Looking for a way to improve teenage mental health?
Try this cheap and easy hack.
Here's a hack which could improve teenage mental health.
Stop telling teenagers that their GCSEs are the most important thing they'll ever do and that if they don't do well, their future life will be blighted.
People say this to motivate teenagers but for many it has the opposite effect. One third of teenagers are not going to do well in their GCSEs no matter how hard they work. This is how the system is designed. It's not one in which everyone can succeed.
Those teenagers believe you, but many of them also know that they are not going to do well. They think, not only is my life miserable now, it's going to be like this forever. They sink into despair. They lose motivation, they become stressed and anxious - because what is the point?
What can we tell them instead?
That there will be second chances. That not everyone passes exams. That we will help them find their way to a rewarding future, no matter what happens in their exams. That their worth as a person is not contained in their exam results.
Essentially, that there is hope for their future, no matter what.
Following up on my comment on "https://naomicfisher.substack.com/p/they-just-dont-care", I couldn't agree more with this. Actually, I don't think anyone was telling us back then that 'O'-levels and 'A'-levels (as they were called then) were the most important things we would ever do, and as it happens I did do quite well. Not that doing well helped in the least: I spent the next few decades unlearning the damage and finding out what *was* and *is* most important to me. And it sure as hell ain't no GCSEs and the like.
Yes yes yes! Such an important topic and 100% a great "hack". I was just having a conversation with my 14 year old at the weekend about how there are many different ways to become successful in life... and when I say 'successful', I don't mean rich.. I mean to succeed in making enough money to have a comfortable life and hopefully by doing a job that you actually enjoy. We discussed how whilst GCSE's are important, they are not be all and end all. The positives of getting any qualifications are that it simply opens more doors and perhaps offers more opportunity. We must value our children's efforts and passions (whatever they may be) and allow for time and growth in these areas, rather than making them feel our approval is dependant on GCSE grades ❤️