As more than 10 million pupils return to school this month, research indicates that school equipment has a huge impact on children?s learning and social lives.
Photobox, an online community for phto and personal publishing surveyed more than 500 parents and children when leaving Borders, Rymans and WHSmith stores in August and found that three quarters of parents said it was their kids who ultimately made the decision about what went in the ?back-to school? shopping basket.
In addition, more than half of all parents think that having good quality stationery gave their kids a better start in the educational stakes, and had a significant impact on their child?s educational development and learning abilities.
When asked if they found school more interesting if they had colourful and personalised school stationery, 74% of children agreed. Although students expressed a desire for more vibrant school equipment, nearly a third of parents stated that although their children would like to personalise their school books, they were forbidden to do so by their schools.
A contentious and potentially worrying result from the survey revealed that, almost a quarter of respondents believed the type of stationery their children took to school contributed to whether they were socially accepted by their classmates.
Donna Dawson, independent consumer behavioural psychologist, commenting on the results stated: ?Being able to ?personalise? stationery allows a child to put their individual creative ?stamp? on the things that they use everyday at school. The stationery then becomes an extension of the child, and consequently of more interest to them. They are then more likely to use it and, when they do, to put in more effort because it reflects and represents them.?
?In this survey, parents have noticed a connection between good-quality stationery that a child can ?personalise? and the child?s degree of enthusiasm for school,” Donna added.
“Children themselves admit that having colourful and personalised notebooks means that they find school more interesting. Educational research does show that having an initial interest and enthusiasm in learning significantly improves a child?s educational development, in terms of quicker uptake and better recall. If children are allowed to be creative on a smaller, [more] personal level, it helps them to make the jump to larger school projects that demand a degree of independent and creative thinking.?
