Elite Schooling and Mental Health: Eliteness at What Cost?
As our class continues to study elite schools across the globe, I have noticed a theme of intense pressure, competition, and anxiety surrounding the culture of attending an elite school. I couldn’t help but think about how this culture is affecting the mental health of the students. This pressure showed up consistently throughout the interviews with students at the elite school, Sankofa International College, in Ghana. It also has shown up in my personal experience attending Colby College. In both my personal experience, as well as in students at an elite school in Ghana, stress and anxiety are extremely prevalent among students at these types of institutions across the globe.
How does this culture affect the mental health of students at these institutions? Research has shown some startling findings. A recent consensus study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine added youths in “high achieving schools” to their list of “at-risk” groups. This shows that adolescents attending elite schools such as Sankofa International College and Colby College are prone to higher rates of mental illness, along with other problem behaviors. This is shown in a study by psychologist Suniya Luther that found that “adolescents in high-achieving schools can suffer significantly higher rates of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and delinquent behaviors, at least two to three times the national average.” (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/09/26/students-high-achieving-schools-are-now-named-an-at-risk-group/)
So, where does this pressure come from? In an interview with a student Kwabena Dankwah from Sankofa International College, they stated “it’s kind of a good school, a prestigious school, so the pressure is there.” This implies that the status of the school itself as prestigious creates a culture of pressure within the student body that they can feel. Another student, Akwasi Owusu was discussing the college application process and he was applying to extremely competitive colleges (MIT, Colombia, Princeton) and stated that it was “extremely stressful.” When asked how he dealt with all of the pressure and stress, Akwasi Owusu said, “one thing is that you complain a lot! Like a lot! It is the collectiveness of it all that helps one deal with the stress.” This collectiveness is a sad reality that all of these students are struggling together with extreme amounts of stress and anxiety due to the intensity of the school and culture of pressure. These interviews showed that these students were extremely stressed. They were applying to very competitive colleges and taking 7 courses at the same time, while also trying to fit in as many extracurriculars as they could to build their resumes. This, as they state, is extremely stressful! Where is the time for self-care and time to relax?
https://tenor.com/view/stressed-gif-9932068
One of the reasons for this culture of stress in elite schools is the emphasis on attending an elite college, which is extremely competitive. This goal is one of the biggest selling points of the elite high schools we have been studying; if you attend this school you will get into a good college. An educational researcher, Denise Pope, states that “Many students have been fed the myth that there is only one, narrow path to success — acceptance to a prestigious college — and they have internalized that message.” This internalized pressure is not only from parents, but from the culture of the school itself when attending an elite school like Sankofa International College.
This school purposefully teaches the IB curriculum in order to prepare its students to get into the most prestigious colleges in the United States. On the front page of the guidance counselor tab on the Sankofa International college website, it states “Over the years, our students have been accepted into some of the most prestigious universities around the world” and then goes on to list colleges such as Harvard, Brown, Yale, Princeton, etc. This clearly shows the emphasis placed on their students to get into prestigious colleges and this pressure affects the students greatly.
This pressure to get into a good college that contributes to the culture of stress and pressure in elite colleges has lasting effects on students according to multiple studies. It is clear that elite schools create environments that perpetuate mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse which can affect an adolescent for the rest of their life. Elite schools help students get into prestigious colleges and build competitive resumes, but at what cost to the mental health of these students?