Introduction
In his 2010 article titled Record Level of Stress Found in College Freshmen, Tamar Lewin explains the findings of a survey that sought to establish the trend of emotional health of the freshmen joining four year colleges. In the articles, Lewin makes a number of observations, the most prominent being the fact that the emotional health of the students was on a downward trend with the students that considered their health as being above average dropping from 64% in 1985 to 52% in 2010. The article focuses on the potential causes of such trends, including economic and social factors. The three key points that I agreed with are: the fact that female students suffer more, the economic situation contributes to the status quo, and that the fear of failure enhances the drive to achieve. Summarily, I agreed with most of the findings, and will explain the reasons and examples in this paper.
The Points That I Agreed With
The first point that I chose to agree with is the reality that female students make up the bigger percentage of the portion of students suffering poor emotional health. Typically, girls socialize in a manner that forces them to let out their troubles through sharing. On the contrary, males do not socialize thus. As opposed to girls, boys prefer hiding their pains and fears through engaging in such constructive fun activities as sport. They can equally engage is destructive activities such as drinking and engaging in drug abuse. This way, they do not come out to make statistics on the topic. For instance, research indicates that well over 80% of the students that abuse drugs and drink before attaining legal age are boys.
The second point that I chose to agree with is the actuality that the economic situation is partly responsible for the suffering of the students. In point of fact, the stress of parents trickles down to the children. For instance, where the parents are facing a tough economic time, it is very likely that they will not sufficiently help the college students meet their needs – both economic and social. Perhaps the perfect illustration is the example of a student whose parents cannot help him sustain a high-paced social life. Such a student may develop low self esteem because he cannot access the pleasures his peers are accessing. Such things can cause poor emotional health.
Thirdly, I agree with the point that fear of failure is one among the factors that push individual drive to work hard. In his article, Lewin explains that the current generation is not confident about outdoing the generation of their fathers. As such, they are in a quest to attain higher education such as MBA and PhD programs at such tender ages as 15 and 16. This is particularly true because a person striving to outdo another will resort to education and other social factors that can empower them.
Reflective Statement
In my view, students should not be forced to pick a major because failure to perform in such subjects can be a cause for poor emotional health. Lewin explains that this is especially so in the case of girls. Unlike boys that can ask questions in class, the girls, who are typically shy and afraid of being considered failures suffer in silence. As an inference of the findings of Lewin, the students should be allowed to pick those discipline they deem fit for their career choices. This will enhance satisfaction, and emotional health.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear that the findings of the survey and the research carried out by Tamar Lewin are fully justifiable because they are applicable to real life examples. The three main points picked from the article are: the fact that female students suffer more, the economic situation contributes to the status quo, and that the fear of failure enhances the drive to achieve. From the explanations and examples given above, the points can be applied in the contemporary social setting for the youth, especially in the higher education setting.
