We’ve all been through some form of education at one point or another. Regardless of if the experience was positive or negative, not many people can deny that there was and is pressure to get good grades, get a job that pays well and overall to get a “nice” life. But is the way schools are Pestering us to get high grades really acceptable?
School does help us develop socially and provide us with some understanding to the world but sometimes that can not excuse the amount of children and teenagers calling youngminds helpline, childline and getting counselling. In 2010/2011 39% of youngminds calls where from 16 to 17 year olds about exam pressure and 12-15 year olds where most likely to be counselled by childline. The fact that teenagers and even children who are around 4 years away from their gcses are stressing over them is insane. We spend a large amount of our lives in education, primary and secondary school alone take up around 13 years of our lifes and we shouldn’t have to spend so much of that time miserable and tense.
It’s easy to understand why schools would put this pressure on us. We are being prepared for one of the biggest tests that we will ever go through. Some people may even say it decides if we work within a company or own one. And who doesn’t want to succeed in life and potentially get their dream job? Exams also give a somewhat accurate understanding of every students ability. On top of that exams force us to revise which means that we memorize what we learn and that can help out a lot for future careers, hobbies and more.
Putting all that aside, you don’t need the constant pressure and anxiety to revise and succeed. In exams a lot of us get stressed and we end up rushing and due to the huge burden, many students might not preform to the best of their ability. I'm not implying that we should completely ban tests all together but there’s most likely a more suitable way of handling the whole situation that doesn’t require all this strain.
