CULTURE OF COMPETITION EFFECTS STRESS ON STUDENTS

A Culture of Competition and Success

and the Effects of

Stress on the Student Generation

Laura Wake-Ramos

The Pennsylvania State University

CAS 202

May 21st, 2012

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Abstract

“College starts in kindergarten” (Robinson, 2006). In this generation,

every three-year-old goes to preschool, which prepares for kindergarten,

which prepares for elementary school, which prepares for middle school,

which prepares for high school, which prepares for college, because

college is the finish line in order to be successful. “This generation has

heard about competition and individual success since they were babies”

(Jill, 2012). This paper focuses on how the ideology of “college” has been

communicated and warped into a dominant force, pushing students

along a linear path of education in order to become successful in society,

rather than a distinguished opportunity to be exposed to new, higher

ideas. This paper also focuses on the Critical Theory of Communication in

Organizations (CTCO), because it explains how the educational system

has become a moneymaking corporation, outside of the interests of

student education. This paper focuses on the consequences of the

pressure on students and society, and hypothetical solutions in the

education system.

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A Culture of Competition and Success

and the Effects of

Stress on the Student Generation

College has progressively distorted itself into a controlling cultural

focus of this generation, causing students to blindly race in cutthroat

marathon without a known direction. “A generation ago, a fewer than a

third of high-school seniors were college-bound; now more than twice as

many say they’re shooting for a bachelor’s degree” (Kantrowitz, 2012).

Yet many students don’t believe their education is valuable for the same

reasons that their parents did decades ago. A survey from the University

of California in Los Angeles polled over 30 freshmen in 2005 and 1976. In

1976, a survey discovered that 49% of students found “making money” an

important reason to go to college, and 75% gave reasons like “to learn

about things that interest me.” Contrarily, in the 2005 survey, 71% of

students said “making more money” was a very important reason to go to

college, and 65% said they were “aiming to get a general education and

appreciation of ideas” (Walsh, 2006). Students years ago valued a college

education as an enriching experience meant for intellectual growth,

whereas many students now view their education as a “pit stop on the

road to wealth, fame and success.” (2006). This kind of mentality causes

disturbing competition and consequences among the students. First of

all, college has become a “brand” scheme, similar to the fashion industry.

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Students are not considering the perfect fit for them, such as location,

programs, or size, but by the college’s prestige. “There is an increasing

number of people who think that if their child does not go to a certain

level of school, they won’t make it in life,” says Bruce Poch, dean of

admission at Pomona College. Furthermore, “there is no evidence that a

name-brand degree guarantees anything” (2002). This results in the

mysterious game of college applications. Students are now trying to

predict what these colleges are looking for, and “packaging” themselves

for the part. They stuff their days and resumes with community service,

club leadership roles, academic awards, athletic achievements,

Advanced Placement classes, perfect SAT scores, and a 4.0 GPA. “Many

of today’s applicants boast accomplishments that were rare a generation

ago. And that makes it even harder for the colleges to distinguish

between them” (2002). A burgeoning industry of private college

counselors has occurred in the past decade. These counselors can cost

as much as $25,000 for four years of advice, and a surprising number of

families are willing to pay for them (2002). Furthermore, there has been a

growing trend in cheating and plagiarism in schools and colleges, as

students are so competitively driven to be above everyone, and many

experts refer to this generation as the “copy and paste” culture (2006). In

the end, this lifestyle of “overachieving” leads to “increases in ulcers,

depression, alcoholism, anxiety disorders and such control-related

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maladies as eating disorders, self-mutilation among teenagers are a result

of parents, teachers and colleges pushing too hard” (Salt Lake Tribune,

2006). Student’s are losing their youth, and ability to carry a balanced life.

“They should be spending time sleeping, eating, and staring into space”

to discover their true interests (2006).

The CTCO, created by University of Colorado communication

professor Stanley Deetz, seeks to ensure financial health of corporations as

well as human interests (Griffin, 2012). He believes that these national

corporations are the most dominant force in society, and this kind of

corporate control has diminished the quality of life for most citizens. They

“control and colonize” modern life (2012). Deetz presents a

communication model that emulates language as the principle medium

through which social reality is created and sustained. “Language is a part

of the production of the thing that we treat as being self-evident and

natural within a society” (2012). His model yields four different ways in

which public decisions can be made: strategy, consent, involvement, and

participation. Involvement, which will be focused on in this paper, is

defined as the “stakeholders’ free expression of ideas that may, or may

not, affect managerial decisions” (2012). Deetz claims that people

believe they have free expression of ideas, however, they have no voice

in the matter. This can become an issue, because when individuals realize

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their ideas aren’t represented in a final decision, it can lead to “cynicism”

(2012).

