Understanding Children Education

Education comes from the word "educating" which means "maintaining, providing training, and leadership, then the word student gets a prefix suffix so that it becomes education which means the act of educating." Syaiful Djamarah in his book "Patterns of Communication between Parents and Children in the Family" argues that "Education is an effort to develop the Muslim personality which is contained in spiritual, physical, emotional, intellectual and social development."

According to M Arifin, education is a conscious adult effort to guide and develop the personality and basic abilities of students, both in the form of formal and non-formal education. According to Ahmad D. Marimba Education is a conscious guidance or leadership by the educator towards the physical and spiritual development of the educated towards the formation of the main personality. According to Soegarda Poerbakawatja, education is all the actions or efforts of the older generation to transfer their knowledge, experience, skills, and skills to the younger generation. In an effort to prepare them to fulfill their life functions, both physically and spiritually.

Children are a gift from God that cannot be judged by anything. It becomes a place of outpouring of parental love. However, as the child grows older, a new "problem agenda" appears that never ends. When growing up, children can show a sweet and polite face, full of devotion to their parents, excel in school, get along well with their community, but on the other hand it can be the other way around. His behavior is getting out of control, the form of delinquency turns into a crime, and parents are always worried about it.

Abdullah Nashih 'ulwan, in his book "Tarbiyatul Aulad" explains that:

There is only one way for children to become gems of the heart that every parent desires, namely through education that is sourced from Islamic values. Islam has provided the basic concepts of education and child development, even since they were still in the womb. If a child has received an Islamic education from an early age, God willing, he will grow up to be a person who loves Allah and His Messenger and is devoted to his parents. Efforts to educate children under the auspices of Islam often encounter obstacles. It should be realized here, no matter how serious these obstacles, parents should be patient and make these obstacles as challenges and tests.

Ahmad D. Marimba further explained that:

In educating children there are at least two kinds of challenges, one is internal and the other is external. Both of these challenges greatly affect the development of children. The main source of internal challenges is the parents themselves. Parental incompetence in educating children or household disharmony. Sunatullah has outlined that the development of a child's personality must be balanced between fikriyah (mind), ruhiyah (spirit), and the body (body).

External challenges are also very influential and broader in scope.

The first challenge comes from the home environment. Information obtained through interaction with playmates and peers will more or less be recorded. An un-Islamic environment can fade Islamic values ​​that have been instilled in the home. The next is the school environment. However, school teachers are not able to supervise their students all the time. Children's interactions with school friends if not monitored from home can have a negative impact. So choosing the right school for children is very important for the preservation of the morals of the child.

Abdullah Nashih Ulwan further explained that:

Muslim children who are sent to schools in non-Islamic places will be easily polluted by un-Islamic thought patterns and morals according to their educational patterns, especially those who are sent to Christian schools little by little the morals and aqidah of Muslim children will erode and waver. So that individuals who do not know Islam as a whole are formed.

In addition, the role of the mass media is also very influential. Information disseminated by the mass media, both print and electronic, has a very strong appeal. If parents do not direct and supervise properly, then the child will absorb all the information he gets, not only good and even morally damaging. Although many factors can affect the development of a child, parents still play a very dominant role.