My
parents always told me, “Study hard, get straight A’s, and maybe you’ll
go to a good college.” I didn't see any reason not to. I stuck my face
in those geometry textbooks and began studying the minute I open it.
From time to time, I knew it would be worth it. I would obtain a perfect
quiz score by my teacher. However, there were times that it felt as if
the world crushed me. I once got a seventy-three on my English Language
Test, and I panicked crazily. Everyone else got eighties or nineties. I
was in paranoia. I hid it until I went to a social worker about this
issue. What would my parents think? Would this ruin my chances to go to a
good college?
Overtime,
I gradually moved on from the issue. However, even though I do have a
good number of A’s on my report card anyways, I’m still a little bit
stressed out about this one dreaded B+ I get. Unfortunately, I cannot be
the only one who has an issue with straight A’s. There must are people
out there whose sole purpose in high school is to become part of the top
five students in their schools; get straight A+’s and score a perfect
2400 on the SAT’s.These students, including me, are ruining their high
school lives by worrying too much about obtaining perfect grades.
What
could happen if a student spends too much time on studying? Let’s say
the average high school student has a curfew of 10:00. If the average
high school student goes to high school for the eight hours, has a club
to attend to for a hour, and a sports game that can last for at least
two hours to four hours, then the student only has four hours to do
anything he needs to do. If we also take into account the amounts of
homework, any other activities, school projects, and chores, that time
can be cut in half, and there is very little time for true leisure time.
To some, this is alright; some can handle the stress easily than
others. Most of the time, students will end up losing some of their
sleep if they choose to study.
One
of the most influential assets are parents. If my parents stressed
straight A’s, then most likely many others will stress the same thing.
However, it depends on how much they stress it. If they’re flexible with
their child’s grades, then it’s nothing to worry about. However, if
physical threats and emotional abuse starts to kick in when their
child’s grades starts to drop, it only adds to the stress tremendously.
According to a 2013 Harvard study, out of ten thousand students, 80% of
them agreed that their parents value personal achievement and perfect
grades over being a good person. That’s sixteen thousand students’
parents! Colleges also influence student stress. When my parents said,
“Go to a good college,” my first thought was: Harvard, MIT, Stanford;
all the Ivy League Colleges that are difficult to enter. The thought
that students wish to be the best of the best surely is motivating, but
exhausting! When he or she pushes to an unknown limit, it harms the
mentality and physical state of that being. They have not yet accepted
that only a handful of students are admitted into these Ivy League
Colleges, even though hundreds of thousands of applications are filed
into Ivy Leagues. But Math is Math; just as much as Science is Science!
There is little difference in these topics, and students will not get a
different version of quantum mechanics if they attend Harvard or Boston
University.
Most
of the time, some stress is actually normal when confronting tasks.
However, students go overboard with the stress when they also want to
get straight A’s. There are plenty of students who take multiple sports,
have jobs, and hobbies they want to do. All these activities add to the
stress. But if they are willing to go for straight A’s and study for
that one quiz when they come home at 9:00, it doesn't get any better.
According to a study conducted in Uni High Illinois, when students are
faced with huge academic stress, 63% of those who've taken the survey
actually procrastinate, and 35% have panic attacks. When the survey
asked for sleep hours, an average of 65% of the entire 856 students
studied have said that they do not have enough sleep to take on the
academic pressure given to them. When these students look back and
reflect on what they did in their high school careers, most likely they
will focus on the negative part of their life. Yes, he did manage to get
a 2240 on the SAT, and straight A’s and no A-’s, but at what cost?
Either that student really does just gets good grades anyways, or he
probably worked his butt off to get those grades. Most of the time,
that’s a good thing. But if this student sacrificed going to the movies
with friends or going to science club and doing rocket science, it isn't
worth it! According to a guest post by Jon Morrow, he said he’d rather
spend 20-30 hours a week studying to get B’s than spend his usual 30-50
hours a week studying and getting those good grades. According to him,
he neglected his friends and parties constantly to study in the library,
which he describes as mentally painful.
An excerpt from Twentysomething: Why I regret getting straight A’s in College:
“If
I could do it all over again, I would spend less time in the library
and more time at parties. I would have 50 friends, not 3. I would be
known for “the guy that knows everyone,” not “the smartest guy in
class.” Not only because it would’ve been more fun, but because I would
still be friends with most of those people now and would have access to
the networks they’ve developed over the last four years.”
Jon Morrow, December 4th, 2007
But
what can people, especially students, do in order to lower their
expectations? Everyone’s brain is wired to do the absolute best they can
be, but sometimes it’s too much for them. The end result is to lower
the student’s expectations of themselves by a moderate amount.
Influences by grade inflation, colleges, parents, and especially
students themselves, isn't easy to change. The key solution is to not
have students excessively compare each other in the ranks. Students may
feel a need to compete with others for valedictorian or a spot in the
Ivy Leagues. The idea of dominating school and being one of the top
students is not new, but it’s still effective. The solution proposes
that students should have some sort of reassurance in school, knowing
that the B+ they got in English Class is alright. If it is 10:00 P.M. and the student is faced with going to sleep or studying, the student should focus on sleeping. The solution is not to take away the importance of good grades overall. Teachers should find ways to combat the current corruption of grade inflation, or the expectations of grades that has been rising.
Sources:
"Which Matters More: Good Grades or Good Kids?" Today. CBS News, 25 June 2014. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.
"Is Getting Straight A's in College Overrated?" StudentsOver30. N.p., Dec.-Jan. 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.
Hudson, Paul. "Getting An 'A' Is Overrated: Why Success In The Real World Is More Important Than In The Classroom." Elite Daily. Elite Daily, Dec.-Jan. 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.
Broogard, Berit. "Academic Stress and Its Relation to Anxiety in College Students | The Classroom | Synonym." The Classroom. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.
Powell, Kathryn. "Stressed and Obsessed Part 5: The Effects of Stress on Student Life | Online Gargoyle." Gargoyle RSS. The Online Gargoyle, 3 May 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
Image Sources:
Simpson, Jack. "Category: Maximize Your Grades." StopStudentStress Maximize Your Grades Category. N.p., 10 July 2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
Britz, Jacqueline, and Eric Pappas. "Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences." Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences. James Madison University, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
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