School. Grades. Application. College. 6 AM alarms. Homework. GPA. Teachers. Parents. Deadline. Allnighter. Essay. AP. IB. Honors. College. Dual Credit. Class Rank. All things a student deals with. Along with the pressure to do well in school.
Pressure is one of many things that lies on dedicated students’ shoulders, but to preserve through the stress of the class, it’s something that advanced students should be prepared for, or at least that’s what the parents tend to say. Students are expected to enroll in classes they can handle, so the hard working kids will take advanced placement, honors, and college courses, to push themselves at an adequate level; on the other side, the average or lazy students will enroll in the regular courses. There’s
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The structure of enrollment has turned into: George is enrolling into this class because it will make him look smarter than his competitors, instead of: George is interested in chemistry, so he’ll take advanced placement chemistry. Pressure on students isn’t needed from external forces. Students have to worry about school enough on their own, adding the comments from adults who wouldn’t understand the struggle doesn’t help. It’s like from the tv show The Pitch, in the first episode, I can’t remember the girl’s name, it shows her struggle of becoming the first female, professional baseball player. She ends up failing at the first game because everyone was telling her who to play for and how to act and that she was a hero to little girls all around the world. She didn’t deserve the pressure. I don’t know the exact line, but she said-- I don’t need to be playing for them. I didn’t ask to be these little girl’s hero. I just came to play ball. It’s a good message for anyone: George shouldn’t have to enroll in six advanced courses to please his parents, he should do it solely because he enjoys the class. Life isn’t about pleasing other people, it’s not worth it. Students shouldn’t have to live their youth day in, day out, worried about the disappointment of a teacher, parent, or school, because they’re just kids in this screwed up school
In the essay “College Pressures” by William Zinsser, Zinsser speaks about the pressures and anxiety that plague college students, all the while wishing that they had “a chance to savor each segment of their education as an experience in itself and not as a grim preparation for the next step.” Referring to the 1979 generation of college students as “panicky to succeed”, he lists four of the following stressors for college students.
Zinsser, William. “College Pressure.” The Norton Reader. 13th ed. Ed. Linda H. Peterson. New York: Norton, 2013. 380-388. Print
Throughout the length of schooling, students go through various changes. In their first year of school, children are required to make the transition from being at home for the entire day to being in school for a number of hours a day. These transition periods happen many times through the schooling years, but the most drastic changes occur during the transition from high school to college, where students weather numerous lifestyle changes. While each individual student goes on their own journey, certain themes remain common between different students. Studies are done to look at these themes identifying the numerous differences and similarities.
There is too much stress placed on students as it is. Imagine being a little kid going to school for 5 hours. Working on academics
Sometimes Dual enrollment classes can be really tough. Therefore, when choosing classes for their senior year; the vast majority choose the most unchallenging classes that require almost no effort at all. People make this decision because they think it would require less work and obviously who would want to work hard while they have a better option? That’s where most of them are wrong! In the long run, even for
College students work hard assuming that they will get the grade they deserve but this is not always the case.
While some may construe Carlos’ situation as an uncommon, for college students, similar situations occur more often than they might like. Zinsser states “I see four kinds of pressure working on college students today: economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure.”(259). In this statement Zinsser uses Division-Classification to break down the different types of pressure students might encounter. The stress students experience comes in varying forms, affecting different aspects of their lives.
A major fallacy in this reading is Slippery Slope. As a Princeton freshman states, "it's just so easy, and the class was a waste of time, anyway." Well maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Some students might think the class is difficult. It might even be an important class to them.
How to Deal With StressMany students go to school full time, and hold a part time job to earn money for school. Most students have about four classes, and each of the teacher’s of these classes gives an average of about an hour of homework each night; that averages out to four hours per night of homework, plus a part time job. School causes a lot of students stress because there are so many things to do, and so little time to do it. Stress is a normal part of everyone’s life; and is not a disease. It is not necessarily good or bad; however, reactions to stress can be harmful. Lack of time puts the stress on many students, and causes students to often procrastinate because they are constantly trying to meet deadlines and they don’t have the time to work on their assignments. Many students feel their grades are important; they need plenty of time to work on their work so they can do good. I can relate to them because if I get a low grade I get disgusted because I put a lot of time and effort in doing that assignment. But I think that a lot of the stress from school is caused, not only by the teachers, but also from the students to do well. Students put too much stress on themselves. A student just has to learn to manage their time well and just do as good as possible. Stress management involves the effort of that student to make emotional and physical changes.
