Pressure

If you are born in the same country I am born in, i.e. India, you'll know you'll get scolded for even reading this article by your parents. Parents in India put a lot of pressure on their kids and it is not their fault.

It is the education system's fault.

The education system in India is designed to pressurize a child. If you've seen the Oscar winning film Whiplash, you'll know the pros and cons of such pressure. The central theme of the movie deals with the fact as to whether a person does better when under pressure or when he is not under pressure. The main antagonist-turn-protagonist of the movie played by J.K. Simmons says, "Charlie became bird because Jo Jones threw a cymbal at his head." Which basically means, since Jo Jones disrespected Charlie, he practiced and practiced to become who he is - the famous drummer Bird.

But what this guy and the educationists of this nation don't understand is that not everyone is Charlie. Not everyone can fly.

From the moment we enter the first grade, we get to know about our class 10 exams. I still remember when I was young and saw some 10th graders, I'd be horrified.

You see, in our class 10 exams, we sort of, become men from boys by giving our first national exams, called the board exams.

Of course this exam has no significance in our lives. It is no SAT or placement exam, it is just a... I have no description for it.

All this does is pressurizes a person and strips them of their self confidence incase they do not do well. This exam is a cornucopia of awkwardness.

Take this example:

Suppose your child has an inherent talent as an artist. He is destined to be the next Pablo Picasso. Then obviously he lacks talent in science or remembering details in history. But due to this board exam, he has to hone these skills. Not because he wants to, but because he HAS to. And in doing so, obviously, he will fail. Maybe he will get a 88%. But most people consider anything below 90% is considered, "retarded". He is incessantly asked by his peers as to how much he got in his board and obviously, each time, his confidence gets chipped away.

How does this pressure help? If you ask me, it just puts a burden on our abilities.

If you want to know the reason behind the rising number of suicide rates in India, this, is it.

In conclusion I'd like to add that yes, tests are good. They are important but emphasis on tests is poisonous. A person's capabilities cannot be measured by these tests.

SauraDEFY signing out. Stay awesome.