Student Grades…Time to Let Go?

Reevaluating Obsession with Grades & Impact on High School Students

Oak Grove’s high school students are obsessing over homework, class participation, tests, and how these will affect their grades. Even during remote learning, where our circumstances are incredibly different, students’ mindsets have remained the same. Many parents of students pressure their children to get good high school grades, as this is seen as an important part of doing well in life, but continue to neglect the fact that this is harmful for many students’ mental health, productivity, and joy of learning.

Changing Focus

There have been many arguments to take a different approach to learning including Mastery-based learning, also known as proficiency-based or competency-based learning as explained in this New York Times article.

The majority of students strive to get good high school grades purely for college applications. Even though many colleges have acknowledged the fact that this year is different and difficult for all of us, many of us still feel the need to keep the same level of work and commitment, as though this were a regular school year. According to one student, they are pressured by their parents to do well academically for their transcripts and to have broader opportunities in the future. I think that we students can and should be learning for ourselves, wanting to get good grades to prove it to ourselves, or purely because we are enthralled with what we are doing. As one parent said, the pressure to have good grades in academic classes can limit students’ curiosity in the subject they are learning about. I think the obsessive tendencies over good grades become even more negative when you are trying to get good grades for someone else and not yourself.

The Perfectionism Itch

When will we learn that this obsessive mentality is negatively impacting our lives? In an article written by Dr. Kristen Lee, behavioral science expert, she mentions a “perfectionism itch,” stating that once you give in, there is no going back. She talks about getting yourself into a loop of perfectionism and how limiting that can be. Many students will do a lot for a good grade, neglecting sleep and self-care. I have personally experienced these negative side effects from trying to get a good grade.

Remote Learning & Online Assignments

Remote learning has furthered those struggles for perfection for many students, including myself. Working from home has made it harder for me to keep my grades up, as I lack motivation and find it particularly challenging working in a home environment. Even though I still strive for perfection, I find it harder than it has been to keep up my grades. The extra stress we are under, lack of social connection, and unusual work environment has made it all more difficult to appreciate learning and hold myself up to an academic standard.

Jupiter can be advantageous for checking homework, having group discussions through the forums, or seeing how specific assignments affect grades, but many of us spend too much time on it. Frequently checking our grades, as well as discussing and comparing them with peers heavily contributes to obsession over grades. During remote learning we are spending more time using Jupiter. The constant reminder of my grades has made me feel somewhat insane because I am not giving myself the slack I need during these times, as I have already scratched that perfectionism itch. Instead of seeing ways I could be improving, sometimes I view individual grades as ways that I have failed on particular assignments.

Stepping Back to Reevaluate Student Grades

Being able to change the mindset of obsessing over student grades, for myself and others, would be monumental. I think that if there was limited access to viewing our grades, so that we still knew what was going on but we would not be able to see them constantly, it might help to decrease the number of people obsessing over their grades. Overall, I believe that students, parents, and teachers alike need to take a step back and reevaluate how the constant obsession over grades is impacting students.