Chinanews, Beijing, Dec. 13 – A recent survey of Shanghai students’ work load shows that most primary and middle school students in the city suffer from great psychological pressure. As students grow up, their psychological pressure becomes heavier. Students’ psychological pressure arises from parents’ expectation of them and their input into their education, as well as from their self-esteem and their fear for the future, the China Youth Daily reported.
The survey was based on a random sample questionnaire done to different age groups. About 834 pupils and junior middle school students in Shanghai took part in the survey.
The result shows that 95% of the parents have bought supplementary study materials for their children and 70% of the children take additional courses after class. Most notably, 72.6% of the students in the survey think that these supplementary books and classes have brought financial burdens to their parents and 4.3% of the students say that burden is “very heavy.”
When asked whether they are satisfied with their academic performance, 73.6% say no. About half of the students fear that they might “fall behind others if they don’t spend extra time studying.” So, in order not to lag behind, they will do some extra study after finishing teachers’ assignments.
In regard to students’ study motives, the survey shows that 20.3% of the students think that being a student, they are “obliged to study”, although they “don’t know why they should do so”. About 4.5% of the students say they “wouldn’t study if their parents do not require them.” A majority part (52.4%) of the students say they study in order to have a better life in future, “study is a hard job. However, if it can help me to realize my goal and ambition in future, it’s worth it.”
Some psychologists say that student’s anxiety for their future results from the social values that parents and teachers place on them. When students experience social competition at a too early age, they will suffer from heavy psychological pressure, which, in the end, might lead to some mental diseases.
