School. Referred to as the “best days” of the lives of those who have already left school. Where they made friends, memories and managed to live through 13 years of school to gain the qualifications they need to go further in life. Though, for some, this isn’t the case as they don’t achieve the grades they want, that’s 13 years of years of education, gone to waste in multiple one-and-a-half-hour exams.
13 years. That’s 4748 days. Only to fail. 4748 days to only stress about what your next move will be. Stressing where you go next. What will you do next? Bad grades aren’t something employers will be looking for. And so, you stress. But you get a job. Granted, it’s not a high paid job. But you can live with it. Enter: financial problems. If you don’t have a well-paid job, how will you pay for your living? Stress. Enter: children. You cannot always afford their living as well as yours. After all, children are only economic liabilities. To raise the average child, from birth to the age of 17 is £229, 251. You’re forced to cling onto your job until the next opportunity comes by. But until then. All you can hope for is that you can afford what you’re buying. Stress.
But say you succeed. Say you achieve your As and A*s. You go further in life. Get the job of your dreams. But wait. The higher paid jobs are the most stressful. Of course, you can afford whatever you want. But will you be living in ease and happiness? Will you be able to live in the comfortable haven you had bought with the money you had made? With all that work you must complete in a few days’ time gnawing at the back of your mind? But you can afford what you want. Look at all you’ve achieved. No one can tell you to slow down if you’re at the top. But with that power comes the pressure. And with that pressure comes the stress. The stress to keep everything in order or the chances of losing your job heightens. Pressure. Stress.
Both pressure and stress. It’s like you can never get away from it. Whether you did bad or you did good in your school life. No matter if you were “popular”, a “nerd” or a “rebel”. You end up in the same state of mind. One of stresses and anxieties.
Maybe that’s why anxiety disorders are the most common of all mental diseases and many experts have noted that they have been seeing a rise in levels of anxiety and the incidence of anxiety disorders in both adults and teenagers. To the point where the average student in a secondary school today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the early 1950s. The population is seemingly becoming more anxious every decade. Possible reasons for this increase and most of it would come down to the decrease of “social connectedness”. We tend to move around more, change jobs, participate less in civic organisations and with the increase of secularism, these factors contributing to worry, uncertainty, anxiety and depression. Our options are laid out in front of us but there are so many ways to get to one destination and so, for some, this makes us indecisive. Uncertain. What if this is the wrong option? Our longing for perfection and the fear of failure creates a veil over our eyes, blinding us from the simplicity of the situation.
And it doesn’t help that unwelcome news surrounds us. Turn on your TV and you immediately see the latest catastrophe. Especially when these disasters are happening in “real time”. Bad news sells, and it convinces us that we can never be safe. Even though we live longer, have better healthcare, travel safer, are richer. We always think there is something to worry about. Something to be anxious about. We’re not in danger. It’s all in our heads.
So why is the average age for those effected by anxiety disorders are of a school age? From those I had talked to, former students can’t believe that children as young as 12 can be affected by an anxiety disorder. Because the young are now surrounded with technology that has seemingly made everything “easier” for us. Unaware that the rise of technology and social media has only created an irrational image of perfection in our minds. The constant need for perfection is everlasting. Never will it stop. Never will we be relinquished from the influence of technology and social media. Two extremely powerful mediums where, for some, our anxieties build off of.
And it doesn’t help that we’re asked what we want to become from young ages. Sometimes creating unreachable standards so high we can’t reach and gradually settling for something more mundane than becoming an astronaut fighting aliens on Mars.
Of course, everyone faces a little bit of stress and anxiety of their own. However, this becomes a problem when it gets in the way of functioning at the optimal level. Teenagers are most likely to face social anxiety than any other age group. This would then cause problems such as when it affects our self-esteem and confidence. Teenagers are more likely to withdraw and go to great lengths to avoid things or situations that make them feel anxious.
When spoken to, teenagers from my school, didn’t mind sharing their opinions on the “irrational” amount of pressure on them. 97% of higher achievers had said that they feel as though the constant need to achieve with the best grades when the amount of prejudice against them in schools are extremely high. Both from lower achieving students and teachers. All of whom say that they’re given all the opportunities possible, everything is laid out in front of them and they still aren’t grateful enough to work with what they are given. For example, 93% of these students had said that school has affected their mentalities negatively, and one student had even muttered about how “someone should tell them how hard this is.”
Although high achieving students are seemed to be effortlessly intelligent, one had been brave enough to share that they “go home feeling completely drained. Both mentally and physically. It’s like I can’t rest properly anymore. Especially that I’m now in year 11. I feel like there’s so much pressure and stress drowning me. My friends have noticed the difference in my attitude and behaviour. In one month of year 11, I had gone from being funny and peppy to becoming an extremely dark personality. My friendship group has deteriorated, and I feel as though I’m clinging onto my grades and friends. And even then, I feel as though I don’t ever want to see my friends after this year. It’s like I can’t trust anyone anymore. Everyone is paranoid and the lack of sleep I’ve been facing from everything is only making everything worse. I just want to scream until I explode and then I want to cry. But then people would say that I’m a quitter. And I am not a quitter. I’m going to get through this year. Even it kills me. I’m going to get through this and I’m going to get the grades I want. What comes next is what comes next.”
However, one student had said that they “believe school for the majority of my time has been positive but then again school favours people like me, I guess. Who are capable of thriving in environments of pressure and stress. For people who struggle in social situations and academic situations and have behavioural issues at school, it’s not the easiest place to get through and the system is flawed and favours a certain of student and so, yes, for me, school has been a positive experience for me but there had been times where I’ve come home and cried and I’m supposed to be someone who expected to thrive and I can’t imagine how some people might feel in the morning when they have to go to school.”
Whereas, 63% of lower ability students had said they were stressed about their futures, they didn’t seem to have as much of a range of answers apart from the common, “I need to get through my education or how else will I make money?”
Overall, when asked about what they think is the main source of their anxiety, students as well as the minority of former students had said that school has caused them to become anxious even though they had made many good memories and friends over the years.
Saima Ali
The Sydney Russell School
