The world continuously changes. In fact our lives, too change every day. These changes can
be handled when done smartly, but not everyone can do that. Change is dangerous and
even fatal because it forces us to come out of our comfort zone, forces us to face something
unknown every day, it makes our challenges even more challenging. So the question today
is how is this change affecting teenagers. Today we are talking about the change from
middle school to high school.

Today 19% of the total mental health issues in the world are from the age of 10-19 (WHO).
Why is this? Who creates these issues? How is it happening? The answer is society. Yes,
today if students are having mental issues, it is because of the thinking of the society. When
a student moves from middle school to high school, he/she has to deal with a lot of pressure,
which is difficult for a teenager. The pressure of the competition in schools, the pressure of
pleasing the society, everything. Believe it or not, even parents play a big role in this. The
transition from middle to high school is the time when children should be given the freedom
to choose what they want to do with their lives. But instead of that, they are burdened with
expectations.
I too had to face this. For example, when we ( my class) moved from 8th grade to 9th, which
is a big shift because it’s middle school to high school, we were called for a conference. At
that conference we were introduced to our education format and how do we have to prepare
for the boards. The one-sentence the teachers kept of repeating was “ score for success”.
They told us that if we wanted to have a good life then we would have to study as hard and
possible and score well in the exams. This sacred me. Then we were shown some of the
past toppers and the colleges they were accepted in, and we were told that we had to score
to get admission to a good college. This scared me more. Then we were told that we had to
study at least 7 hours a day and complete all the 200 past papers in order to score good and
“ score for success”. This scared me even more.

I moved on, completed 9th and half of the tenth, performed well in all the exams. This was
the time when I started reading a lot of biographies of successful people, businessmen,
politicians, lawyers, leaders, etc. I discovered a trend. That none of the books mentioned
education for more than 5 pages. I was surprised by that because of the way we are told
about studies and education I thought before reading these books that all they would talk
about is how to study better and smarter etc. But none of them, as I said, mentioned any of
that. Then why were the system and society hyping education so much? And that too in a
way that it becomes a burden for the students

In our schools students are taught how to be Elon Musk, or Robert Redfield, instead of
teaching how to become themselves. There is a fixed pattern for everyone, everyone
has to learn the same textbook, sit on the same test, and is graded on the same
level. But is this correct? Is every student meant to excel in academics, or is every
student who doesn’t score well in exams meant to be a failure in life? The truth is
that not even 10% of the education we gain in school is useful in life. But this system
is able to make capable people unable. Bill gates, wasn’t the topper of his class, in
school and neither in college. But Today the toppers fight to join his company. This
pressure can either make you or break you. If you handle it then fine, but if you can’t
then you end up giving what is most precious, your life. Students get so engrossed in
scoring well in school that they forget that the biggest exam is life and when they reach that level, they fail miserably.

The solution is education but in a different way. Students should be allowed to
explore, should be allowed to explore and ask questions. Then when they choose
they would be more confident and happy.

In the end I would like to thank smart natives and Naheed ma’am for their
mentorship and help in writing this blog and hosting this session. I have already
learned a few important things and am excited about the treasure of learning in my
coming future.

By Smartnatives Intern

Vardhan Jain

Student 10 th Std