Has school pressure increased compared to 8-10 years ago?

[Aoneoff22]

My children were happy at school the odd moan here and there but they were happy. But as soon as they hit year 10 and 11. They became really unhappy. Anxious, depressed self harming. Suicide attempt pressure. No meaningful breaks /,down time

I also have children in their mid 20s who were not effected like that at all.

Have things changed. Is there more pressure on children compared to say 10 years ago?

I would say yes. My DC are in primary and I’m astonished at how much pressure and expectation there is at such a young age now. Friends with kids who are older teens and young adults now say it wasn’t like that 15 years ago. It definitely wasn’t when I was at school. I didn’t really feel any pressure at all until 3 months before my actual GCSEs.

I wonder if things were more matter or fact then. My eldest recently enrolled at college and was asked several times how they felt about it, were they anxious etc... Planting the idea that they should be anxious, when they are very excited about it. They have done much harder things in life already than starting at a new educational establishment.

Yes and no. There is technically more help and awareness however there is also more content exams than ever. Stricter uniform policies that aren't comfortable and cause unnecessary aggro.

It's probably easier to revise than ever before but that also comes with its own pressures. Then there's the phones and social media. There is no escape.

That's awful I'm so sorry.

Students these days have a lot more help and support than we ever had and a lot more options for their future. They also have a lot less responsibility for their own learning; they are spoon fed nearly everything and, in my experience, they work a lot less. There is definitely not more content than 30 years ago. However, like everything else in life these days, they find it much more stressful than we did.