Grade A Failure

Anxiety affects everyone differently. Some just feel anxious from time to time, while others struggle to cope with their anxiety on the daily. For instance, in my case, anxiety causes me to have stomach aches. I tried to help ease my stomach aches by healing my physical self. I would try to remedy myself by changing my diet and exercising more often. After no change, I soon realized the root of my pain was coming from the state of my mental health. I was soon diagnosed with OCD, anxiety, and depression. While trying to improve my mental health, I tried to identify the biggest stress factors in my life. I soon realized my biggest stress point was school. The constant pressure of succeeding and the fear of underachieving was paralyzing. Getting good grades was ruining my mental health. And in return, my mental health was ruining my physical health. As I entered high school, I soon noticed that many of my classmates suffered from the same way of thinking and feeling. Getting good grades is bad for today’s students.

The anxiety that comes along with constantly overachieving from getting good grades is not beneficial. Today’s high school students are suffering from school-related anxiety and parents are concerned. NPR’s Patti Neighmond states, “Almost 40 percent of parents say their high schooler is experiencing a lot of stress from school, according to a new NPR poll conducted with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.” Parents are noticing that school-related stress is affecting their children’s mental health negatively. High school is incredibly less intense than college. So why are high schoolers so stressed? Arguably, the biggest stressor for a high schooler today is maintaining a good GPA and transcript to be accepted into a good college.

High school students aren’t just taking math, social studies, and English anymore. Today’s students are taking AP U.S. History, AP Calculus, and college-level English classes- all at the same time. Taking these classes allows a student’s GPA to be above the normal 4.0. Colleges today look for those overachievers, leaving those who aren’t ready for college-level classes in high school to be already left behind. College itself is an idea forced on children as early as elementary school. In today’s society, if you don’t go to college, you are a loser. This is why most students push themselves so hard to become academically advanced. But, for a high schooler, school is not the only thing in a teenager’s life, and it shouldn’t be. Most high schoolers are in extracurricular curriculums such as sports, have a job, and or just want some downtime to hang out with their friends. All these activities are needed as stress relief to keep a healthy mind; however, today’s students simply do not have the time. In today’s society, the push and hustle of balancing high-level courses and extracurricular activities is what leads to academic success, which leads to financial success. Through today’s culture, students are also taught that financial success is all that matters. However, it’s clear, that the message that high schoolers are getting is that doing your best is simply not enough.

One might think that getting accepted into a good college is an end to the school stress, that college is the end all be all. That might be the case for some students but not for all. For those students who continue to suffer from school-related stress, their mental health will continue to worsen. Higher Insider Ed acknowledges this notion by saying, “More specifically, the stress children, teenagers, and college-age students feel about grades along with the pressure they experience from parents and teachers are directly linked to the widely reported mental health crisis in these age groups”. This quote acknowledges the link between college students and bad mental health. Untreated mental health problems in young individuals can be detrimental. Sadly, school stress has even led to students committing suicide. Higher Insider Ed writes about Worchester Polytechnic Institute having three students commit suicide within a year. WPI is known for its rigorous STEM program which all three students were a part of. A once-praised program is now being looked at as having unrealistic expectations for today’s students. It is not misleading to say that the difficult program is what led to these students choosing to end their own lives. After the death of the three students, WPI acknowledged the need for more mental health support on campus. Normalizing being average in today’s society could save lives.

Along with taking high-level courses comes intense grading. For my classmates and I to get A’s on the tests and quizzes, we should do our homework and be active listeners while in class. In return, the teacher then grades our work and assigns a letter grade to the assignment. What if we do all of the above, but still end up getting a bad grade? This exact situation is happening more and more in today’s society. Today’s grading system’s outdated practices are causing students to fail.

Most assignments are graded with the possibility of getting 0-100 points. Feldman describes the issue with this way of grading by saying, “Over half of our grading scale is an F, and if we assume a C grade signifies minimum attainment of course standards, then over two-thirds of our grading scale describes insufficient performance, and only one-fifth of the scale describes academic success (A or B).” This quote signifies that it is only a small percentage of the whole 100 points that is considered to be a “good grade.” It is worth noting that most institutions allow a student to pass a course with a letter score of D. However, in most institutions, if the course is mandatory for a major, a student must achieve a C or higher. With this way of grading, with assignments that weigh the same, a low grade can ruin your grade. If a student were to miss or forget about one assignment, a 0% grade could take your grade from a B to a D. One single grade could do a lot of damage overall. The possibility of one or a few low percentage grades could ruin a student’s final grade. This type of grading system focuses on the failures of students and makes it incredibly difficult for a student to bring their grades back up. This dilemma can cause students to give up and lose hope of succeeding in the class.

