Children Are Facing More Pressures Nowadays from Academic, Social and Commercial Perspectives IELTS Writing Task 2

The present time is quite contrary to what the previous easy-going situation was. Today, there is cutthroat competition even among the best friends, and surprisingly among siblings too. Every parent wants their child to reach the peak, and coming second is not even an option. Over-imposed parental expectations and highly competitive job markets are two important factors that need to be taken into consideration. Most corporations reach out to those students from the pool of hundreds only who have high scores in their semesters, and this instantly triggers the parent’s minds into pushing their child to study hard. In fact, many students out there take studying as an obligation. And, there are also many who go into depression when they don’t receive minimal mental support from their family. There is another factor that also hits a child’s mind in a drastic manner, and that is coming under public pressure. There are many celebrities out there whose children are targeted by the news channels to increase their TRPs. This sometimes directly affects those who don’t wish to come under the spotlight, and sometimes it also affects their mind in disturbing ways. There are many young children who are made targets by the TV channels and are deprived of the innocence and carefree time they are living.

There are two primary causes that can be identified for the growing pressures on today’s children including the academic standards and peer pressures. It may be identified that competition is increasing within the academic circles and children have been finding difficulty in keeping up with it. Students not only compete with their classmates in schools and colleges but also have to compete at national and global levels. In order to study in ivey league colleges, they have to compete with the most intelligent of students. Not only that but the academic standards have also enhanced due to which colleges and universities demand not only brilliant marks but also extra-curricular activities which determine their personality levels. This has increased the pressures and have been impacting their mental health conditions as well. It can be seen that students from China, Japan or South Korea are forced to study for eighteen hours a day as a means of rising high in their competitive position. Another major cause is that of the peer pressure. Students try to maneover their friends and like to act “cool" in front of them by showing off their brilliance, their extra-curriculars in social media. They are constantly struggling to show who is better than the other and hence, try to prove themselves more efficient. Nevertheless, these pressures can be reduced by decreasing the vehemnt pressures of the academia. It is essential that colleges and universities undertand that skill and knowledge development is primary concern for the institutions rather than having candidates increasing pressure to prove themselves better than the other. Moreover, it is necessary that peers have an understanding within their social group that one may be less efficient than another and must encourage their presence. Rather than showing who is better off, they need to be made understand that co-existing with one another is important thereby reducing any kind of pressure from each other’s head of proving themselves more capable. 

Colleges have set their benchmark so high, and this has directly impacted the future of certain students who couldn’t achieve in the 90s. Those candidates are treated as forlorn people by their families as well sometimes as the colleges. Passing the moment, let’s say they secure admission in a different college which is not so renowned, they don’t get proper placements. Most of the corporates look for candidates who have high scores and are pass-outs from famous universities or colleges. This leads the other students to either not find any job, or find jobs with pitiable salaries. Not every child is meritorious, not every child wishes to study mainstream subjects. But these days parents are so obsessed with making their child some exhibitionist, they forget the latter’s wishes and desires. There are plenty of days when I come across students who are pursuing engineering or a chartered accountancy degree out of the sheer wish of their parents. There was one girl who wanted to become a dancer but due to family pressure, she was pursuing a bachelor’s in science. There are more instances of similar events where the pressure has resulted in the child breaking down.