I’ve been trying to find the right moment to write the article but I’ve been struggling, and the reason? Stress. Pressure. Constant work, whether that be revision; homework; physical activity; family events - the list goes on. Of course I appreciate that in the great scheme of things having to do the laundry every night or writing up notes isn’t exactly impossible, but let’s take a look at why, at 15, I am expected to have time to manage school work, extra curricular activities and a social life while also making decisions that will affect and mould my future.
Starting with the new GCSE system. When the A to G letter grading was in place last year (2016), almost 70% of students in the UK scored a C or above, leaving expectations high for all coming years. These may not have been so hard to live up to had the grading system stayed the same; yet here is the fact a lot of people seem to be ignoring: it didn’t. It is now a lot harder to get such high marks, especially the top level 9 that people are wrongly calling the ‘new A*’. The problem with a new system holding as high standards as this one is that we, that being students, teachers and parents alike, have nothing to compare it to. This causes a world of pressure to be thrown upon a nation of 16 year olds.
On top of this, the tests are actually becoming harder. Maths in particular has been reported as much more difficult, and it is claimed that it is a lot trickier to get a level A*-C than it had been previously. This could prove a problem as a lot of employers require at least a C in maths GCSE, which is a request much harder for students to live up to than had been previously.
As if this wasn’t enough, our tests will be marked in according to those of students across the country. This completely goes against the message to try as hard as you can to reach your own potential by making it a nationwide competition. Consider for a moment how damaging this can be to a student’s self-esteem…with a mentality already placed under reams of stress, surely we want to help alleviate this burden rather than add to the load?
This leads me to my final point…pressure. Something I fail to understand is how we have not yet realised the best thing adults can do for children and adolescents, besides educate them, is support them. We are in some of the most important years of our lives; making decisions and memories said to affect the rest of our lives, and all we hear is “if you fail your GCSEs you won’t get the job you want” or “if you don’t get into uni no one will respect you”. What we need to hear is “try your hardest” and “you are too young for the choices you make to define you forever” and “do not worry about mistakes; everything is recoverable”.
Essentially what I am trying to say here is this: we understand the importance of hard work and how this reflects in exam results; we get that what we learn now will ultimately shape us into the adults we become - but let’s not forget that, at the end of the day, we’re just kids. Give us the chance to live a little before we get shut down and drowned with expectations. Let us discover our futures ourselves with your support and motivation; not your high standards and unachievable goals.
