Let the children play

While we applaud business success, there is such a thing as starting a little too young

Small children should be learning from play, not learning to be CEOs. Pawan Singh / The National

We all know that business can be cut-throat, with only the most determined people reaching the top. But how early should the climb begin?

Even in China, home to the “tiger mothers” who push their children to academic success, eyebrows are being raised about a “CEO training course” that admits students from the age of 3. According to the Xinhua news agency, the course at an institute in Guangzhou is proving popular with wealthier families.

The report notes that some parents have felt a form of peer-group pressure to sign up, fearing that their child will be left behind. Others have complained that all the younger children seem to be doing is playing – which is good news, because free-form play is exactly what they should be doing at that age. The race to climb the dizzy heights of the corporate later can wait until after they’ve acquired valuable life skills at a perfectly normal pace. And after all, every CEO knows the benefit of learning to bide their time.