暑假時節(jié)，又到了家長叫苦不迭的時候。興趣班、夏令營、國內(nèi)研學(xué)、海外游學(xué)……賬單動輒上萬的并不少見。到底是為了投資孩子教育，還是減輕自己的焦慮，各位家長真的想好了嗎？

As children in China look forward to their six-week summer holiday, parents are finding themselves suffering from higher levels of stress and financial strain than they do during the rest of the school year.

就在中國的孩子們期盼時長六周的暑假之際，家長們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的精神和經(jīng)濟(jì)壓力比一學(xué)年中任何時候都大。

“No freedom summer holiday” became a trending topic on Weibo, China’s Twitter, in May, as parents began spending much time and money planning their children’s holiday schedule. It was a similar tale last year, when “Having 30,000 yuan monthly salary cannot afford the summer holiday” also went viral online.

當(dāng)父母們開始花大量時間和金錢規(guī)劃孩子的暑假時，“沒有自由的暑假”在今年5月就已成為微博熱門話題。這與去年情形類似。當(dāng)時，《月薪三萬，還是撐不起孩子的一個暑假！》在網(wǎng)上引發(fā)熱議。

Both trends reflect the anxiety and fear of parents that their children will lag behind other classmates during the summer break. To keep their offspring in study mode, parents try to fill the holiday with different classes and tours, at ever-increasing expense.

這兩種趨勢反映出家長的焦慮和擔(dān)心：怕孩子暑假期間落后于其他同學(xué)。為了讓孩子始終處于學(xué)習(xí)模式，家長試圖用不同課程和出游填滿假期，花費(fèi)自然不斷增加。

According to online media platform Sohu News, parents in cities such as Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing, are most willing to spend on their children’s education during the break.

據(jù)搜狐新聞?wù){(diào)查，廣州、上海、北京等城市的父母最愿意在假期為孩子的教育花錢。

“I feel much more pressure during the summer holiday than on normal school days since I need to arrange different activities for them [her children],” said Chan Lee, a 40-year-old Guangzhou mother of two primary schoolchildren.

40歲的陳麗（音）來自廣州，有兩個在上小學(xué)的子女。她說：“我覺得暑假的壓力比平時上學(xué)大得多，因為我需要為孩子們安排不同的活動?！?/p>

“A study tour costs 35,000 yuan and there are also classes and tutorials which are necessary to apply for,” she said, explaining that, since schools did not assign much summer homework, she sent her children to holiday classes to better prepare them for the next academic year.

“游學(xué)花費(fèi)3.5萬元，還必須得上輔導(dǎo)班。”她解釋說，學(xué)校沒布置太多暑假作業(yè)，她把孩子送到補(bǔ)習(xí)班，為下學(xué)年做好更充分的準(zhǔn)備。

Sending children on overseas tours has also become an indispensable part of the break, with nearly everyone in Chan’s children’s class joining a summer study tour to experience an overseas educational environment, culture, and language through meeting people, visiting famous universities and sightseeing.

讓孩子到海外游學(xué)，也成為假期不可或缺的一部分，陳麗孩子所在班級幾乎所有學(xué)生都參加了暑假海外游學(xué)，通過與人交流、參觀著名大學(xué)和觀光，來體驗國外的教育環(huán)境、文化和語言。

indispensable [?nd?'spens?b(?)l]：adj.不可缺少的；絕對必要的

“You could feel that he had changed a lot after the tour. He was more organised and confident when communicating with others, as he knew more and had more things to share,” she said.

她說：“你可以感覺到他在游學(xué)之后改變了很多。他在與人交流時更有條理，也更自信，因為他知道的更多，有更多的東西可以分享?！?/p>

Cheng Guowei, a representative of a study tour centre based in Shanghai, said parents were concerned about their children’s education.

上海一家游學(xué)機(jī)構(gòu)的代表程國偉（音）表示，家長們很關(guān)心孩子的教育。

“Nearly 95 percent of our participants are students, most of them are primary and middle school kids. Yet this market is also very competitive, as there are many similar centres and institutions targeting the parents,” he said.

他說：“近95%的參團(tuán)者是學(xué)生，其中大多是中小學(xué)生。市場上有很多類似的游學(xué)機(jī)構(gòu)，以學(xué)生家長為目標(biāo)客戶，競爭很激烈?！?/p>

Cheng said money was a big concern for parents, with most applying for more affordable destinations like Japan or Singapore, rather than European countries. His cheapest Asian tours cost about 10,000 yuan for six to seven days, with trips to English-speaking countries like the United States and Canada priced from 20,000, excluding air fares.

他說，對于家長們來說，錢是個大問題。多數(shù)學(xué)生申請去日本或新加坡等費(fèi)用更低的國家游學(xué)，而不是歐洲國家。最便宜的亞洲國家游學(xué)，六七天花費(fèi)約1萬元，到美國和加拿大等英語國家游學(xué)的價格則是2萬元起步，還不包括機(jī)票。

The study tours were not about academic knowledge but broadening horizons, Cheng said.

他說，游學(xué)不是為了學(xué)習(xí)知識，而是為了開拓眼界。

“To be honest, in just two weeks what kind of knowledge can they learn? But kids, of course, like study tours, which must be better than staying at home doing homework or attending classes,” he said.

他說：“說實話，兩周時間能學(xué)到什么？但孩子們當(dāng)然喜歡游學(xué)，這肯定比呆在家里做作業(yè)或上課外班要好?！?/p>

According to the Sohu News survey, when parents are not making travel plans for their children, they are applying for special interest classes and supplementary tutorials to fill in the spare hours of the summer holiday.

據(jù)搜狐新聞的調(diào)查，如果家長沒給孩子安排旅行計劃，就會給孩子報興趣班和課外輔導(dǎo)班把假期填滿。

On Weibo, a post about “Fight over 7,000 yuan summer supplementary classes” became a hot trend and attracted more than 180 million comments in July, as parents rushed to secure places for their children in the most popular holiday classes.

在微博上，一篇關(guān)于“為花7000元報名暑期補(bǔ)習(xí)班打架”的帖子成為熱議話題，并在7月份收到超過1.8億條評論，家長們爭相為孩子在最熱門的假期補(bǔ)習(xí)班中報名。

Yin Jianli, a writer who specialises in family and education issues, said it was unnecessary to arrange activities for children during the summer holidays.

專門研究家庭和教育問題的作家尹建利表示，沒有必要在暑假期間為孩子們安排活動。

“Parents are not helping their children, they are just doing it to reduce their own anxiety,” she said.

她說:“父母這樣做不是為了幫助孩子，而是為了減輕自己的焦慮。”

Many parents thought they could buy their children a better education, “but actually, a holiday should be a time for rest and play, not study”, she said.

她說，許多家長認(rèn)為他們可以為孩子買到更好的教育，“但實際上，假期應(yīng)該是休息和玩耍的時間，而不是學(xué)習(xí)?！?/p>

英文來源：南華早報

翻譯&編輯：yaning