Hala Al Khatib - Beirut
Our days at school were not full of colorful and creative stationery, and were limited to an eraser, either white or brick for lead and blue for ink.
Only the plastic rulers that had drawings saved our childhood from monotony, especially those where the picture changed and moved, so that school bags were simple and ordinary and in limited colors.
Today's children are fortunate in stationery in different colors and shapes, and despite the blatant commercial and consumer purpose, it has added to the school days a bit of joy.
School stationery budget
Many schools in Lebanon require a very long list of supplies, and their commitment is strictly obligatory. Other schools leave the option for parents to choose the right stationery.
The budget for stationery and school supplies has risen considerably. With the multiplicity of cartoon characters and the manufacture of many school bags in different shapes and colors, young students accompany their parents to choose several of their first work "study" with their childish mood.
Mothers and specialists talked to Al Jazeera Net about the benefits and harms of the diversity of stationery.
| Stationery favored by children colorful and innovative (pix) |
Fashion Stationery
Ala says her 8-year-old son, Abdul, is very happy with the choice of stationery and makes him excited to go to school to show off to his classmates.
Batoul tells that her daughter Yasmina chooses her school bag and stationery each year according to the character "Darija" and according to fashion. Yasmina is happy with stationery on the first day of school to show her to her classmates, and then forget the subject and do not have an incentive for the lesson.
| Children choose a bag each school year according to the cartoon character famous that year (the island) |
Motivating parents to the student
Nidaa al-Daw says that some children do not mean the shape and color of stationery to them, and some parents are unable to buy expensive stationery and they must tell their child to do so and motivate him to buy something if he gets a high score in the first exam.
It can also be made aware that this topic is just a trade and stationery does not differ from ordinary color only in price. The child may understand it and may not do according to the parents' way of persuasion.
Zahra says her son likes to go to school while in kindergarten because of posters of cartoon characters hanging on the door of his class. He has two bags, one completely black, and the other has shark charges. He prefers to always carry and cry when she is in the laundry.
Similar, simple and traditional
Tahani tells that she has 6 and 8 years old to choose only their suitcases, and that this year they chose the bag of the "angry bird" (angry bird), especially since the school imposes similar stationery and simple and traditional on all students so as not to distract students and feel that they are all equal.
"My son, for example, writes spelling better and faster when he chooses a colored pen. Colored stationery is only used at home," she says.
Rima prefers to keep the stationery chosen by the child at home, because it may be in school classmates that their parents can not buy similar stationery, causing them a psychological contract or feeling inferior.
| Games and stationery should be appropriate, safe, quiet and comfortable (Pixabee) |
What is the opinion of psychology?
Specialist and psychotherapist Ola Ataya says that different colors and shapes are loved by children and increase their enthusiasm and may reduce the tension of some of them and increase the atmosphere of class joy, because the children are comfortable to watch the cartoon characters they love and feel safe and comfortable.
Nermeen Moussa, a specialist in educational sciences, says games and stationery should be in a safe, quiet and comfortable environment. In modern education, the child learns through play, drawing, art and self-expression. Every fun has a role in the child's psychological well-being, and must express his needs and desires and take his words seriously.
Children prefer it colorful and innovative
Amal Issa, a teacher at a school, says she finds students' reaction to colorful and innovative stationery stronger and nicer than traditional stationery. She says most children choose those with color drawings.
Thus, stationery that delights children may affect their performance and give joy to their school days, and may be a secondary role depending on the personality of the child on the one hand, and parenting on the other. Of course, the school has the main role in using it in a way that only affects the child's psyche.