Hi there. With this education post, I would like to cover the topic of pressures that students face.
Topics
- Pressures From Parents
- Peer Pressure
Pressures From Parents
Education can be seen as an investment into a child's future. What I mean by future it would be referring to getting into a good school and securing a stable and good paying job. It is good for parents to want their kid(s) to do well in school to increase to likelihood of success.
Some parents take it a bit too far when it comes to wanting their kid(s) to do well. There could be an expectation and/or even a push for the child to go after a certain profession or career. The child may not want to choose a career that the parent(s) want them to do. If someone does not want to be a lawyer/pharmacist/doctor/accountant/teacher/scientist/pro-athlete then the kid does not want to do regardless of how smart or skilled they are.
Sometimes High Grades Can Be Difficult
I do not think there is anything wrong with parents to see what kind of grades their kid(s) are getting. Parents should get an idea how their children are doing in school, which subjects are good, which subjects are not so good. There are cases where parents expect high marks like A grades (80%) all the time. This high expectation may not be realistic. Some subjects could be actually difficult, a certain teacher could make a course harder than it should be, bad test taking could affect grades or there is the case of the student not being good enough.
Return On Investment Type Of Mindset
Students may not realize how much money and time is spent on education from their parents. Public schools in my area are tax funded but there is also additional spending for education in the form of supplies, technology, tutoring sessions, after-school learning & extracurriculars and private schools. The parents who spend a lot of money of their kids and find out that their kid(s) are not doing well in school may re-evaluate the family finances. Maybe the tutoring sessions are not working, maybe the kid(s) is distracted, maybe the school courses are unnecessarily difficult. For these type of parents it is seen as a waste of money if thousands of dollars are spent for helping the child but the results are not there or if the child is not trying.
You can talk about the return on investment type of mindset when it comes to university and college programs. That is a different topic.
Peer Pressure
Peer pressure is tough for students. There is the pressure to fit in, to be cool, to be liked, to be accepted, to not be judged harshly and the list goes on. I have heard of a female student complaining about her friends shaming her for being stupid and not being able to pass math. The constant shaming got to her and this student started to have confidence issues with mathematics. The so-called friends were not supportive of her.
There are times when friends and acquaintances may have expectations of what you should be or what you can be suited for. They may not know of alternate career choices, the economy, the labour market or even what you want to do. Friends could say that you are suited for this career but you want that career instead. Some advice that is given may be in good intentions but it could actually be dangerous. It is up to student when it comes to their own education, career and future.
