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Monday, June 21, 2010

“Young people today have never been as stressed as they are today.” What is your view?

In our globalised world now, our pace of life has been rapidly becoming faster. Day by day, people’s lives are being piled up with work, be it school work, paper work, finance work or so on. With the changing times, it seems that young people of today are increasingly more stressed as compared to the past.

In the past, the youths in Singapore lead a carefree life. It was not common for all children to go to school and complete high school. This gave the young people then freedom to play and enjoy the teenage years. In the afternoon at various kampongs (villages), young people were seen playing traditional games such as zero-point and five stones together. As they grew up, finding a job was not difficult as long as they were willing to put in hardwork or suffer the pain of laboring. The stress weighing on the youths of the past mostly came from the inability to find a job rather than on studying. But, as a country progresses, there is a need for improvements in the people so as to bring about more advancements as well.

Education is essential to every human being. It is where knowledge and skills are being imparted. However, from a microscopic view, it seems like the education system around now is out to stress young people today. Looking at Singapore’s education system, a trend of elitism is uprising. Many parents are trying to send their children to the ‘elite’ schools in hoping that they can become the cream of the crop through it. Parents are looking into many different ways such as paying a large amount to the high-ranking schools so as to ensure that their children get accepted into the school. Education to the young people today is simply to be the top and be ahead of others. Singapore has introduced the Integrated Program (IP) where better students get to skip the major Ordinary Level Examinations. Every year, close to 500 students apply for the IP Program. Youths are put under stress to fight for a place at the top.

Entry into universities worldwide has been the main motive of many students. Back then, entering universities was largely based on whether one could afford it. Entering universities now has become very competitive. Grades and results are the key to the universities. Yet, the minimum grades have been on the uprise every year, with the subsequent year being more difficult. This has put many youths of today into a state where everything that they do has to lead to their success entry into universities. In some junior colleges, elite groups are formed to nurture the students to be scholars of our future. The students are handpicked by the staff of the school who feels that they have potential to be the top and are given more opportunities than the rest. These youths are given trainings to instill values in them. Then again, is it fair to the rest of the students who may have hidden potential in them? The unjust treatment by many institutions has added stress to the young people of today.

Outside of studying, there is a same effect seen in Co-Curricular Activities (CCA) in schools. CCAs are created so as to enhance social interaction, leadership, healthy recreation, self-discipline and self-confidence in youths. But, what is happening now is all about being competitive. In performing arts groups such as Chinese Orchestra and Symphonic Band, schools compete with each other bi-annually. When the competition date is near, students are put under high level of stress with the extra practices, scoldings from the instructors and the requirement to balance their studies at the same time. In Sports CCAs, students have to take the tiredness of training three to four times a week and studying into their hands so as to bring glory for their school and themselves. With the increasingly high competitiveness of the education system, young people of today are much more stressed than before.

However, the young people of the past may have been equally as stress as now. Back then, with the lack of a good education system, many did not receive proper education which resulted many unable to find jobs. To sustain their lives, it was important for them to have a stable job which can provide them with an average income. During the economic recession in 2003, a number of people were retrenched, which made it even harder to get a job. This caused much stress to the people then.

It may be true that young people from before are stress due to finance and other various minor problems but it has shown that they are not as stress as the youths of today, whose main cause is from the advancement of the society and the competitive world. Young people now are facing global issues that would determine the fate of the future. Hence, I would say young people today have never been as stressed as they are today.

Hi, my name is alina. NYJC 1032 currently. NYCO Percussionist. Singapore Can Speak Top 16. I LOVE the colour lime green. Wishes to be a lawyer! :) ... more