However, such accusations such as laziness and entitlement, although common, have been prevalent amongst those of college age as proven in “A’s for Everyone.” Shepard had investigated the cause behind this and had put the blame on grade inflation in the years prior to entering college, the pressure to get superb grades due to high tuition costs, and most importantly the belief that “effort” constitutes a grade bonus. However, if one has entered the school system in America, one could see the relative ease in which one could improve their grades through inordinate amounts of extra credit. Multiple students have heard and even seen fellow students ask their parents to even come in for meetings of which equate to blaming their child’s poor grades on the teacher and harassing said teacher to allow their child, soon to be a hardworking, productive citizen of society, to get the “grade they
Students are asked to take harder classes, while also being involved in multiple activities and sports. The top students are held to a high standard of taking the most rigorous courses the school provides, along with setting high standards for themselves. Like myself, the top students not only take the harder classes, but also college courses. Here they are treated as college students, and the stress of college life on top of high school, sports, activities, and trying to apply for college gets to be a lot. The stress of waiting to see if you got into a college, or waiting for a teacher to grade a test can put a student over the edge.
Today, many students report more anxiety due to stress than child psychiatric patients did in the 1950’s. In a 2006 survey of 1,300 students at a public high school in Needham, Massachusetts found that 58% of the students surveyed reported between a great deal of stress and extreme stress due to homework (Bennett and Kalish). Many students in today’s time, have so many things to do that it is difficult for them to come home, only to have to finish five to six hours of homework. This, with the added effects of after school activities and technology, only adds to the stress that is put on students.
I mean the pressure kicks in as soon as you reach the age of 13. You 're trying to get into that big fancy private school with a castle as the cafeteria. But guess what? You’re one of those lucky kids who needs a full scholarship to attend this school and if you don’t get that scholarship... guess what? You’re not going. So I guess you start carrying things when you’re in like elementary school. You have to make sure you get a pretty good grade on all of your tests because every single point out of that 100 counts. And don’t forget the bonus points too! And then there’s the MCAS and the ISEE and you have to score high on those exams or else you won’t get into that school you like or maybe it’s your parents that like it but it doesn’t matter. But yes, the pressure is quite overwhelming. I can still remember that moment when your exam score comes in the mail. It’s been a few weeks since you have taken the test and you know the mail is coming any day now. You’re at school and you can’t think about anything else but this. Your parents probably aren’t going to listen to you and will open the mail before you come home from
Are the new standards and expectations the world has for teenagers really creating monsters? The amount of stress that is put on students these days between trying to balance school, homework, extra curricular activities, social lives, sleep and a healthy lifestyle is being considered a health epidemic (Palmer, 2005). Students are obsessing over getting the grades that are expected of them to please those that push them, and in return, lose sleep and give up other aspects of their lives that are important to them, such as time with friends and family, as well as activities that they enjoy. The stress that they endure from the pressures of parents, teachers, colleges, and peers has many physical as well as mental effects on every student, some more harmful than others. The extreme pressure on students to get perfect grades so that they will be accepted into a college has diminished the concept of actually learning and has left the art of “financing the system” in order to succeed in its place (Palmer, 2005).
Students when given the freedom to choose the courses to study, they will choose what is not a burden to them, but a challenge. Each person knows their knowledge, level of understanding and which course to study, after self evaluation when freedom of choosing their classes is granted. In addition, the student considers the subjects to be studied that will not overwhelm them. The product of being burdened by the course as a whole is that they will physically struggle and, mentally will not be at relaxed. The struggle is mostly caused by long classes that the student cannot handle and, lots of homework that eats up a lot of time meant for independent study.