Stress driving pupils to suicide, says union

Article Info: Stress driving pupils to suicide, says union Tweet this


Anthea Lipsett Education Guardian, Tuesday 18 March 2008 13.39 GMT Article history
 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/mar/18/schools.uk8
 

Summary

According to the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) students and children are under more pressure than 10 years ago, with exams, peer pressure and family dysfunction. Headteacher of Oakgrove said between 600 and 800 15- to 24-year-olds commit suicide each year - “equivalent to the population of a small secondary school.” ATL survey discovered that most children release the pressure by crying or becoming withdrawn, and some by harming themselves and developing eating disorders. There are several manifestations of stress such as crying, withdrawal, verbal abuse, bullying others, and fighting. It was said that social dysfunction had potentially disastrous effects on pupils' education achievement. Mental wellbeing is the important factor of commiting suicide. The general secretary of ATL also commented that students take on parental demands to get into their choice of secondary school and later university. If they don't fit in with their peers, they are bullied via text, email and social networking sites.



Big meaning

According to this article, in the modern society, students get stress from many different factors such as exams, peer pressures, family break-up and social dysfunction. The results of these are withdrawl, crying, bullying other people and fighting or ultimately leading to suicide. Most importantly, these cases are becoming worse, however, there is not structured system for students to cope with these problems. While the teachers and lecturers are realizing this is a big problem, there are not many schools with full mental health services provided. The big meaning of this article is that the rate of family dysfucntions, social dysfunctions, parental expectations and peer pressures are increasing which lead to even more cases of commiting suicide and that the more structured-systems need to be put for those students who are under stress.



Personal meaning

I believe that although this article is from England, this is applicable to many other countries especially to those in developed world. I've heard something like this has been happening to students in Japan for many years now. I believe students are now living in a society where there needs to be even better qualitifications from school and university to get the meaningful jobs. Therefore, this leads to the higher rate of stress which can lead to commiting suicide if not dealth with. Even for me, my parents are always expecting me to do better and their greatest hope is for me to get into a good university. The tests I take in school or outside the school are always putting me under great pressure and the thought that I should perform better in my schoolwork also puts me under pressure. From this article, I learned that students should recognize that they are under pressure, and be able to recognize the signs of stress. Furthermore, I think both students and parents should know what to do when stress related illnesses show themselves. There should be avenues which they can go down in order to seek help. For example, for the student this may be a school counsellor. The most important thing for any student is to understand that stress is always going to be there. It is not wrong to feel under stress but necessary to learn how to deal with it. The worst thing that a student can do is to do nothing and allow the stress to get to a point where the student might harm themselves.

Health - Interview

What is his/her relationship to you?

- Tutor


1. Have you always been as healthy as you are now? Please explain.

- Yes, he has not had any serious illnesses

2. What particular health habits in the following areas do you practice, that contribute to your level of health?

Nutritional Habits

- He eats a very balanced diet including several servings of fruits and vegetables everyday_and avoid red meats.

Fitness Habits

- He visits gyms three times a week walk whenever possible.

Coping with Stress

- Visting the gym is good stress relieves also photography in the weekends.
Dealing with Conflicts

- Whenever possible, count to ten before replying to a comment that makes me angry.


Keeping a Positive Attitude

- Always looks on the bright side of life and never dwell on past mistakes.

Any Additional Healthy Habits

- Do not smoke, do not drink ( only one cup of coffee a day )

3. How did you develop these habits? Please explain.

- He's always been active sportswise and now discipline himself to exercise regularly so that do not slip into lazy habits.

4. What motivates you to practice a healthy lifestyle?

- Father became sick at the age of 50 so do not want to follow in his footsteps.

5. Create a question of your own that you would like to ask regarding this person’s healthy lifestyle. Make sure that the question allows your interviewee to expand on his/her thoughts (not a one word answer).

Question: How did you maintain a healthy lifestyle when living in an urban environment?

Answer: It's not so easy to find natural places to exercise such as the sea, therefore, he goes to the gym three times a week.

Grade: /10 pts (processing habits & attitude)

Health

Daniel Kwon