Throughout a student’s educational journey, the sole reflection of their academic ability becomes a letter and number in their gradebook. The increasing pressure to do well leads to detrimental effects on students’ mental health.
In the pursuit of a better grade, students are facing increasingly overwhelming pressure and stress that lead to a deterioration in their mental health. As academic pressure intensifies, students face rising levels of anxiety, depression, and burnout.
A 2019 research conducted by Pew Research Center concluded the leading source of pressure in teens were academics with 61% of teens reporting they feel a lot of pressure to receive good grades. The pressure that only grows factors into chronic stress in teens– teens who are at one of the most vulnerable periods of their life to developing anxiety and depression according to an article published by nbcnews.com
“I think the biggest thing I see is burnout… By junior year, they [students] are extremely stressed, depressed, burnt-out and don’t understand why they’re not able to keep up anymore,” mental health specialist, Michelle Ballard said.
Additionally, despite being the only measure used in school academics, grades fail to take into account the different learning abilities and external factors of students. This system leads to feelings of frustration and inferiority in students. As the negative emotions pile up, sleep becomes derived and relationships lost.
“People don’t realize that everyone has their own thing… Some are strong in science, some are strong in math, and there are some who are strong at everything… And the thing is too, when people compare their grades, everyone’s life is different. Some people, all they have is school. It’s all they do. They don’t work, no extracurriculars. It’s just school. Other kids have extra-curriculars, they might have a job. So obviously they don’t have the time to have as good a GPA as somebody else. It’s not that they’re not as smart, they don’t have the
time to put as much time into school as other people. So everyone is kind of in different situations,” mental health specialist, Franklyn Belsey said.
Those who support the grading system argue that grades are needed in order to motivate students to strive for better and meet their full potential. However, while grades may serve as a source of motivation for some, they also limit many students. The overemphasis on grades can lead students to fear failure and avoid challenges, take fewer risks, limiting their learning opportunities.
“I do care about my grades because I want to do well in school and pass…they [my parents] put a lot of money into my education and they want me to do well. Well, it [grades] determines success, but I don’t think it determines who you are,” freshman Maryan Mohamud said.
While grades have traditionally been perceived as a necessary measure of success, the negative impact they have on students can no longer be overlooked. A shift towards a less stressful but more comprehensive method of assessments is needed to foster a healthier learning environment that promotes both mental health and academic success. As the widely acclaimed theoretical physicist Albert Einstein said, “Every man is a genius but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb trees, it will spend the rest of its life believing that it’s stupid.”
