Australian schoolkids top world’s stress list

A GLOBAL study of student welfare has found schoolchildren in Australia are under extreme pressure to succeed compared to the rest of the world.

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A GLOBAL study of student welfare has found schoolchildren in Australia are under extreme pressure to succeed compared to the rest of the world.

Aussie teenagers suffer more exam anxiety than students in most other countries, with half of boys and three-quarters of girls admitting to stressing over their school work.

The survey of 72 countries by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development also found bullying was rife in Aussie schools, with 15 per cent of high school students saying they were bullied “frequently” compared to 9 per cent in other nations.

Annika Neilsen, 16, and her friend Jordan Van Esveld, 16, use dance as a means to de-stress. Picture: Dylan Robinson

Girls were found to suffer much more academic anxiety than boys, many of whom said it wasn’t “cool’’ to excel in school work.

“The fear of making ­mistakes on a test often disrupts the performance of top-performing girls who can ‘choke under pressure’,’’ the report says.

The stress facts.

Nearly 90 per cent of Australia’s 15-year-olds want to get top marks in most subjects, and 61 per cent are tutored for an average of 4.5 hours a week.

Alarmingly, the survey also found that nearly a quarter of Australian teenagers go to school without having had any breakfast.

And it found that children who receive help with their homework from their parents perform worse than those who do it on their own.

St Paul’s Year 12 student Rachel Munt is under pressure to perform. Picture: Jack Tran

The OECD report also warns that elite schools could be putting too much pressure on students to perform well.

“Parents of students in elite schools often pay substantial tuition fees and expect their children to gain admission to top-tier universities,’’ it says.

“Under pressure to improve their students’ test performance, teachers may emphasise the need to do well on a test to gain access to university or better jobs.

“Both teachers and parents need to find ways to ­encourage students’ motivation to learn and achieve without generating an excessive fear of failure.’’

Sixteen-year-old Sydney schoolgirl Jordan Van Esveld is learning dance as one of her subjects.

“I like that I’m using things that I enjoy and get to do that at school,” she said yesterday.

“Now that I’m a senior, I can also finish earlier in the day, get my assignments done and make time for my extra-curricular activities.”

Originally published as Australian schoolkids top world’s stress list