I've been reading about how much pressure students are facing when it comes to school/education these past few decades and found some things I think are worth sharing:
http://www.helium.com/knowledge/32156-testimonies-theres-too-much-pressure-on-teens
http://www.greatschools.net/parenting/stress-management/stressed-out-kids.gs?content=645&page=all
The last link is a website for parents but I thought article was incredibly accurate when describing school nowadays.
"One recent study from the Stanford School of Medicine indicates that the number of children, ages 7-17, treated for depression more than doubled between 1995 and 2001."
The article states that this is a repercussion because more kids are stressed out.
It doesn't seem like there are any ways to avoid this highly competitive realm if we want to succeed. It seems like there are a thousand people waiting to take your spot. It's like running a race, the second you slow down there is someone there to pass you by and move you further back.
(that last paragraph was awkwardly worded...)
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School is what you make it to be. If you act like getting into college is equivalent to finding the holy grail then yeah your going to be stressed out because you will see this as your one shot at happiness. If you take school as an opportunity and a good place to meet people and learn some partially useful stuff then you won't be nearly as stressed out. Anyone who knows me can attest that I pretty much am completely lazy and do very little of anything in school because I view it as a chore. As a result I don't find school in the least bit stressful but merely boring, that's just from my point of view. (Luckily I've figured out how to be lazy and still get good grades) More to answer the question though if your stressed out it's mostly your fault. Unless your taking considerably harder classes and doing a huge amount of after school activities your probably not much more stressed out than your fellow peers. Probably need to reevaluate your outlook because it won't be getting any better in college.(Hint: There's still competition after you get into college)
Now if everyone is downright brutally honest with themselves they will realize a large part of their stress is probably their fault. Now excluding things like family and jobs, focusing more on homework and studying, the average student procrastinates....a lot. If a project is due in 3 weeks we are proud of ourselves for starting 1 week before it's due which is the wrong mindset. If you don't want that stress work for 2 hours the day after it's assigned or something. Procrastination is a lot like malfunctions with computers, it's almost always user error, aka it's your fault. Very rarely in high school are we actually assigned very difficult things on very very short time frames like we might in a job setting where stress is more appropriate.
Maybe it's my nature or it's because I'm sleepy but this has turned very preachy so I'll cut it off now. Last words: School is harder now than it was, it's a good thing. A little stress is a good thing. If your really having trouble start working on projects earlier.
I love last minute pressure. ;). Its when I get things done. Nevertheless, the reason why school is such a place (Gunn High school and their rates of train suicides has increased) is most likely because of parental or economic issues. I mean otherwise I wouldn't really have cared about school other than meeting friends everyday. In an era where you can't find a job unless you get into college and now obtain a masters is pretty harsh since not everyone was born to go through schooling. Some people just aren't that good at retaining, memorizing or understanding certain stuff.
On that note, Anders was saying that if a project was due in three weeks most people would procrastinate until at least the last week. Yet there are people who could spend their entire (I don't really know anyone who does this) time trying to create such a project and end up getting a bad grade on it anyways. Essays too since they are somewhat subjective.
I agree with Anders' idea that school is what you make it to be. Depending on the student, school may be extremely stressful to an individual, or extremely not to another. The stress levels may also be influenced by family members, peer pressure, and/or competition. But, if a person doesn't take outside pressure into account, then that person may just go by school with just a breeze.
I agree mostly with all you guys. The stressfulness of school usually depends on the person. If the person really wants to go to good school, then the pressure may be higher. If a person does not care about education, then the stress is lower. Characteristics of the person, like how they live, or how they think, or how they do things, usually create the level of stressfulness.
I just wanted to say that a lot of students spend more time at school (After school sports, clubs, and maybe even work...well that's not at school but you get what I mean)than adults spend going to work everyday...on top of that we get a wonderful treat called homework.
I think school can be stressful at times. However, if you are an organized person then school is not as stressful. Also, if you don't procrastinate then school isn't that bad.
I agree with Colin that the stress can depend on which school a person goes to. If a person goes to a private school then he or she may have more stress because their parents may have high expectations. Also, if a person's family has economic problems then it may affect the person's stress because he or she may not be able to go to the college he or she wants.
I agree with you Jessica. The stress level is at its pinnacle for the 21st century students. I like to look at this as a cause/effect correlation. Because there is so much competition, students tend to be more stressed out. What is the cause? Competition. My cousins never recalled high school to be so stressful. High School were four years of chilling but now, the word chill does not exist in our dictionary. It has been replaced by another, more complicated work: competition. Because of this competition, students are becoming more goal-oriented. Great. Competition is what motivates people but when one deviates from the norm--the "healthy competition" norm, then there is chaos. Students nowadays are looking over their peers shoulders and are comparing themselves with other people's grades. The first question that pops in someone's head when a teacher is passing back a test is: "I wonder what so-and-so got" or "I wonder if I beat so-and-so." Comparing is yet another incentive that forces people to compete at extreme levels. Like what Anders said, it's a never ending cycle. There's competition to be the best on your soccer team, be the valedictorian at your school, going to a top-notch Ivy League school,being the best at college, at work, getting better at work, and so on. Competition is what drives people and helps them become successful but it also drives people nuts!!! Just look at Aragon. When the counselors came in to talk about colleges, right when the counselors left, the hot-topic of the week was: who is the best in our class? Where am I on that ladder?
Looking at the stats Jessica, I'm not surprised to see the number of depressed students double.
Stress falls into our society's idealogy and socialization as it is talked in the book. We get it from our surroundings--be it family (parents and their constant pressure), teachers, peers ("anything you can do, I can do better" mantra), and society in general.
A person can try to get to the top but there is always a glass ceiling stopping them from getting there . No one is number 1.
No matter who you are, you will never be perfect. There will always be someone better than you. That's just how life is. But that shouldn't stop someone from trying....trying to an extent where competition motivates them is great,but trying to an extent where crying in the bathroom becomes a routine...not so great.
~Amreet Aujla
To a certain extent, I agree with Anders: School is what you make it. I could choose to spend less time on homework, projects, etc, and I'm sure my stress level would be reduced. However, I also think its a little unrealistic to think that everyone can get good grades without doing much. For those people who do want to to well and who know they are going to have to work hard for their grades...What happened to just "Doing your best"? As Amreet said, the problem is that many students, teachers, and administrators have abandoned the idea of being "your best" and exchanged it for being "THE best".
I agree that the level of stress mostly depends on the person and the situation s/he finds themselves in. They could be trying really hard in school and getting the grades and scores they deserve and they could have little stress. In the same situation, that person may also have just as much stress as a person who is receiving low scores that wants to go to a UC. A person who does well in school could also have other things happening in their lives, such as family drama, social life-academic balance issues, etc, that adds on stress and makes the stress of school seem much more that it may actually be. It all depends, not only on the person, but also their situation.
Personally, I am wayyy stressed. *cries*
-Annie Yang
This is DEAFINANTLEY the truth! Kids are wayyy to stressed out and it needs to calm down. I can believe it that many teens are stressed out and suffer from depression. I thought that my senior year would be amazing..I work 5 days a week and have numerous amounts of homework PLUS college applicaions. This is to much of a load on a sixteen year old. I actually just got a check up and my blood pressure is to high due to stress. It is terrible, but i guess the only thing positive about this is it is a prepeation for college. It does need to calm down just a little bit though.
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