Pro/Con Subtopic Essay Draft - Pressure/Stress (Critique Ready)

Making Ends Meet

“New York University students and administrators are reeling in the aftermath of what appears to be the third student suicide in five weeks. On a Saturday around 9:45 p.m., Michelle Gluckman, a 19-year old from Brooklyn, plunged through a sixth-floor window of 1 University Pl., a private apartment building near Washington Sq. Park.” Stress. Or in other words, pressure. It is “a specific response by the body to a stimulus, as fear or pain, that disturbs or interferes with the normal physiological equilibrium of an organism.” Today, many teens are experiencing or coming to know about the overwhelming effects of stress. In this world, there’s just so much to do, but so little time. There are deadlines and demands that have to be met. It is normal and everyone goes through it. At times, many become so overloaded that they can no longer handle the stress. For some, they have the ability to perform their best when they are under pressure or when they are stressed. However, piles and piles of smaller pressure eventually leads to countless amounts of stress. Too much academic stress is bad because it can affect teens’ health and decision making.

Admittedly, negative pressure does influence some teens to make wrong decisions, however, positive pressure is promising to many teens. One of the common reasons that explains students’ continuous effort to keep on going, is the dream. According to the Barna Survey, 68% of students "indicated a tendency to lean away from the practical, tangible awards towards achieving ideals for their own sake and the potential to influence others through an academic career." When teens make the effort to push through and keep going, a great future is waiting right ahead of them. Various colleges will be open to them and there will be many career opportunities. In the same survey, 54% take life seriously. Students set very high expectations and standards for themselves, which allows them to focus more on the important things in life. They don't allow anything to interfere in their striving for success. Teens also try very hard to avoid the useless things that will cause them to fail. They, in a sense, develop the "over-achiever" attitude and behavior. In the Barna chart, entitled, Graduate Students' Personality Profile, graduate students leaned towards the idealistic "perfectionist" as well. Majority selected traits, such as leader, focused, skeptical, aggressive, contemporary, driven, and serious. While very few selected the total opposite. This shows that teens no longer take things very lightly once they start realizing the importance of their education. With that, they can expect to find various opportunities open to them in the outside world.

Indeed, stress can benefit teens for their future, on the contrary, teens are unaware to the threat it poses on their overall health and well being. Many students feel overwhelming pressure to do good in school, mostly to please their parents. This pressure usually begins when students begin their high school education, but sometimes it may begin as early as elementary school. As a result, college eventually becomes their definite battlefield. According to the author of the September 10, 2009 article, entitled: Meltdown, academic pressure key reasons behind suicides, “... academic pressure on school and college going students are driving reasons behind the suicides.” In school, students are pressured to strive high so that their chances of getting into a good school or occupation in the future increases. However, students are not provided with enough support that would help them cope with their struggles. Most students refuse to “give up” in order to avoid the feeling of “low personal accomplishment,” but with it comes consequences. According to the Neumann study, “emotional fatigue greatly influences student performance and affects personal commitment.” When students become occupied with increased amounts of work load, they no longer have enough time outside of school. In the NEW study, commissioned by Grad Resources and conducted by sociologist, Dr. Robert Woodberry in 2010, 43% of all graduate students surveyed indicated that their stress levels are “more than they can handle.” “Excessive overload, lack of balance, inadequate free time, and little opportunity to influence the environment make up only part of the fatigue syndrome.” With an overwhelming amount of students trying to persevere and cope with the pressures they are confined in, provides very little escape or recovery. Sometimes, it takes a toll on their lives. According to the Grad Resources, “the diathesis-stress model of mental illness shows that certain genetic combinations may lead to a predisposition toward a mental disorder” and when combined with environmental stress, it can lead to abnormal behavior.

Although positive stress can influence teens to become better persons, negative stress can cause students to engage in unethical behavior. Educational pressure has an effect. High school is when teens finally meet with never-ending stress. It’s when they become so vulnerable to the sources around them. In the Fourth Annual “Teens Ethics Poll” released by J.A. Worldwide - Junior Achievement and Beliotte and Touche, 69% of teens have admitted to engaging in unethical behavior by lying. 34% downloaded songs without paying and 22% of teens cheated on tests. This was caused by the overwhelming stress they experienced in school. It becomes so much that teens can no longer handle it. So, they try to find a means of escape.

In conclusion, although some teens become prepared for their future after stressful experiences, it doesn’t defeat the effects it has on their overall health, well being, and decision making. With the overload of small amounts of stress, it can cause teens to resent to wrongful behavior and experience all types of physical and emotional problems. At times, this leads to random acts of suicide. No doubt, no matter how much treatment or help teens try to receive, it may not be the ultimate cure. With the overwhelming pressure to do good in school and to meet up with all the demands, teens will eventually turn to a means of escape. As long as we live in this world, no one can escape from stress.

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Bibliography:

1) Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. "Meltdown, Academic Pressure Key Reasons behind Suicides - The Times of India." The Times of India: Latest News India, World & Business News, Cricket & Sports, Bollywood. The Times of India, 10 Sept. 2009. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Meltdown-academic-pressure-key-reasons-behind-suicides/articleshow/4992625.cms>.

2) Repak, Nick. "Emotional Fatigue: Coping With Academic Pressure." Welcome to Grad Resources. Grad Resources. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.gradresources.org/articles/emotional_fatigue.shtml>.

3) Walsh, Erin, and Nathan Duke. "After Third Suicide, Students Cite ‘isolation,’ Pressure." The Villager. Community Media LLC., 28 Oct. 2003. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.alliswellhelpline.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68:student-suicides-is-academic-pressure-sole-reason&catid=42:suicide-more-insights&Itemid=66>.

4) Times, Sakaal. "Student Suicides: Is Academic Pressure Sole Reason?" Welcome to All Is Well Global Helpline. ALLISWELLHELPLINE.ORG. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.thevillager.com/villager_25/afterthirdsuicide.html>.

5) Focus on the Family. "Does Peer Pressure Cause Teens to Smoke or Use Drugs?" Find Answers. Dr. Dobson, 5 July 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. <http://family.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/936/~/does-peer-pressure-cause-teens-to-smoke-or-use-drugs?>.

6) Smith, Melinda, Ellen Jaffe - Gill, and Robert Segal. "Stress Management: How to Reduce, Prevent, and Cope with Stress." Helpguide.org: Understand, Prevent and Resolve Life's Challenges. Help Guide, Oct. 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. <http://helpguide.org/mental/stress_management_relief_coping.htm>.

7) Lee, Albert. "7 Simple Ways To Decrease Stress." EzineArticles Submission - Submit Your Best Quality Original Articles For Massive Exposure, Ezine Publishers Get 25 Free Article Reprints. EzineArticle.com. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://ezinearticles.com/?7-Simple-Ways-To-Decrease-Stress&id=478076>.