It seems that over time one thing never stops rising – competition. Compared to a generation ago, or even 15 or 10 years ago, the competition in today’s globalized world is much greater – and nowhere is this increasing intensity in competition more vividly seen than in the sphere of education. Throughout the world, children, adolescents, and teenagers are facing greater pressure than ever to achieve academic success, which is often defined by just a single score on a high-stakes test that determines everything for them. There is no doubt that among the nations of the world India ranks high on the list of nations with stressful educational systems. With almost unparalleled numbers of youth fighting hard for just a tiny number of seats available in top-flight institutions or a limited number of highly coveted jobs, India defines the phrase ‘fierce competition’. To be sure, all this academic pressure upon our young people is a problem in our country, to say the least. For proof of the seriousness of the issue, just consider one statistic – India has one of the world’s highest suicide rates among youth. In fact, every hour one student in India commits suicide. Even if this intense pressure doesn’t drive students to suicide, in many cases, it results in a host of negative psychological and physical consequences, including diarrhea, eating disorders, neck-aches, head-aches, stomach-aches, sleep deprivation, anxiety, and depression. Sadly for parents, children may often not even say anything when anxiety and stress take their toll on them, leaving parents in the dark about what is going on: ‘Anxiety can present differently in children than in adults. While adults are typically able to identify and express when they feel anxious, children may just complain of physical symptoms or not say anything at all’, explains Jason Schiffman, M.D., resident physician at the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA. Furthermore, it seems that kids are being placed in this academic pressure cooker at a younger age than ever before. 8, 9, 10 year olds are complaining of demands and expectations that were simply unheard of a generation ago or even in the relatively recent past. It seems that children as young as 8 years of age are facing tests and assignments that strike fear into their hearts. So now the big question is: what can parents do in this situation? Let’s get one thing clear first: parents are often a great part of the problem. All this pressure, in large part, is often the result of heavy parental expectations. Admittedly, parents are well-meaning. They only want what’s best for their children. They know what academic success means – it’s the key to the good life, to wealth, security, and happiness. So, they push their children hard, without realizing that they may be doing more harm than good. Many parents’ best efforts to bring out the best in their children may actually be backfiring. To be sure, no one is suggesting here that parents take their hands off and let their children abandon any sense of academic responsibility or engagement – absolutely not! Rather, the question is: how can parents help their children succeed academically, without putting too much pressure on their children and actually hurting their children’s performance? Perhaps one way is to help our children develop a passion for learning and in particular for a specific subject. The fear of failure will never motivate a student like a true and deep interest in learning. If parents can help their child discover a subject that truly interests them, they will have indeed done a great service to their child. A young person who truly enjoys vigorously delving into a subject will succeed eventually, even if he fails an exam or two in the process. Try to help your child discover what it is that he is good at and that really interests him, and foster his interest in innovative ways. Genuine interest in one subject may lead to an interest in many subjects and in learning in general, and before you know it, your son or daughter will be an energetic, happy student, who takes responsibility for his or her learning. What more could a parent want?
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