Ironically, personal progress is measured according to peer standards. Every activity in which a child engages is measured. With everyone sizing up everyone else, there is very little room for imaginative play and spontaneous fun. The child is, instead, bound by the pressure to do it all, and fear of failure is immense. If it is pointed out that a child is not doing as much as or as well as another, then that child feels like he is letting everyone down, including himself.
Life becomes a series of unfulfilled expectations.
When a child continually tries to prove his or her worthiness, there is little opportunity to cultivate self-awareness. Many parents say they keep their children active so they won't get into trouble or to keep them stimulated. But, keeping children overly busy prohibits them from discovering who they are. They don't sit still long enough to get a sense of themselves. There is never time for quiet self-reflection.