The pressure society puts on our adolescents is extremely detrimental. In high school, I watched as many of my peers practically tortured themselves over grades, agonizing themselves over that last 0.1% that would determine whether they received an A or a B (the difference, they seemed to think, between receiving a UCLA acceptance letter or a rejection letter). I lost count of the number of times I had to console a friend after receiving an unwanted grade. On top of academic stress, bullying is easier than ever with technology. Teens can be targeted through a variety of medias. This in addition to the unrealistic expectations teenagers are expected to fulfill, it is no wonder why today’s teenagers are plagued with severe anxiety and depression.
The rise of severe anxiety in teenagers represents a paradigm shift in the expectations society holds for young adults. Throughout high school and even schooling before that, the focus of education is not to learn, but to get into the most prestigious college possible. This creates an extremely toxic environment; students start to obsess about their GPA’s, SAT and ACT scores, test grades, and the number of schools they receive application letters to. Instead of looking to actually learn and better themselves, teens tend to compare themselves to others, further basing their self worth on how they are doing academically compared to their friends and peers. With this shift in focus, teenagers often give their mental health little attention. The pressure to live up to the academic expectations given to them is an overwhelming burden, and one that is very capable of creating crippling anxiety and stress.
In the New York Times Article, “Why Are More American Teenagers Than Ever Suffering From Severe Anxiety,” Benoit Lewis analyzes teen anxiety by referencing a variety of examples in which teenagers were diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression, specifically those in the Mountain Valley program. This method proved to be effective in that the author had actual examples to base his claims off of instead of simply speculating. It provides a huge amount of credibility to his argument to include the real stories of teens that face the issues he has introduced in his article. This credibility is furthered by his choice to include interviews with the adolescents he has referenced; this gives the reader an essential insight to the issue and validates his call to action.
Lewis’s call to action is a simple one. Teens need to focus on their well being by balancing their workload and not overexerting themselves. In order to deconstruct the harmful expectations society holds for teens, it is essential to promote an environment in which young people are encouraged to actually better themselves.
Hey Lindsey,
I really relate to your personal experience with interacting with your friends and peers obsession with grades. I went to a prestigious private high school for the purpose of playing hockey, but ended up face to face with kids pushing themselves to the extremes for college acceptance letters. Some of these people were my close friends, and it was really hard to witness the detrimental effects that these unnecessary stressors had on them. It is absurd how caught up in the college admission process high school students are nowadays. I agree with you that there has been a dramatic shift in what high school students believe success is. I personally believe that there are many factors that have contributed to this shift. A college degree has become more necessary to have a career (which is another paradigm shift entirely), and so there is more pressure to get in and attend college. The messed up part is that a secondary education is more available now than it was 100 years ago because there are more schools, scholarships, and opportunities, and yet the process has become increasingly stressful. Prestige is one factor that pushes students toward the idea that only perfection is acceptable. Most students won’t just settle to attend college, they want to be accepted at their favorite university that will look better on their resume. The dangerous culture of competition is undeniable, but I fail to believe that it is necessary. I also think that it is somewhat of a domino effect, where if a group of students starts pushing themselves to unhealthy levels of stress to achieve academic perfection, more and more will feel pressured to join in that unhealthy behavior. I am interested to see if there will be a shift in the future away from this idea that success is measured by your grades and college acceptances. I sure hope there will be.
You mentioned that schools need to create an environment where students are encouraged to better themselves rather than be better than everyone else around them. I could not agree more, but what solution would you propose to combat this issue?
I can relate to what you said about high school and how kids would tear themselves apart trying to get straight A’s and be at the top of the class. I like that you talked about how early on, school is about learning but then as we grow up, it starts to be about how this is going to get you to the next place. I think we’re taught that college is the be all end all, but in reality, students are naive to think that where you go to undergrad is the determining factor in how successful you’ll be. It’s tough for kids when we’re constantly tested as really the only measure of ability because some of us just don’t learn that way. An environment that forces teens to outperform one another isn’t conducive to learning at all. It teaches us bad work ethic and that we’re worthless if we can’t keep up with it all.
That being said, I don’t think it’s just grades and school that cause us to have heightened anxiety these days. I remember last year, it was so hard to get an appointment with the guidance counselor because he was swamped with kids coming in for anxiety problems. I think we have busy schedules and are always forced to be “on” because of social media that forces us to compare ourselves to others at a constant rate, so where is there time to just be satisfied and content with our achievements at the moment and not be looking to what we can do to improve ourselves?