Konkur Is Not the End of the Road: Examining a Common Anxiety Among Teenagers
Now that the Konkur results have been announced, it is better to ask first, 'How are you feeling?' rather than 'What rank did you get?' This small change in wording may signal a bigger shift in how we see teenagers.
Arjan Ambassador of Religion, Religion and Thought Service, Saman Sefalgar; These days, for many Iranian families, a number is supposed to speak about their child's future. A rank that may appear on the screen of a system, but for a teenager who has fought for it for months and sometimes years, has a much bigger meaning than a number. For some teenagers, the entrance exam result is not the result of an exam, but the result of life. If the rating is good, the future is bright and if not, the impression is formed that everything is over.
This view is perhaps the most important cultural damage surrounding entrance exams. Turning an educational test into a test to measure human worth is a manifestation of a wrong attitude. Konkor is a competitive test by nature, and naturally, its result can affect a person's educational path. But the problem starts when this effect becomes "determining fate" in the mind of the family, school and the teenager himself. A research study about the consequences of entrance exam in Iran, which examined 74 studies, shows that the high importance of this test is associated with psychological, social, educational and economic consequences, and the anxiety caused by it has greatly affected both candidates and parents.
Why is the exam so big?
To understand entrance exam anxiety, you should not only look at the exam itself. Konkor is actually at the intersection of several social issues. Career prospects, social status, family expectations, educational competition, economic inequality, and worries about the future are all at stake. In a society where the path to attaining certain fields and desirable job positions is very competitive, it is natural that families attach great importance to academic success. But this same importance, when combined with economic and social concerns, can turn into pressure.
Parents who tell their child "your future depends on this" do not necessarily intend to harm. Many of them say such a sentence out of concern. But the teen may get another message, "If I don't succeed, I've let my family down." In this way, an educational problem becomes an emotional problem. The research conducted on the entrance exam has also shown that "family" and "academic factors" have been the most important sources of stress for the entrance exam candidates.
Stress before an important test is not abnormal in itself. A certain amount of anxiety can even prepare a person to try harder. The problem becomes serious when the test result becomes a measure of a person's worth. Adolescence is a period when a person is building his identity. "Who am I?", "What will I become in the future?", "What do others think of me?" and "Will I make it?" These are natural questions at this age. Now, if the society tells the teenager that the answer to a large part of these questions will be determined in one day and in the form of a rank, the psychological pressure will increase. In such a situation, failure in the entrance exam may change from "not getting results in a path" to "I have failed" in the teenager's mind. These two propositions have a fundamental difference. The first is about an event, but the second is about human identity.
The role of the school, when education is reduced to the entrance exam level
Another part of this problem comes back to the education system. When the success of schools, counselors, and sometimes even teachers is measured by the number of passes and top ranks, the message is unintentionally conveyed that the value of education is in its exam results. In this atmosphere, the teenager may feel that his worth depends on his performance on the test. Art, communication skills, creativity, sports, group work, social experiences and even self-knowledge are sidelined in front of the entrance exam rank.
However, real life after school is much more complicated than a ranking table. People's career path is usually not linear and many people change their field of study, profession, city, interests and even their definition of success during their life. Therefore, one of the major mistakes is imagining the future as a straight road. The reality, however, is more like a network of multiple paths that are sometimes accompanied by failure, changing paths and choosing again.
economy and social class; The less seen part of the story
Entrance exam pressure should not be considered only a psychological issue. This test is also related to the issue of educational justice. Access to private classes, advisors, practice tests, educational facilities, and a suitable study environment is not the same for everyone. For this reason, the entrance exam rank is not always the product of "individual effort". A series of family components, school quality, economic conditions, access to education and of course the individual's effort and ability play a role in it.
social networks; Showcase of success
Social networks have made the pressure more complicated in recent years. Adolescents are not only compared to classmates or family members. He is faced with hundreds of images of "success". Top grades, graduation parties, college photos, congratulatory messages, and narratives that attribute everything to a few hours of study and individual will create a highly selective picture of reality. Few people publish their failures, doubts, anxieties, family problems, or years of changing paths. As a result, the teenager may think that "everyone has succeeded but me." This social comparison intensifies anxiety.
The most dangerous sentence is: "What do I do now?"
On the day of announcing the result, the most important task of the family may not be to immediately decide on the choice of major. The first task is to help the teenager to separate his "test result" from his "self-worth". Sayings like, "Did you see what I said?", "So-and-so got the better of you," "Now you have to study for another year," or even "It's okay, life goes on," may add to the pressure if said without listening to the teen's feelings. A healthier reaction manifests itself in the form of accepting reality and leaving paths. Whatever the outcome, one should consider what options are available. Choosing a field, different universities, different fields, changing the path or even participating in the test again are among the options. "Not being accepted in the first choice" is not the same as "the end of the future". This simple distinction is psychologically important.
The family must transform from project manager to safe haven
In the final months of the exam, some families unwittingly become the child's project manager. They ask questions like: How many hours did you study? How many tests did you take? What happened to the mock test rank? Why did you study less today? In such a situation, the teenager may feel that even the home is a place of constant evaluation. The family needs to take another role seriously and that is creating security. Security means that the teenager knows that if the result is not as expected, the family's emotional relationship with him will not change. This issue does not mean that studies and university are unimportant. By the way, it means taking seriously the mental health and real future of the teenager.
The media also play a role in creating the meaning of the exam. With the publication of top rankings, success stories, and "from zero to number one" narratives every year, we may unwittingly paint a picture where success only has one shape. It is necessary to talk about various paths of success along with the narrative of top ranks. Of those who changed majors, chose a different university path, went to university later, or found their professional path after an academic failure. This does not mean to minimize the importance of the exam. The problem is to belittle a person in front of the exam.
The main problem is not the test itself; "The end of the line" is to see it
Konkur may change the course of a teenager's life, but it should not become the end of his life in his mind. A society that wants to reduce the anxiety of the teenage generation needs to repeat a clear message: the result of a test can be important, but it cannot determine a person's worth or his full future potential. Numerous researches conducted on Iranian teenagers have also confirmed the relationship between academic pressure, mental health and perceived health. Therefore, the issue is not just a family or media concern and has public health dimensions as well. Maybe it's time to announce the results of the national exam instead of asking the teenager: "What rank did you get?" First, let's ask: "How are you?"
This small change in the question can be a sign of a bigger change in our view of teenagers. That he is a person with many opportunities to build a life before he is a rank, a report card or a future student. Perhaps the most important lesson of the exam is that the whole life should not be limited to one exam.