The purpose of homework is to work on and go over what was learned in class. Homework is supposed to be a helpful and supplemental aspect of schoolwork. However, when grading homework based on completion, the opposite effect happens. A high schooler interviewed by Feldman says, “If I don’t do the work then it affects me big time. That’s why some of us copy, not because we want to be lazy, but because our grade depends on it.” This type of grading is showing that it doesn’t matter if you understand the lesson at the end of the day, it only matters if there are answers on a piece of paper. If a student is behind in a lesson or two, it becomes harder for the student to catch up without completing homework on a lesson he/she has missed. It becomes tempting for the student to copy their friend’s homework, rather than lose points for a small assignment.

A similar concept to homework grading is a participation grade. Some teachers grade how often you speak in class, go up to the board, and participate in pair and share. This type of grading is problematic for two reasons. The first reason is that some students have anxiety when it comes to speaking up in front of the whole class. It is unfair to penalize a student who has a legitimate fear and learns better being by themselves. The second reason is that the classroom becomes hostile rather than collaborative. Students become focused on talking rather than sitting back and listening. With this grade, students are expected to perform in every class.

These types of practices are outdated for today’s students. The grading system is why students are under the constant stress of failing. Schools and educators are starting to notice the effect the grading system has on their students. Amanda Parish Morgan writes, “But a more progressive argument can be made for eliminating grades, or at least grades as we understand them…” Morgan is acknowledging that some educators already have changed the system by which they grade their students. Morgan writes about how a teacher grades their students’ assignments by how much effort was given and how well the assignment was executed. Morgan suggests that this type of grading encourages the student to learn and diminishes stress. Lory Hough writes “A better grading system allows for multiple attempts of content mastery.” This method allows students to try and try again until they succeed. This grading system would allow the student to learn their material and determine the grade they want by how much effort they put into the redone assignments.

Those opponents against the elimination of the current grading system sometimes get the wrong idea of what that means. Some might think this new system is “hippie-like” or “for the weak”. However, it is proved by ASCD that, “75 percent of students reported that they always or often feel stressed by their schoolwork.” This statistic shows that 3/4 of today’s students are being failed by the current grading system. Although school should be challenging, this statistic shows that today’s students need a change in their mental health.

It is common for the older generations to critique Gen Z and millennials for being too sensitive. That “kids” now have it too easy. A particular subject of discussion for the older generation is how education has changed over the years. Grandpas around the world are used to telling their grandchildren that they have to walk five miles in the snow to get to school. They feel as though younger generations are too soft these days. Mental health and its severities are greatly contested amongst all age groups. Anxiety and depression from school could be all made up.

College is typically a time when students try to find out who they are. College kids experiment and try to find their place in the world. For the first time, many students are living out from under the watch of their parents. Parents play a crucial role in their child’s development. Psychology Today’s Diane E Dreher suggests that over-controlling parents are to blame for their child’s school-related anxiety. Dreher writes, “They frantically package them for success, protecting their children from failure while pressuring them to excel, doing their homework, making their decisions, and micromanaging their lives.” Dreher is commenting on how some parents choose to parent their children. She feels as though the parents are to blame for school-related anxiety. There is no argument that parents cause school-related stress for their children due to the pressure. However, it is called into question whether the parents are making their children “soft” which causes them to be overly anxious students. Or, if school is really that hard for the students of today, regardless of the way the children were parented.

Dreher furthers her stance by saying, “They experience greater distress and adjustment difficulties, putting overwhelming demands on college counseling centers.” Dreher is acknowledging that college-aged kids have stress. Nowadays colleges have counseling and wellness centers. This concept can be lost on the older generation who maybe had a nurse/doctor on campus. Dreher is taking the responsibility of good mental health off the school and onto the student. Dreher is blaming the students for overcrowding the school counselors. By blaming the students, she is inferring that it is today’s students that are the issue. That too many of them are having mental health issues.