This evolution of the college education can be explained using the

CTCO theory, because college now has become an economic

corporation, just like any other business. Nationally, colleges and

universities are spending 50% more on marketing than they did in 2000

(Luettgar, 2008) in order to make their “brand” seem more marketable to

the upcoming generation. High schools, for example Troy High School in

Orange County, CA, love to boast that “99 percent of its graduates move

on to college the next year,” feeding their students to the industry

(Carpenter et al, 2007). Certain subjects, such as math and science, are

being emphasized in public schools, while other subjects, such as art and

music, are at the bottom of the academic hierarchy (2006). The public

school system is pushing this academia because they offer the most

career opportunities, and as a result, discourages students away from

discovering their real talents. According to the CTOC, students are

experiencing Involvement in decisions of their education. They believe

they have open and endless opportunities, yet don’t realize that they are

being nudged on a certain path, and being trained to think “slightly to

one side” (2006). Then, in the end, as proven by the recent trend, many

are feeling the result of cynicism of their goals, inspirations, and stressful

lives. College psychotherapy services are being pushed to their limits by

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regular student patients. Columbia reports an increase of 40% of student

visits since the 1994-95 academic year, and SUNY Purchase as seen a 48%

increase over the past three years (Berger, 2002). MIT reported 50%

increase in use of mental health services between 1995 and 2000, and

showed an increase of about 69% in student psychiatric hospitalizations,

“reflecting a growing number of students with serious mental health

conditions” (2002). Columbia, MIT, and University of Michigan are

undergoing research and program developments to improve their

services in response to a number of highly publicized suicides (2002).

“Depression has gone from being a housewife’s disorder to a student’s”

(2002). College is supposed to be the years of self-growth, and discovery

of innovation. However, instead, this generation has become

“emotionally fragile,” and will only create a “self-centered society” where

mistakes are seen as failures, rather than a process of learning (2002).

In order to reverse the trend and prepare this generation for the

future, there has to be an educational revolution. Sir Ken Robinson, an

advocate for creating an educational system that nurtures creativity,

believes there has been an academic inflation of a certain intelligence,

and undermining the process of creativity, which he defines as “the

process of having original ideas” (2006). School academic systems should

be balanced and flexible to allow students to create their own learning

path, and “educate children as their whole being”. Currently, “national

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education systems emulate that mistakes are the worst thing you can do”

(2006). Instead, the teaching process should focus on the innovation, and

creation of solutions, not the “right way” and “wrong way” to solve a

problem. This would be a proper solution validated by the CTOC theory,

because students would actually be able to be involved in the choices of

their education, and make their own choices for their future. Then,

students would feel confident in their decisions, and believe that their

education is valuable for their intellectual growth and future. Another

solution that must be considered in order to secure a stable generation is

self-education for signs of depression. Experts note that “college years are

when depression and other mental illnesses tend to first manifest

themselves,” however “college itself does not cause depression, but its

stresses including sleep deprivation, and substance abuse, can trigger

those who are vulnerable” (2002). About 15% of the general population is

possibly vulnerable to develop depression symptoms (2002). “The idea is

to catch yourself in self-defeating thoughts like, ‘This is going really badly,

I’ve really lost my touch’… then build up a mental argument for why that

isn’t so” (2002). Furthermore, the educational system should be

encouraging students to carry balanced lives, to strive for reachable

goals, and to worry more about their mental health, rather than their

future success. “Rather than setting and striving for goals based on a pure

desire to achieve, their underlying motivation impels them out into the

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world to avoid failure” (2012). After all, “if success takes the joys out of

life” it couldn’t possibly be considered “success” (2006).

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Discussion

“This generation has heard about competition and individual

success since they were babies, and we’ve found increases in self-belief

across traits that relate to achievement, success, leadership ability, and

self-confidence” (2012). However, as a consequence, this generation has

been molded to be afraid of failure. There has been a relapse in the

educational system. The current system forces students along a singular

path of learning, and opposes students branching off to discover their

talents, interests, and dreams. Instead, students are afraid of deriving from

this path and making their own choices. Furthermore, instead cultivating

active, creative, eager learners, the system has produced identically

packaged machines that are impatient to race to the top. The

educational system through college, has developed into a money-

making corporation, therefore, the prospective students developed

money-making, striving-for-success goals, like a business. This is why the

CTCO theory can be applied to explain this phenomena, because it’s

goals have evolved into a corporation. There must be changes in the

educational system, in order to not make the same mistakes in preparing

the upcoming generation.

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References:

(2006). Learning balance: Colleges, parents pressure students too much.

The Salt Lake Tribune.

Berger, L. (2002). The Therapy Generation: As pressures rise, campus

mental health services struggle to keep up. New York Times, D30.

Carpenter, E. & Leal, F. (2007). Pressure bears down on college-bound;

Local high school students shooting for a spot at a top university feel

the strain. The Orange County Register (California), A2.

Griffin, E. (2012). A First Look at Communication Theory. McGraw-Hill, 54-

64.

Jill, C. S. (2012). Overachiever. Psychology Today, 44(6) 33-34.

Kantrowitz, B. (2002). How to win the college game. Newsweek, 139(14),

46-51.

Luettgar, L. (2008). Brands speak beyond images; reflect lifestyle, student.

Rochester Business Journal, 24(18), 22.

Robinson, K. (2006). Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity. Ted.

Walsh, M. (2006). Academic Stress: Students Face Mounting Pressure to

Succeed. PBS NewsHour.