives. They see no reason they should not take charge of child rearing in the same manner and with the same success. A successful child is the ultimate proof of their success.
为什么会有这种追求卓越的压力呢？今天的父母生养的孩子比过去少了，所以他们有“一个值得骄傲的孩子”的机会也比子女多时减少了。养育孩子的成本也大大提高了，所以子女的成功也能保护家长的投资。但最为重要的是，今天的许多父母都是通过自己的艰苦努力才创立出一番成功的事业的，他们深深地意识到要为自己的生活负责。他们看不出有什么理由不该以同样的方式来主管孩子的培养并取得同样的成功。一个成功的孩子就是他们成功的最终证明。
