k_penalty_on_kids

Distraction is different from feet-dragging. Distraction is not deliberate, and much better, because the kid actually puts in some effort. Parents will be committing a grave mistake if we focus on results and fail to differentiate these 2 attitudes.

I would say some times I should reward my kids if they are reluctant but decide to cooperate against their will, and become inefficient and easily distracted. At least they didn’t refuse by dragging feet.

If feet-dragging is punishable, then distraction should be treated more leniently. The assumption is … at least the kid isn’t refusing to work.

Distraction during  self-study (including homework) is common even for good students. Some strong students have multi-tasking habits and short concentration span, but they get the homework done, or during the short span they can understand the subject. (Are they able to do well in tough exams? In theory there could be superbrains with such capacity, but I have not seen any. The brightest still needs to concentrate for a while, partly due to the huge amount of subtle details to get right.) Virtually all good students are good at concentration.

Get real! 95% of a self-study session getting wasted is not ideal, but much better than not doing self-study at all i.e. 100% wasted. As an analogy – 60 minutes in stadium/gym/swimming pool and exercising only 5 minutes is much better than watching TV at home whole day. So such a self-study session is actually nice and welcome, though parents should not encourage it.

Case in point: a 2-mark comprehension question should take 2 minutes in exam, but he took 60 minutes. Still better than refusing self-study out right.