Students in distress: Psychologists, parents flag academic overload

Bengaluru: Psychologists in the city point out that a majority of their patients seeking counseling are children below fifth grade, along with their parents. Lengthy portions and complicated study material are making it hard for children to cope with stress, while parents—especially those who are working—are struggling to support their children in this regard. While children exhibit signs of trauma, parents complain of a lack of sleep.

DH spoke to a cross-section of parents and psychologists to understand the situation on the ground.

Parents claimed that even for very young kids, their stress levels are exceptionally high because of the growing pressure. “My daughter is in sixth grade, but there is already so much stress and pressure. Specifically during the exam season, teaching them along with regular office work and other things gets pretty tough,” claimed Dr Priyanka Mallick, Associate Professor at Mount Carmel College Autonomous.

Experts corroborated the growing stress caused by kids’ exams among parents. “Parents are more stressed than the kids themselves because lately, we have turned into a society where you are either a failure or an achiever and nothing in between, creating a sense of fear among the parents,” said Dr  Anupama Hegde, psychologist.

Dr Hegde also shared that since children do not yet have fully formed identities, witnessing their parents’ stress equally affects the children’s stress levels regarding exams. “Sometimes, these unrealistic expectations and unfulfilled desires of their parents also become the first source of stress for the kids”.

Parents also complained about overwhelming syllabi for students who are too young to understand them.

“It’s concerning that even fifth-sixth-grade students are expected to study complex topics like the phases of the national movement, capitalism, liberalism, and racism, which may be challenging for them to comprehend fully,” said Alice Mathew, head of department and associate professor at Mount Carmel College Autonomous.

As academic pressure increases, encouragement for creativity and imagination decreases. “My daughter is good at arts and crafts; she enjoys it, which comes naturally to her. However, with increasing academic pressure, she gets no time to practice it,” Mallick added.

Experts claim that enormous research has asserted that learning with practical exposure and real-life implementation works better than cramming and remembering.

Parents called for a more liberal learning system with more space for practical learning and less academic pressure.

“We should aim to create an education system that is more engaging and enjoyable, moving away from the idea of kindergarten exams and emphasising exploration and creativity in learning,” Mathew added.