英國寶寶壓力大 過早成爲“小大人”

Babies are being turned into ‘mini adults’ with busy schedules of singing, yoga, gym, swimming and salsa classes, childcare experts claim.

They say children are forced to grow up too soon due to the commercialisation of childhood and targets set by the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) – or ‘nappy curriculum’ – in schools.

Their concerns are raised in a new book, Too Much, Too Soon?, due to be submitted to the Department for Education’s consultation on the EYFS, which ends on Friday.

One of the book’s authors, infant massage instructor Sylvie Hétu, says: ‘Babies now have “schedules” that are as important as those of adults. It is quite common that babies have a class every day.

‘Baby music, baby yoga, baby gym, baby singing, baby salsa, baby language, baby Einstein, and baby swim classes are all very common nowadays.’

Many baby classes – such as salsa and yoga – require mothers to perform the activity, but provide an opportunity for ‘bonding’.

However, Miss Hétu says infants should be protected from ‘over-stimulation’ and need the ‘calm presence of their parents’ and ‘day-to-day house sounds’.

She also calls for a revival in lullabies, saying a generation of parents do not ‘intuitively sing’ to their babies.

The book, edited by Dr Richard House of the Open EYE campaign group, concludes: ‘The evidence is overwhelming that “too much, too soon” is deeply damaging both to individual children and to our culture.

‘Educators, parents and policy-makers have a grave responsibility to arrest and reverse the “adultification” of children and childhood in whatever ways they can.’英國育兒專家稱，寶寶們由於日程安排太滿，正被變成“小大人”。他們整日都要忙於學習唱歌、瑜伽、體操、游泳、和薩爾薩舞等技能。

專家表示，由於兒童經濟的商業化，以及學校早期教育綱要（EYFS），或稱爲“早教課程”設定的目標，兒童正被揠苗助長。

新書《過多，過早？》提到了他們的憂慮，這本新書將被提交給英國教育部的早期教育綱要研討會，會議將於週五結束。

該書作者之一、幼兒按摩師希爾維·海圖說：“寶寶們的日程安排如今和大人們的一樣重要。現在寶寶每天上一堂課都很正常。”

“幼兒音樂、幼兒瑜伽、幼兒體操、幼兒歌曲、幼兒薩爾薩舞、幼兒語言、幼兒智商、幼兒游泳等課程現在很常見。”

很多幼兒課程，比如薩爾薩舞和瑜伽，要求媽媽也參加，這也爲“親子”創造了機會。

但海圖小姐表示，幼兒不該被“過分激勵”，他們需要“家長安靜的陪伴”，以及“日常家庭生活”。

她還呼籲父母給寶寶唱搖籃曲，並表示現在的父母不會“下意識地”唱給寶寶聽。

該著作由“睜眼看世界”組織的理查德•豪斯博士編輯，結論稱：“有充分的證據表明，‘過多、過早’的理念對幼兒和我們的文化都構成了嚴重影響。”

“不管採用什麼手段，教育家、父母、和政策制定者都有責任制止並糾正幼兒和童年的‘成人化’。”