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What is it that's making students more stressed?

It's no secret that students are stressed. Seemingly constant deadlines and exams, tuition fees, poor job market, random reforms at the government's will, lack of mental health support and resits... You name it, we've had it. There's more talk about mental health than ever before which will skew our perceptions a bit, but I think few people would argue that 16-25 year olds aren't more stressed than previous generations. So what's causing it? Are we just less resilient, or something else? Share your thoughts below :smile:

This week is mental health awareness week. There's been loads of stuff happening on TSR which you can view here, including how to cope with different situations and sharing your experiences.

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25 meaningless GCSE exams certainly cannot be helping mine, thanks Michael Gove, absolute moron. Social media is probably up there too
If young people feel strongly about this then they should vote. Their vote may be too late to make an impact on their own studying years, but their younger siblings will thank them
It might be because the teachers are constantly telling people to give a f*ck, which is why I think people should be like me - don't give a ****, and do better in exams

Let a minimal amount of stress get to you to revise though, ignore the rest of the ******** (especially from people around you)
9-1
I think social media is the biggest factor.
Having to remember 2 years of content for one exam :bricks:
Not revising and too busy on Snapchat and Instagram documenting their lives.
Reply 8
Original post by furryface12
Are we just less resilient, or something else? Share your thoughts below :smile:


I have no thoughts on whether we are more stressed or not than previous generations, but what I will say is that somebody having an easier time does not equal less stress. Stress is how YOU subjectively perceive, not how they objectively are. If this wasn't the case you would expect nobody outside of 3rd world countries to ever be unhappy.
I think students just don't eat enough pizza nowadays; this is a real problem unfortunately.
probably the new spec 9-1 as user mentioned as well as memorising pointless facts that we might never use
as another person said, social media as it distracts them not letting them have time to revise, therefore they stress out.
maybe it's the idea of stress. we learn too much about it: what it is, how to 'handle' it, how it negatively affects us, etc.
during my parents' school days, they hadn't even heard of stress and had absolutely no idea what it was and I expect a lot of older people will agree that when they were at school, it wasn't so well-defined.
then, on top of that, they throw out new specifications without any warning and make exams 'harder' because 'too many people were getting A*s' and that's just not cool. like, nobody wants harder exams. they're stupid when almost everyone will do badly on them.
let's not even talk about social media. it's just ridiculous. we have stuff like studyblrs, studygrams, studytubers and so much more and it looks like they're all so organised and getting their life together and because we just naturally compare ourselves to them, we feel inferior and that, I think, just puts on so much pressure on us. I'm saying this because I used to run a studygram, albeit a small one, and seeing everyone be organised was just too much for me. I didn't feel the same and it just negatively affected the way I perceived myself. And that's just on a studying scale.
So yes, to put it shortly, I believe we are more stressed than previous generations. There's lots of reasons behind it but I've mentioned a few and I believe there are more.
Original post by nyxnko_
maybe it's the idea of stress. we learn too much about it: what it is, how to 'handle' it, how it negatively affects us, etc.
during my parents' school days, they hadn't even heard of stress and had absolutely no idea what it was and I expect a lot of older people will agree that when they were at school, it wasn't so well-defined.
then, on top of that, they throw out new specifications without any warning and make exams 'harder' because 'too many people were getting A*s' and that's just not cool. like, nobody wants harder exams. they're stupid when almost everyone will do badly on them.
let's not even talk about social media. it's just ridiculous. we have stuff like studyblrs, studygrams, studytubers and so much more and it looks like they're all so organised and getting their life together and because we just naturally compare ourselves to them, we feel inferior and that, I think, just puts on so much pressure on us. I'm saying this because I used to run a studygram, albeit a small one, and seeing everyone be organised was just too much for me. I didn't feel the same and it just negatively affected the way I perceived myself. And that's just on a studying scale.
So yes, to put it shortly, I believe we are more stressed than previous generations. There's lots of reasons behind it but I've mentioned a few and I believe there are more.


Oh my gosh I completely forgot those existed. I used to have one a few years back and I agree it makes you feel like absolute trash.
Original post by cafebee
Oh my gosh I completely forgot those existed. I used to have one a few years back and I agree it makes you feel like absolute trash.


I know right... :sad: It's especially bad when you know they've put in so much effort into making the photos look good and so have you but yours still looks worse than theirs. Plus, the likes system is a bit rubbish. It's like saying 'those notes are better than yours because more people like them' or something like that when in reality, notes are just a way for you to store information and review and it doesn't matter what they look like.
Original post by nyxnko_
I know right... :sad: It's especially bad when you know they've put in so much effort into making the photos look good and so have you but yours still looks worse than theirs. Plus, the likes system is a bit rubbish. It's like saying 'those notes are better than yours because more people like them' or something like that when in reality, notes are just a way for you to store information and review and it doesn't matter what they look like.


Exactly! Glad I got out of there tbh
I find it kind of strange. I don't see how any more pressure is put on students now than before. If anything, we're more inclusive in education. (good in some respects, bad in others)
Original post by cafebee
Exactly! Glad I got out of there tbh


I left after a month too... Tbf, I did it 2 years ago and then tried again recently but it's not for me.
Original post by nyxnko_
I know right... :sad: It's especially bad when you know they've put in so much effort into making the photos look good and so have you but yours still looks worse than theirs. Plus, the likes system is a bit rubbish. It's like saying 'those notes are better than yours because more people like them' or something like that when in reality, notes are just a way for you to store information and review and it doesn't matter what they look like.


I hateeee this. People seem to think that everyone learns in exactly the same way, and that there's a "right" way to study. As someone who madly crams it gets on my nerves :tongue:
- More pressure than ever to go to university.
- Employers wanting experience as well as grades.
- Pressure to study something you're not interested in or good at simply "because it pays well."
- Constantly seeing everyone's highlight reel on social media and comparing it to your own life.
- Fear of failure that is drilled into us by family and teachers.
- Exams and grades being seen as the only way people can learn and as a mark of intelligence when in actual fact people just like to learn differently and more hands on than sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day reading notes.
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by shawn_o1
If young people feel strongly about this then they should vote. Their vote may be too late to make an impact on their own studying years, but their younger siblings will thank them


But we can’t vote because we’re too young!

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