peter on pressure to achieve

peter gray on pressure to achieve via fb post:

IN ONE STUDY, encompassing nine high achieving schools, some private and some public, they found rates of clinically significant levels of anxiety and depression were six to seven times the national average for people in that age range (Luthar, Kumar & Zillmer, 2020). They also found that the cause of these problems, for students at HASs, was very different from that for students in poverty. While students in poverty struggle for physical safety and survival, HAS students suffer from intense, unrelenting pressure to achieve (Luthar, Kumar & Zillmer, 2020), CLICK HERE. [https://petergray.substack.com/p/43-the-toxic-consequences-of-attending]

notes/quotes from article:

play makes us human (name of substack)

#43. The Toxic Consequences of Attending a High Achieving School (jun 2024)

A high achieving school (or HAS) is defined as one where students score high on standardized tests and a high percentage go on to selective colleges.

What these parents don’t know is that they may be setting their kids up for failure. Not academic failure but life failure. If parents knew the facts and behaved reasonably, they would deliberately avoid an HAS for their kids. They would move out of that high-achievement school district. They would use the money otherwise spent on tutoring or tuitions for more enjoyable family pursuits.

maté parenting law et al

Students at high achieving schools exhibit much higher rates of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse than those at lower achieving schools.

In the 1990s, Luthar was studying the effects of poverty on the mental health of teenagers. In research with inner-city youth from families well below the poverty level, she found high levels of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. Then one of her graduate students challenged her by suggesting that these problems might not be limited to children in poverty, so she began conducting similar research with teens in wealthy suburban areas. Remarkably, she found that levels of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse (including alcohol and hard drugs) were even higher among these presumably “privileged” young people than they were among the teens from poverty (Luthar & Latendresse, 2005).

In subsequent research, Luthar and her colleagues found that the most significant variable in predicting such problems is not family wealth per se, but attendance at a high achieving school (HAS). They found that the suffering among youth at HASs is not limited to those from wealthy families (Ebbert et al., 2019). Students from families of more modest means at such schools also suffer. What matters is the degree to which the young people feel their self-worth depends on high academic achievement and success at the extracurricular activities that are promoted and valued by the school.

In one study, encompassing nine high achieving schools, some private and some public, they found rates of clinically significant levels of anxiety and depression were six to seven times the national average for people in that age range (Luthar, Kumar & Zillmer, 2020). They also found that the cause of these problems, for students at HASs, was very different from that for students in poverty. While students in poverty struggle for physical safety and survival, HAS students suffer from intense, unrelenting pressure to achieve (Luthar, Kumar & Zillmer, 2020).

The harmful effects of attending a high-achieving school are long-lasting.

Longitudinal research has revealed that the harmful effects of attending a high achieving high school continue well beyond graduation. One study showed that rates of clinically significant alcohol and drug dependence, among graduates of HASs, were two to three times as high as the national average throughout college and for at least several years beyond (Luthar, Small, & Ciciolla, 2018)..

The toxic achievement pressure for HAS students comes from parents, teachers, peers, and ultimately from within the student.

a raised eyebrow ness.. even if no eyebrows raised

Surveys and interviews of students at HASs indicate that the fundamental source of their misery is unrelenting pressure to perform well. They are expected to perform very well, so anything less than what elsewhere would be considered excellent is considered here as failure. The adults and the peers in their life all tend to believe that excellent performance in the multiple realms of endeavor promoted by the school is essential to gain admission to a prestigious college, which in turn is essential for securing a well-paying, high-status job, and anything less would constitute life failure.

Concerning parents, the researchers have found that young people whose parents stress extrinsic values are more prone to suffering than those whose parents stress intrinsic values. Extrinsic values have to do with publicly observable rewards that are presumed to be marks of achievement, such as A’s, trophies, honors, money, and high-status careers. Intrinsic values have to do with such things as enjoyment and meaning in life, decency, helpfulness to others, and true friendships. The research also shows that young people who feel that their parents’ love or respect for them depends on their achievements are especially prone to suffering.

With time in such an environment, students at HASs tend to internalize the pressure. They become their own harshest critics. “If I’m not perfect, I’m worthless.” This is when they begin to cut themselves or to fantasize suicide or even attempt it. We as a society have gone berserk in our emphasis on the value of high academic performance, and nowhere is that more apparent than at high achieving high schools.

Concluding Thoughts

..Now, here we have one more line of evidence that our obsession with what we foolishly call “academic achievement” (what really is being achieved?) is a major cause of the mental health crisis among kids.

..Kids need much more freedom to play, explore, get to know themselves, find and follow their own interests, develop courage, and experience the real word into which they are growing. This is what we have taken away from them and this is why they are suffering.

khan filling the gaps law et al

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