Categories: uncategorized
Date: 23 May 2011 07:52:18
Over the weekend the press confirmed what many of us knew, there are a group of teenagers putting themselves under ridiculous amounts of stress to succeed. The Guardian and Telegraph both published the story which highlighted that growing numbers of middle class kids are ending up at the doctors with exam stress.
The Guardian included this quote:
"You have got to be a superhuman to get into the best universities," agrees Kirsty. "You have got to have three As. You have got to have an EPQ [the Extended Project Qualification, where students work on a project or minimum 5,000-word report of their choice] now as well. You need glowing references and work experience. But you can't be a geek – you have got to have loads of hobbies as well, so you won't be seen as a recluse. You have got to have everything, and it's just not possible."
In terms of who is putting the pressure on these young people it was acknowledged not to be the parents, but the young people themselves.
The Telegraph included the following
"The mental health charity said the majority of those calls were from high-achieving teenagers in affluent families who "put enormous pressure on themselves to succeed”. Lucie Russell, the charity’s director of campaigns, said a surge in calls from parents had been received amid fears about their children being "under intolerable pressure".
As a parent and a teacher I can identify with what is being said. There has always been the odd student who has taken this approach who we have had to talk down, but it is turning into more of a problem these days. The tutition fee debate has, in my mind, increased the problem. The talk of differentiated fees has led to students thinking in terms of having to get into the best uni's, which will charge more, in order to get the best job. They in turn think if they don't get the grades to get into these uni's they will be failiures. What seems to be missing from their thinking is the fact that a uni with lower entrance grades must enter their radar as an insurance place and that for some courses newer uni's are more appropriate.
In terms of how this all translates into their lives there is the stress aspect but it goes beyond this as the articles indicate. There is strategic thinking going on to ridiculous levels. I know of one example (and regular readers yes I am talking about who you think I am) who has gotten herself on the introduction to uni schemes for both "very good" local uni's, has gotten permission to do the extended project and is intending to investigate something which is going to be directly relevant to the uni course she wants to apply to next year, is getting her work experience sorted to again show relevance and is wanting to do a uni course which has a voccational and academic aspect. She has two full days of exams later this week which she is talking about "needing" to pass with grades which are ridiculously (but not unattainably) high.
In light of the article and past experience the college this person attends are being wonderful and supportive - joining in a co-ordinated approach to try and reduce the pressure she is putting on herself.
What worries me most about these young people is they are putting themselves under too much pressure for all the right reasons. When I try to reason the logic being put forward for the behaviour and stress is about the effects of the changes to uni's and the recession and the need to get a good job by being better than good. These are not bad reasons; they are scarily realistic...but at the same time they are putting unrealistic pressure on our children.