Mental Health and Why Schools Are at Fault
November 16, 2021
By Alex Shores
We see it a lot in college. Freshmen in their first semester stuck in study spaces all through the night, exhausting themselves as they fight to stay awake and study for an engineering exam or finish a political science paper due the next morning.
For some students, maybe the workload gets easier as the semesters go on, or maybe they learn to manage their time better. But college seems to be, for many, a pretty stressful time of their lives. And when students are faced with this constant pressure, mental health becomes at risk.
Members of older generations may be quick to disregard mental health, claiming that our generation is just weaker, or that mental health is not actually a big deal. But when you think about it, whether you are in high school or college, the grind never stops. It almost seems that our generation may be working harder than previous generations to reach their goals.
College admissions rates are declining. Medical and law school acceptance rates are dropping faster and faster. With a growing youth population and more applicants to select from, students applying to college and graduate school face a lot of pressure to get that perfect GPA, or to join every relevant extracurricular to “look better” on applications.
Boston University is certainly guilty of applying pressure on the students as well. BU is notorious for being one of the colleges known for “grade deflation.” While the specifics are disputed, students arguably have to work much harder at BU to get an A or B than they would at another college. This of course varies by major and selected courses, but first year pre-med students are enrolled in Biology 107/108 and Chemistry 101/102, courses in which even studying for days may not get you the grade you want in that class.
But surely we should challenge students and ourselves to learn as much as we can and develop a stronger work ethic, right? In theory, yes. But as we see in today’s society, when you push individuals too far, their mental health starts to wear.
I am sure many of you can relate. Maybe you got a D on your midterm, or you have three essays all due in less than a week, or a big sports meet that you need to train extra hard for. Or maybe aspects of your social life are entering the mix and causing you even more stress, anxiety, and frustration.
Mental health struggles are common for college students, and BU is here to help. But how much are they helping? I encourage any of you, no matter how much or how little you feel you are struggling, to look into behavioral and mental health services that BU provides, many of which are free. Maybe they could be helpful to you. Though for high school students, finding help may not be as easy. Or cheap.
But these services still don’t cut off the root of the problem. Students should not be expected to mentally and physically exhaust themselves and then find ways to solve the mental health repercussions. High schools and colleges, not just BU, should accept some responsibility and find a way to still challenge students while taking their mental health into consideration.
High school and college should be a space for learning and growth, not stress and mental exhaustion. Hopefully educational institutions will start to recognize this and put their students’ health first.