When college kids do see the counselors, the counselors are ready to diagnose. Rutter and Mintz from Inside Higher Ed said, “Institutions, especially the best-funded, have grown increasingly responsive to the psychological problems on their campuses – a response intensified by liability concerns.” These writers are alluding to the notion that highly funded colleges are succumbing to the illusions of today’s students out of liability concerns. Rutter and Mintz are taking away the severity of bad mental health in college students. These authors are alluding that these counselors are just going along with the act to cover their asses.

For people who have trauma and anxiety with certain subjects, a trigger warning is issued. For example, when discussing sexual assault or discrimination in a public setting like a college, a trigger warning could be issued. However, some people are suggesting that trigger warnings have gone overboard on college campuses. The Atlantic’s Greg Lukianoff and Johnathan Haidt say, “A movement is arising, undirected and driven largely by students, to scrub campuses clean of words, ideas, and subjects that might cause discomfort or give offense.” These authors are acknowledging that there has recently been more support for removing potential “offensive” language and thinking from institutions. These authors are concluding that today’s kids are just too sensitive. The notion that “nobody can take a joke anymore” has overtaken some. Rutter and Mintz write, “Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Maher have publicly condemned the oversensitivity of college students, saying too many of them can’t take a joke.” Comedians who are brought to schools to bring laughter are refusing to attend due to the sensitivity on campus.

The authors and quotes I have cited bring up good points but ultimately, they are biased. Parenting has indeed changed over the years. Parental figures get locked up now for hitting and giving “tough love” to their children. In response, new ways of parenting have taken place such as not saying no or letting children make their own decisions and deal with the consequences. And it is true to say that today’s society is becoming more woke. Protests and politics are at an all-time high and people are very passionate and defensive of their views. In a diverse place such as college, people are bound to bash heads with one another. With all these truths, it could be concluded that due to parenting and today’s society, the younger generation is just weaker. However, all these factors do not take away from the anxiety and depression students are experiencing at school and about their grades. Whichever way the child was brought up, does not take away from the stress that the school system is placing on them as young adults. Mental health is suffering in exchange for a career. Today’s millennials and Gen Zers are living in a different world. It is unrealistic to not notice the changes of the times which leads the younger generation to be more sensitive.

I have always been the type to get good grades. Even in elementary school, when it honestly didn’t matter, I got straight As on my report card. All my hard work paid off and I was accepted into college and even qualified for a merit-based scholarship. As I look back at my academic career, I wonder if it was all worth it. The short answer- no.

Parents, society, and institutions put too much emphasis on school. Today’s students are trying to take the best classes possible and keep good grades, all while trying to do everything else that is asked of them. Through the statistics given, it is obvious that today’s educational system is hurting students rather than helping them.

References

Dreher, Diane E. Why Are Today’s College Students So Emotionally Fragile? (n.d.). Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-personal-renaissance/201508/why-are-today-s-college-students-so-emotionally-fragile

Eyler, J. (2022, March 7). Grades Are at the Center of the Student Mental Health Crisis | Inside Higher Ed. http://Www.insidehighered.com. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/grades-are-center-student-mental-health-crisis

Feldman, J. (2020, September 1). Taking the Stress Out of Grading. ASCD. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/taking-the-stress-out-of-grading

Hough, L. (n.d.). The problem with grading. Harvard Graduate School of Education. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/ed-magazine/23/05/problem-grading

Lukianoff, G., & Haidt, J. (2015, September). The Coddling of the American Mind. The Atlantic; The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/

Morgan, Amanda Parrish. (2020, September 2). Is It Time to Reexamine Grading? JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/is-it-time-to-reexamine-grading/

Neighmond, P. (2013, December 2). School Stress Takes A Toll On Health, Teens And Parents Say. NPR.org; Patti Neighmond. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/12/02/246599742/school-stress-takes-a-toll-on-health-teens-and-parents-say

Rutter, Michael Patrick & Mintz, Steven. Higher Education Blogs | Blog U. (n.d.). http://Www.insidehighered.com. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-gamma/are-today%E2%80%99s-college-students-more-psychologically-fragile-past