A good education should be healthy, too

With mounting expectations to attend college and increasingly selective admissions, many are overwhelmed with the stress of trying to fit a specific admissions mold. Although the recent attention on Brittany Amano’s false nonprofit resume building (“College Aspirants Face Pressure to do ‘Impossible’,” Jan. 15) is no representation of the character of most students, her story brings to light the far-reaching effects of the immense pressure students face today in the pursuit of getting into college.

There is an unmistakable sense of competition among students to do whatever it takes to stand out in a national body of high-achieving peers. On top of already rigorous academic expectations to take challenging classes and get perfect grades, many students desperately feel the need to fill up their schedules with a myriad of extracurricular activities in the hopes of boosting their chances of admission.

While the pressure to be accepted into college does not apply to every student, this inclination to overachieve is the reality of any student aiming to leave the island, attend a prestigious school, or at least get enough scholarships to avoid acquiring a massive amount of debt.

In the seemingly endless pursuit of doing and being more, students are burning out and their health is taking a hit. Physically, students routinely sacrifice sleep, meals and quality time in personal relationships; mentally, they are often overwhelmed and emotionally exhausted from trying to fulfill the demands of activities they feel more of an obligation to rather than a real interest. Anxiety and depression rates in teens have been steadily increasing since the 1950s, and some studies even suggest that the number of incidences of depression in adolescents has doubled in the past few decades.

Though student health grows into a bigger issue each year, it continues to be overlooked. Our schools and communities need to start doing more to address it.

First, teachers and parents, we need to start a conversation about the importance of acknowledging mental health concerns like stress, anxiety, and depression. Second, students, we need to work together to undo a culture that normalizes unhealthy behaviors like staying up late and skipping meals in favor of doing work; an all-nighter is a sign of neglected health — not a badge of honor. Third, schools and administrators, students could really benefit from better access to support services like school psychologists and more college counselors to work with them one on one through their individual needs.

Ultimately, we as a whole society need to stress to students a more holistic view of success that is based not on college admission standards, but on each individual’s pursuit of their own potential and passions.

As seniors, we can tell you that making self-care a priority is not easy. The process of undoing an educational culture that for years has been built to promote the neglect of personal health and values will not be easy either, but it will be necessary.

If we want our students to truly succeed — to find meaning and fulfillment pursuing things that they are passionate about and that will make a difference in our community — we need to teach them to take care of themselves first, and to find worth in something more than a resume.

Geetika Patwardhan attends Hanalani Schools and Leilani Ly attends McKinley High School; both are Class of 2017.