Essay On Academic Pressure

Inio, Asano stated, “Even the hardest of things can shatter when one little crack appears.” This quote falls into the way how academic pressure affects students even if a student works hard the smallest amount of school pressure can shatter it all. The pressure of school has gradually made students' mental health decline and causes many after-effects that can lead to serious problems later on in the subsequent years like depression, anxiety, and decline of self-worth. While school should be a place where students can learn and improve themselves, it also comes with its downsides. When considering the downsides, schools have implemented unreasonable standards that pressure students, which can lead to chronic stress and mental illness.

First and foremost academic pressure is caused by the social implementations of you need to be successful and the only way to succeed in life is to immerse yourself into an environment that will slowly make you work yourself to the bone to meet those standards. Parents, teachers, peers, and the type of school you attend are many variables that affect students. Parents may put high expectations on their children that they need to get into an excellent school but to get into the school they want they need to get good grades. Teachers may tell their students that colleges want them to do rigorous courses so that they can be prepared for college-level classes. Your peers at school are trying to meet those expectations as well because that’s the standard that we have been told. Students feel this immense amount of pressure that their future is at stake if they do not achieve the grades they need. Students will cheat on tests and assignments even if it means defying the honor code. This mindset is unhealthy in a way it can hurt young children to exert themselves to accomplish things to fit into society’s stereotypical standards. This is why academic pressure is harmful because it makes standards that cause students to worry.

Furthermore, academic pressure can lead to chronic stress in students. The stress that comes with studying and pushing yourself to the limits is from the sense of panic and paralysis they feel. Students end up feeling stuck and questioning themselves, which then piles up even more stress than what they are already dealing with. Many kids might feel they can’t perform well at school because they’re lacking in some way than their peers. This leads to frustration that they feel when noticing they can’t keep up with their classmates. If you can't keep up with your classmates how can you succeed in life? These are the types of worries that wonder inside of a pressurized and stressed-out student. Not only that but homework comes into a factor as well. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Harvard School of Public Health stated “Almost 40% of parents say their high schooler is experiencing a lot of stress from school...In most cases, that stress is from academics, not social issues or bullying. The poll found homework was the leading cause of stress”. This concludes that homework plays into the stress that comes with school. To have good grades you need to do your assignments which include homework. Students have to worry about a variety of assignments for multiple classes. If they fail to do so their grades will drop. Numerous amounts of students have to deal with this amount of stress to succeed in their classes. There are too many demands coming from the education system. Most do not have the time and energy to meet those expectations that were assigned to them. The pressure and stress that comes with school can lead to serious problems down the road.

lastly, there are many other worries that also come from academic pressure and stress like depression. Unfortunately, many students end up collapsing from the immense amount of stress they have been dealing with. This can cause sleep deprivation, worrying, loss of interest in hobbies, eating disorders, burnout, or withdrawals from family and friends which are symptoms of depression. Many believe that a school is a place for kids to express themselves, challenge themselves, and find new interests Although this may be true, all of those statements can’t happen when the academic system is putting pressure on students. How can students enjoy school when most have to deal with many types of mental illnesses because the school system doesn't prioritize students well being, but instead make it worse by creating these absurd rankings and competitive schools. According to Suniya Luthur, a professor of psychology at Arizona state university explains that “The unrelenting pressure on students in high-achieving schools comes from every direction…..coaches who want wins for their own personal reputation  and school administrators who feel pressured to get high standardized scores in their school, which then prop up real estate values in the area.” This shows how schools and staff benefit from high scores and grades. The education system needs to change on how they enforce their criteria onto students just because they want benefits from having these nice scores and reputation. This pressure is solely put on to Students who have to study and force themselves to keep up just for the school’s benefit. A.W Geiger from Pew Research Center states that “Academic and social pressures are among the reasons cited by experts who have studied teen depression. About six-in-ten teens (61%) said they personally felt a lot of pressure to get good grades”. This data concludes that the academic system is flawed in many ways. Showing that kids go to school to feel stressed and that this ongoing exhaustion can deeply worsen their mental health. 

In summary, a school should be a place for students to enjoy their academics but in the end the academic pressure for good grades and to be successful has made a negative impact on students. To cause them to stress out and worsen their mental health because of the illogical standards that have been placed on young students.