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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The Warriner School - Year 10
Our mentor group agreed with the points made in this article. We especially agreed with the final point made “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” as a Y10 class, we know the importance of revising as well as taking care of our mental wellbeing. However, we did also point out that not everyone uses social media platforms as mentioned, as not all would engage with such videos but do understand the impact it can have on young people.
Hilton College - 8C
Our class Thinks that Students shouldn’t be forced to do stuff they find wont be necessary in life like and Parent shouldnt compare kids. School want us all to be that same instead of focusing on our strong abilities.School only teaches us how to follow rules it doesnt really teach as about the real world and doesnt teach us about AI which is going to be the new genaraition and is soon going to take over.A students are the future doctors and lawyers because they can follow rules.C students are Business owners because they have strong imagination.
British School Malaga - Year 7C
I think that school is big competition because kids are always competing against each other to get higher or better grades and that can affect our mental health.
British school Of Malaga - 7c
I think school does affect our mental health because we are always competing for getting better grades and being smarter and we all want to be good at math be good at English but most of us aren’t and there’s only about 1 in 10 children that are really smart and find math in English easy I think we should make school less of a challenge and more of something we should enjoy thank you👁️👄👁️
the cavendish school - year 11
The school system is beyond outdated, why does a 2 hour exam determine 5 years of work? some people’s brains work differently especially if you have any learning difficulties and makes it horrifically hard. Not to mention the pressure, it is immense and completely pointless there is a constant need to be the best but it never ends. In my opinion the biased school system is in desperate need for a change. it hasn’t changed in over a century and needs to be updated for our own future generation sake.
Prestwick acadmy - 1A2
I agree kids shouldn’t feel pressure to be good in studies
Bohunt Horsham - 7E
I think there’s too much pressure to young people
Stockport School - 10Picasso
Many students are scared to fail, and therefore quit before they get the opportunity to do so.
Students often feel only the “best” students in a subject receive praise, whilst others who are trying their best do not feel like they are praised
Saint John the Baptist - 8AAN
I think I agree because I’m scared to fail because I
What if I don’t have a good job (I want to be an actor).
Tomlinscote school - 7L
Our class thinks that people should not be trying to immpress others and just be them selves