Madison Guber

EN101
Petrides
April 10th, 2016
Is there too much pressure on
teenagers to go to college?

College is always an exciting thought for most teenagers that are

approaching the end of their high school career. What is there to not be thrilled
about? They get to be away from home, they have no parent telling them what to
do, and they can get away with all the things that they could not get away with
while living under their parents roof. The one thing that many people do not take
into consideration, however, is whether there is too much pressure on their teen
to be going to college?
When teenagers are reaching the point of graduating from high school,
their main thoughts are normally, Finally! No more high school! or Finally!
Summer! No one ever hears a high school graduate say Finally, Im done with
high school just to go to school for four more years in a few months! Society has
projected this outlook on school being a priority for teenagers. Yes, school is
important, but is it not just as important to not make a person feel so stressed
and pressured to be further educated? College is not meant for everybody, so
there is no need to make them feel like it is something crucial to their lifestyle,
especially if there is a certain type of job they want that does not require a
college degree.

High school students already have enough to be worried about with

passing their school courses along with the SAT and/or the ACT. According to an
article from the National Public Radios website that a Penn State student used to
cite her information in her own article about the pressure on teens to go to
college, Tens of thousands of teenagers are pushing hard to do well. Many,
though, are overworked, overscheduled and overstressed and it's taking a toll
on the mental health and development of a number of teens. The SAT and the
ACT are very rigorous tests for students who already have a lot on their plate.
With already having to worry about their work load from school at the time being,
studying for a test that they do not want to take, for different colleges that they do
not want to go to, is just a waste of time. They only do it though so they can meet
societys educational standards along with meeting their parents satisfaction
levels by doing so. Students nowadays are constantly over-working themselves
to achieve as high as they can because of how challenging it is these days to get
into a four-year university that, once upon a time, used to be someones safety
school. The amount of pressure that these students are put under is just going to
keep increasing if these standards and requirements do not begin to adjust.
Applying to college is another factor to take into consideration. In an article
from the National Center for Biotechnology Information, it states that when
applying to different colleges, High school seniors today are subject to more
competition than at any time in the recent past. The requirements for getting
good grades and being involved in extracurricular activities are almost
unbelievable these days with how much of it truly applies when thinking about the

next four years of school. Parents with kids either starting high school or already
in high school are so quick to burden them with the demands of having to have a
passion in something, or to take the hardest classes the school has to give, or
even to join as many activities and clubs as time can permit, all while having to
worry about their grades and social life. Parents are a large reason as to why so
many teenagers are stressed with school, because of how much weight they put
on their shoulders with school-related things. College applications require a lot of
decision making and even more time to complete. Teens are put under a lot of
pressure to go do something in their lives that should be fun, and more or less, it
should be more their decision to make rather than their parents choice of where
they spend the next four years of their life. Ultimately, teenagers should not have
to be pushed to the extremes of being stressed out all the time and having mass
amounts of anxiety about being further educated. Stress can lead to negative
behavior and bad choices, which no teen should ever have to resort to. There is
a simple solution to this matter and that is to just lay off with how harsh parents
are with talking their kids into going to college.
While there are many reasons as to why teenagers should not get
pressured into going to college, there are also reasons as to why they should be
attending a university or community college. Although college may seem scary
and difficult, it will actually challenge students and motivate them to want to keep
up with the loads of work and do great things afterwards with what they have
learned with a new sense of independence. An article from The College Board
states that College opens doors for you that high school doesnt. And college

can change you and shape you in ways that you might not imagine. The article
also points out that One of the great things about being able to choose your own
courses is that you get the opportunity to explore. You can try classes in a lot of
different subjects, or you can dive right into a favorite subject. You may choose to
begin training for a career right away. Or you may pick a major after taking some
time to check out your options. Colleges offer classes and majors in subjects
youve studied in high school plus many more that you havent. This article
makes a lot of good points about how college is a great place, especially when
still trying to figure out a steady path in life. Maybe all of the pressure is not such
a bad thing in the end, given that it creates a lot of opportunities with jobs and
ways to make and keep money. While in college, one will discover new things
that they will grow to love, learn new things about themselves, make new friends,
and hopefully gain more knowledge. College is a great way to invest in ones self
and figure out what direction life is taking them in.
To most students who did not put in all of their effort in high school and got
below average grades, college is overrated to them. In their defense, they are not
entirely wrong. If school is not someones strong suit, they should not be
succumb to being forced to continue on that route. Jonathan Pletcher, who is the
clinical director of adolescent medicine at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of
UPMC, said in an article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he sees
stressed-out teens daily and he believes the root of the problem lies in the fact
that teens are trying to meet expectations set by their parents, peers or society
and that he believes teaching teens to live a balanced lifestyle will better prepare

them for college and life than a hectic lifestyle packed beyond their capabilities.
Both suggest parents and students take time to evaluate their schedules and to
choose coursework and activities that are meaningful and challenging -- but not
burdensome. Dr. Pletcher marks a lot of great points in his findings. Teenagers
do not need to be pushed to such extremes. They can live normal lives and still
go to college and do great things, all without being pressured to the points of
excessive stress and anxiety that can lead to forms of depression. College
should be something to look forward to, not something to be dreadful of.
All in all, putting pressure on anyone to do anything is morally wrong.
Giving in to peer pressure, being pressured to play sports or an instrument, and
especially being pressured to make a life decision; all are not the right way to go
about trying to make a choice. Teenagers should not have to be burdened with
the pressure to go do more school if it is something they really do not want to
pursue. Again, college is not for everyone, so why put the pressure on teenagers
to do it if it is not something that will be beneficial towards their lives?

Work Cited

Bound, John, Brad Hershbein, and Bridget Terry Long. "Playing the Admissions
Game: Student Reactions to Increasing College Competition." The Journal of
Economic Perspectives : A Journal of the American Economic Association. U.S.
National Library of Medicine, 1 Mar. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
College Board, Big Future. "Attending College: What It's All About and Why It
Matters." Attending College: What It's All About and Why It Matters. The College
Board, 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
Niederberger, Mary. "Pressure to Excel Can Create Too Much Tension for Teens."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Post-Gazette, 1 Mar. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
Shiels, Meghan Kelly "SiOWfa15: Science in Our World: Certainty and
Controversy." SiOWfa15 Science in Our World Certainty and Controversy. PSU
SC200 Course, 7 Sept. 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
Trudeau, Michelle. "School, Study, SATs: No Wonder Teens Are Stressed." NPR.
National Public Radio, 9 Oct. 2006. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.