7 year old student is not the same as they used to be because of the use of social media, YouTube, and many other online platforms. So many changes happened, and they became old much earlier. While discussing this topic, we have to consider the whole spectrum of their world; then, and only then, can we understand them and their world in a better way.
How Old is a Year 7 Student?
Being a 7 year old student is an exciting time for many children. But this age brings new challenges as well. These challenges include different physical and emotional challenges. But as I said earlier, nowadays, because of social media, YouTube, and other online platforms, things are becoming much easier if we think one way, and at the same time much more complicated if we think the other way. As we know, every coin has two sides, which is very obvious.
Academically, they are doing well with the help of these online platforms. They learn different subjects such as English, maths, science, art, computing, history, geography, etc. through their school and learn different other skills like coding, painting, writing, digital marketing, etc. through many online platforms, so academically they are superb. This is the best thing that has happened because of the internet. So, they can explore and dive deeper into subjects they love to pursue.
With this, we can see how connected they are to the rest of the world. Information-wise, they are so rich. But there is a question: are they all knowledgeable? Information is just a boon given by Google. But to be knowledgeable, they must struggle. It is not easy.
Now, because of these advantages, we cannot ignore the disadvantages they are facing, or rather, the disadvantages the whole family and ultimately the whole society are facing. Because of these online platforms, they are getting exposed to so much content that is very irrelevant to their age. And therefore, they are facing very big troubles.
Here we have to understand the seriousness of the issue: becoming old with age naturally is not an issue, but becoming old before even attaining that age group is much riskier and can be considered a serious problem.
Even we must understand the level of anxiety and depression these students face during their education and while handling their problematic and challenging lives. So, we must give them extra support from parents and teachers to stop these episodes of depression and anxiety. According to one study, training and professional development for education staff in primary schools are required as there is an increase in self-harm and suicidal behaviors occurring in primary schools as identified by staff. We must understand that early intervention can help prevent further problems from arising.
As a parent, just providing a school bag and uniform is not enough because as your child enters seventh grade, they need to do a lot of growing up in a short space of time, and your support is crucial to seeing them through this time of change. At the age of 11 to 12, most boys and girls are in the midst of puberty. Also, year 7 is the age of independence for many children, and their friendships are very important to them.
So as a parent, you must be available at least during the first few weeks of secondary school. As your child is likely to need lots of support to deal with the changes in routine and expectations, be there and support them. In this way, we can make them grow and not become old even before they reach that age.
Nowadays, these seventh-grade students get exposed to sexual and violent content, as well as social media platforms to get connected with each other. This makes things easier for them. But they don’t understand the future issues that they will have to face because of these actions, or, as we can say, because of their today’s behaviour, they harm their future.
These kids see this content, and already they have lots of physical and emotional changes going on in their brains and bodies. These two things together make them behave like adults, which is actually against nature. They get introduced to unnecessary things. So, like this, our 7 year old student should ideally be engaged with their studies and extracurricular activities, but instead, they get engaged in sex, relationships, violence, etc., and spoil their bright future. This is a serious issue we need to address now because this is our future, and if it is not well nourished, it will harm us.
So, we can say here that it is the responsibility of parents, teachers, and society to teach this young talent some constructive things and make them engaged in learning new things and facing new adventures. Exploring their inner capabilities must be their and our focus, which will ultimately help the nation grow and become its best. This will happen with the right guidance regarding the use of technology.
As seventh-grade students, they have technology in their hands, but without knowing how to use it, it is disastrous. So here is where parenting plays an important role. But because these students feel independent, they don’t listen to their parents. Even so, they go through so many new experiences. They come across new and different learning methods. Also, they need to deal with new teachers and new friends. All these things together shape their personalities. And nowadays, mobile phones play an important role in shaping these students’ personalities and behaviours. So, technology with proper guidance will shape outstanding personalities, while technology without guidance will cause this issue of becoming old before even attaining that age to become more serious day by day.
As we discussed earlier, 7th-grade students have new challenges ahead as well as exciting opportunities. Here we are talking about their problems. If we shift our and their focus towards exciting opportunities, they will definitely handle their problems on their own. Actually, this could be a great solution to the discussed problem.