Most of us will have come across students who have become victims of mental stress caused the pressure to perform. Parents, relatives, peers and the society at large been largely to blame for this. I have come across parents who pressurize their children to score well in summative exams. Children studying in grades eleven and twelve are forced to go for tuitions, coaching classes, and prepare for entrance exams. They would rather prepare for their entrance exams, college applications than complete their projects, the marks of which are added to the final scores at the twelfth grade board results.
We are as parents, peers, and the society is driving our students towards burn out! We have forced our children to give more importance to coaching classes, entrance exams, college applications than to completing their school projects on time. Parents have put on too much pressure on their children to excel in studies so that they can join well known universities both in the country and abroad. Parents want their children to become doctors, engineers, chartered accountants, not realizing that by putting undue pressure on their children, they are robbing their children of the joy of being themselves.
Forcing children into a veritable rat-race has led to mental health problems. When an otherwise brilliant student is forced to take up a course that is not according to his or her interest then we causing him or her undue stress. Our obsession with excellence, irrational expectations, and the pressure to perform well in exams is robbing our children of their right to celebrate childhood. What is happening is that children are being forced into adulthood much before they are mentally prepared. You can't have everyone getting admission in Harvard and that doesn't mean that those who don't will have successful careers!
There have been instances students of grade eleven taking a whole week off from school just because they were preparing for an entrance exam. Another grade 12 student told me that she wouldn't be able to submit her project because she was working on her college applications. Another student of mine is into so many things at same time that she remains confused all the time. Though a brilliant student she seems to lose track of what is being done in class. This obsession for grades, admission in good colleges, leadership positions within the school and a general desire to be popularity is creating mental health problems in students.
Why don't teach our children to prioritize tasks? Why are we forcing our children into a rat race? Why don't we train our children to take one thing at a time? Taking too many responsibilities at the grade 11 and grade twelves might impact their performances in summative exams. Anything that detracts from studies can only add to negative stress levels in students. Unfortunately students are hard pressed for time and the quality of submissions of projects, home work suffers. Undue pressure on students to excel in multiple fields by parents and peers has created more harm than good.
The pressure to perform in multiple fields is leading to a lack of focus on studies. Confusion, deteriorating concentration and overall distraction results in mental blocks often requiring the need to visit councilors. Doing too many things at the same time or multi-tasking erodes the quality of work submitted. The saying, 'Jack of all trades, master of none', an age old proverb, is as relevant today as it was in the past.
We are living in the IT age which has contributed to what is known as information surfeit. The use of technology has promoted the culture of multitasking. Only few students are able to cope with the stress of multitasking and that is because they have mastered the art of prioritizing, microplanning and macroplanning. Few students are able to tackle the stress of multitasking and the pressure to perform exceptionally well in studies.
The unfortunate fact is that we are driving our students too hard! Most of us put undue demands on our children. We want them to be involved in cultural activities, take up student leadership roles and yet perform exceptionally well in exams. We expect our children to study in best institutions, we expect them to land up jobs that pay very good salaries. Parents often expect their children to cover up for their own deficiencies and failings. This obsession for success in entrance exams, cent per cent marks in the final board needs to be curbed. We are asking for too much in our children and it augurs ill in the long term!
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