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Mental Health Toll of Academic Grading

Photo credit: whsjohnnygreen.org, Picture taken by: Aubry Guy
Photo credit: whsjohnnygreen.org, Picture taken by: Aubry Guy

Are you one of those kids who gets a bad grade and lets it ruin your day, your days, and your week? If you get a bad grade, see it for what it is.

Maybe you want to study the material differently or realize that’s not your subject, don’t let that bad grade affect you in a negative way. Grades are purely a measurement of memorization and effort, you need to start focusing on self-education to get out of that cycle where you let that one grade put you down.

If you are stressing about your academics don’t let it deteriorate your brain and make you depressed outside of school. If you get no homework done one day because you just mentally can’t do it, so be it, don’t stress, you’ve got it. The pressure to have these high expectations from your parents, teachers, and even yourself leads to stress. Andrea Davila an alumni from Coral Glades High School says, “It’s not about mental health it’s about thinking what your parents will say, about what they will think, then you will have anxiety about them finding out your bad grade. That leads to you having issues because you feel pressure. If you get a bad grade and your parents are upset about it, just try to do better next time and have encouragement for the next grade.”

Failure or bad grades lead to anxiety which also leads to rapid heartbeat, sweating, and nervousness. Students even turn to bad things as a coping mechanism, which further increases mental health issues.

One of the main reasons high school students are depressed is caused by academic pressure. It is really hard to keep up with everyone else and then you feel that you are getting behind causing you to fall into depression.

It can come from parents who are strict and require good grades or even seeing your friends turn into competition, and you have to compete to see who is better towards grades and GPA.

Your intelligence is not dictated by one grade. Your future and your fate are not determined by one grade you are allowed to mess up and not be perfect. Sometimes the grade just doesn’t reflect the work that you put in and it can get frustrating but just remember one grade, even two, or three does not have that much power over you at all.

One teacher’s opinion does not determine who you are as an individual. Even getting straight A’s doesn’t guarantee success. What is more important is you putting in your best effort and being consistent in your actions. Caitlyn Motto a student at Coral Glades High School states, “People try to be the best at school and it ruins their mental health because they focus on their grades and not themself, I myself get stressed sometimes because I see that the quarter is coming to an end and my grades are not the best. That just puts pressure on me to try getting them up.

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