AP = Advanced Pressure: The Dangers Of Educationally Influenced Mental Illness

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AP Pressures Students into Dangerous Mental Situations

Lauren Gilman, Editor in Chief

“AP classes cause me to have mental breakdowns frequently due to the pressure of passing AP exams to get college credits. And on top of that, my regular classes assign busy work, because they have no clue how to teach another human being an important topic,” Lydia Morse, a sophomore at Peninsula High School said. Looking back on all the negative effects of Advanced Placement classes, does the stress seem to be worth it?

Millions of high school students in America enroll in Advanced Placement classes (rigorous college-level courses taught in high schools) each year, willingly signing up for copious amounts of stress and maladjustment. The Advanced Placement curriculum (AP), created by the College Board Organization, demands adolescents to obtain college-level knowledge through studying the textbook’s material and performing in an annual national test. This, in return, places superfluous amounts of stress, which, without proper resources (accessibility to psychotherapy and knowledge on managing stress), subsequently results in mental illnesses. The increase in AP participation directly correlates to the increase in depression. In fact, from 1980 to 2016, there’s a 95% increase of student participation in an AP classroom (Collegeboard.org). In the same time frame, according to the Nuffield Foundation, an organization founded for social health and research, the rate of teen depression has more than doubled. America’s youth are being thrown a plethora of stress and the detrimental effects are in full force.

At Peninsula, teens are crippling and falling under the weight of high school. Students are expected to be the smartest and take the hardest classes in order to be accepted into the best colleges, regardless of how their mental health compares. From a college’s perspective, taking rigorous classes, like AP, proves a student’s intelligence and willingness to work. Colleges expect teenagers to hold themselves to a standard of excellence that far exceeds what they’re capable of.

“As much as I love Peninsula, and I feel like this is a nationwide occurrence not just at our school, high schools do tend to push AP classes so much to the point where I think not only are AP classes stressful to those who take them, because of the workload and AP Test, but also those who aren’t taking them who don’t feel up to par or smart enough to enroll in these classes. In reality you don’t need to take AP classes in order to get into college, plenty of kids don’t, but sometimes that feels like what they’re saying,” Hailey Gauslin, a Junior at Peninsula High School and part-time Running Start student said.

Moreover, Sophomore year seems to be one of the hardest for students. Many pupils who’ve succeeded in base-level curriculum classes in the past overestimate their intelligence and ability to handle pressure. Those who push themselves to take AP classes without proper stress-management knowledge detrimentally result in failing grades and/or maladjustment.

Additionally, a major stressor seems to be the ample amounts of homework given to students enrolled in AP. On an average day, scholars may receive around 1 hour of homework per class. Paired with extracurricular activities, a social life, and obligations at home, this all amounts to be supererogatory.

“I think AP classes are good to be able to challenge yourself but I also think there should be a better balance between school and life. I have other classes with homework as well. Even though AP homework adds up to a max of 4 hours, combined with other classes, after school activities, and wanting to have downtime, it takes mainly all hours of day. I have a 7th period Korean class that can take anywhere from 1-3 hours a day. My doctor even recommended I take marijuana because of how stressed I am,” Lexy Holden, a sophomore at Peninsula High School said.

Corroborating on this idea of overwhelming students, Morse said “Maybe tell teachers to stop worrying so much about their students in their own classes, and realize we each have 5 other classes, a home life, and a social life. Not using that as an excuse to be taken lightly or thrown around, but empathy should be an important aspect in a high school teacher due to our brains being very easily influenced in adolescence.”

Through looking at correlating increased depression among adolescents and Advanced Placement participation rates, and the factors that lead to the formation of mental illnesses, there is a direct attribution brought on by the American school system. How can this new decade of youth stop this formation of depression? Firstly, the integration of stress management programs into one’s school. Having this resource available to students provides necessary skills on dealing and handling with copious amounts of stress in a healthy way and allows an outlet for teens to come to. Peninsula is seriously lacking in this department. Among the almost 2000 students that attend, only 4 counselors and 1 psychologist is supplied.

“Last year I left a note every day for a week and I never got called in once and it’s been almost a year,” Molly Clark, a student at Peninsula said. It’s becoming coherently obvious that our counselors are overworked and stretched too thin for their responsibilities.

“I’ve written notes for counselors, and they’ve taken months to respond. I believe there should be 26 counselors, one for every letter and last name,” Reagan Trim, Sophomore attending Peninsula High School said. The implications of this inaccessibility might, though hopefully never, occur in the future in the forms of a tragedy, such as suicide. This devastation would fall back onto the caretaker, guilting them into taking responsibility for the death of the student.

Another solution to this problem would be to give less homework to students and instead focus the energy of learning to inside the classroom. When education is allocated to the classroom instead of after school, scholars excel tremendously. When looking at Finland, it is made known that they have assigned a fraction of homework to what American students are dealt. Students there are the highest national-academic average, implying that the amounts of homework given after school do not increase knowledge.

However, even though it is known to be beneficial for students to not be assigned extensive amounts of homework, a problem lies with too much material in an AP course to be taught to the intellectuals in just the classroom. The curriculums cover an entire college textbook material in nearly 8 months, paired with test-taking strategies and projects inside the classroom. The answer for this predicament? AB schedule days, separating classes into 2 hour blocks designed to be taught on certain days. This would allow for more time spent in the advanced classroom to learn and lecture, and regardless time at home for self-studies. Moreover, students would be able to enroll in more classes and complete more credits for graduation. This leaves a leeway for if a student fails a class, and allows for retakes the following semester. A negative side of this could sprout from if a student is absent one day because falling behind in the classroom would be more impactful.

The AP curriculum is demanding of students but, if done correctly, results in a new, genius, forward-thinking youth.

 

Cited

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“The Finland Phenomenon (2011).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt2101464/.

“The Rise of the AP [INFOGRAPHIC].” Teach: Make a Difference, 15 May 2012, teach.com/blog/ap-infographic/.

“Increased Levels of Anxiety and Depression as Teenage Experience Changes over Time.” Increased Levels of Anxiety and Depression as Teenage Experience Changes over Time | Nuffield Foundation, www.nuffieldfoundation.org/news/increased-levels-anxiety-and-depression-teenage-experience-changes-over-time.

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