It is no longer enough just to get high grades, says Eshwara Masina, 16, from Queen Elizabeth’s School, young people are expected to give up their passions in order to succeed in education.
It happens late at night when thousands of students cannot sleep, and this is a situation caused neither by partying nor watching media content, but rather studying.
Strangely enough, tiredness becomes proof of one’s achievements, and people start to boast with phrases like, “I only slept four hours today.” Today’s educational system turns into a competitive environment, where people constantly put pressure on themselves to prove that they have merits.
It is no longer enough just to get high grades. Young people must gather numerous achievements in other fields, including sports, volunteering, singing, organising parties and taking part in various contests. Social networks do not help much in this respect. If people go to websites such as TikTok or Instagram, they will find numerous stories about productive days filled with plans for studying that seem exhausting.
Statistics provided by the Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom state that more young people are anxious due to stress caused by studies and future career choices. Most children think that every activity, test or choice will affect their whole life, preventing them from having fun.
There are people who believe that some competition is positive. They are correct when speaking of the motivational aspect of such behaviour, since learning needs ambition. However, there is also a line to cross, and once students become afraid of resting, making mistakes or even trying something new, then the essence of the process changes radically.
One must keep in mind that learning should never become some sort of a performance aimed at impressing others.
What worries me is how the importance of certain subjects decreases according to their status, rather than a student’s passion for them. Creative subjects lose their value because people are convinced that they might not lead to well-paid jobs. Thus, some young people give up the hobbies they like, or even love, out of shame; since this time will not be useful for improving university or job applications.
Originally, education should have helped people find themselves. Today, many young people struggle to create their best selves for colleges, future employers, and even social media accounts.
Maybe being successful does not require a lot of stress and constant work.
If anything, the most successful individuals will be those who get enough sleep, have time for fun and study out of curiosity and passion, not for fear of falling behind.
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