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Overvaluing of grades, School's insufficiency to help, and the negative impact grades have on mental health

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Schools across the United States are using the current letter grading system knowing the harmful effects it has on students. The system encourages validation through letters causing psychological distress like anxiety and depression. This can be caused by kids who overvalue grades which ends up hurting them rather than helping them. They would rather see an A than understand their curriculum. Which will lead to it piling up throughout the future. And, what makes matters even worse is the reluctance of schools to make a change when they know where the problem starts. This only further increases the stress and toxic environment created in schools across the US. However, when the schools do take action they provide management classes that students don't even have the time to attend. With that said, throughout my whole research each study has highlighted the importance of mental health. This means that if schools require every person to check up with their counselors and get feedback they can personalize a plan for their students. Which not only can provide better student suggestions for the grading system, but also for their mental health.

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These 2 sources share a result and explanation relationship. In source 1 it explains how students with higher grades seem to have the most damaging effects on their mental health. While in source 2 it explains how some kids focus on grades so much it is described as an "obsession." This is an explanation as to why the kids with better grades may have more mental repercussions. They would rather see the grade than actually understand what they're learning which, causes more stress in the future.

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The overall takeaway from these sources was the obvious problem that schools are not doing enough to help the stress levels of students. Which they know is caused by the current grading system, but still won't do anything about it. And, now that it is apparent there is a lack of effort on the school's part, there are also apparent mediating effects on students.

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The main takeaway from the first theme was the current grading system encouraged the youth to define themselves by their grade. Which inevitably would cause them to have psychological distress. This insufficient grading system poses a question, are schools doing anything to fix it? And if so, is it enough? These questions are answered in the next theme.

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1. One of the main connections between all of these sources was the fact that grades caused psychological distress. This means in some type of way grades effected the student's mental health negatively. The reason why this is connected to the theme of overvaluing grades is each one of these sources mentioned the grade point average. This substantiates that if the student had a lower grade so was their mental health. This would then prove that caring about grades too much and identifying with them too much is very harmful to a student's well being.

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These two studies conducted resulted in the same findings. Each source noted that there was a high connection between mental health and grades. But the important notion was each finding resulted in a connection to mental illness. This means that in each source it was highly noted the relationship that mental illness and the current grading system have. Which is extremely alarming for students' well-being.

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Source 1: “COVID 19: Stress Management among Students and its Impact on Their Effective Learning”

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Source 1: “COVID 19: Stress Management among Students and its Impact on Their Effective Learning”

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“Stress management among students is a hit-or-miss matter. In order to tackle this horrible matter most of the educational institute schedule optional stress management classes, but students often lack the time to attend" (Yasmin, 2020).
This quote is significant because it proves the insufficient plans made to help the "stress" load of students. In the quote, it mentions that schools make an effort to create classes to help teach time management. But in the end, they contradict themselves because the student's workload is too big to attend. This is just one example (of many) of how the school system's attempts to make their already stressful atmosphere less stressful, fail.

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1.  One of the main things identified from both of the sources was the lack of effort on the school's part to help students with stress. But the worst and most concerning part about this issue is they know where the problem is and they're still not acting correctly. And, with the toxic grading system having clear effects on mental health, so much so that kids are dropping out, it's imperative that this issue is resolved.

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These two sources have one main thing in common they talk about the validation that students rely on from grades. This means that both explain how students gain their happiness from seeing what letter they get. Which they explain in both can lead to feelings of depression and anxiety that can last awhile.

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These two quotes have one major thing in common they both expose the lack of helpful effort from school systems. In source 1 it explains the system that the schools are using currently is not helping at all. While in source 2 it provides an approach that exposes how some schools are ignoring the problems created by grades altogether. These two sources are important because they both provide a possible explanation as to why the grading system problem has been around for many years. This would be the insufficient problem-solving of schools.

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1.  All of these sources are extremely similar and come down to basically the same point. The current grading system encourages the idea of validating yourself by the grades you get. And, this causes students to attract feelings of depression and anxiety.

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Sources 2 and 3 represent a cause-and-effect relationship. In source 2 it explains how "obsessed" students can become with the current toxic grading system. Source 3 provides an example of low grades resulting in a higher rate of depression. This means that kids are so preoccupied with their grades they will let their whole mental health plummet.

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Both of these quotes highlight the effects that grades can have on one's mental health. Source 1 talks about how grades can impact the ratio of when happiness begins and ends. While Source 3 talks about how lower grades can cause a student to have depression. Both of these points are important because they both show the extremely negative effects grades can have. This suggests that this system needs to be changed to find a more efficient and safer one for students' mental health.

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How can students' value of grades affect their emotional health? (Social)

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Source 3:“Mental health and academic performance: a study on selection and causation effects from childhood to early adulthood”

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Source 3:“Mental health and academic performance: a study on selection and causation effects from childhood to early adulthood”

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"a low GPA was associated with hospitalization due to depression in adolescence. However, academic performance was assessed at age 16 and depression between ages 12 and 17 making a definite conclusion" (Agnafors, 2020).
This quote is significant because it shows that the results of GPA can heavily affect a youth's mental health. In this case, the youth value their grades so much that they let their grade point dictate how they feel. Which is toxic and shows just how much the current grading system affects youth's mental health.

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Source 2: “Mental health problems in the 10th grade and non-completion of upper secondary school: the mediating role of grades in a population-based longitudinal study”

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Source 2: “Mental health problems in the 10th grade and non-completion of upper secondary school: the mediating role of grades in a population-based longitudinal study”

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"grades play an important role in dropping out from school is well-known…A large proportion of the total effect of externalizing problems was mediated by grades in both genders" (Sagatun, 2014).
This quote is significant because it indirectly shows the insufficiency of schools. The quote above makes a very important statement that grades are the main reason for students dropping out. But the most important part of that sentence was the "well-known" statement. This shows that schools are ignoring the problem at hand which results in things as extreme as dropouts. Which in the end says a lot about the school system in general that they rather ignore than fix.

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Source 3: “An Empirical Approach to Complete Mental Health Classification in Adolescents”

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Source 3: “An Empirical Approach to Complete Mental Health Classification in Adolescents”

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As Moore (2019) mentions, the researchers found that there was a very evident connection between mental health and grades. In the study they conducted with 332 students it was found that 90% experienced distress from grades. They also found that the stress from grades led to internalizing problems like depression.

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Source 1:“Three‑Wave Longitudinal Study of a Dual‑Factor Model: Mental Health Status and Academic Outcomes for High School Students in Academically Accelerated Curricula” 

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Source 1:“Three‑Wave Longitudinal Study of a Dual‑Factor Model: Mental Health Status and Academic Outcomes for High School Students in Academically Accelerated Curricula” 

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As Suldo (2021) mentions, Researchers found that GPA has a very powerful impact on teenagers' mental/emotional health. It was found that teenagers who had lower GPAs were more susceptible to negative feelings. Which was the opposite for students who had higher GPAs. However, the ratio in the influx of feelings is what really matters. The students who seem to put forth more effort and have higher grades gain short-term happiness from seeing their grades rise. While the kids who try less and have lower grades, gain long-term happiness from other things.
This quote is significant because it compares kids who are very dedicated to their grades to ones that aren't. The results indicate that it is more harmful to be dedicated to your grades than not. And, so much so that you're influx of happiness is hindered. Which shows just how detrimental our current grading system is.

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Source 2: “Emotional and Cognitive Responses to Academic Performace and Grade Anxiety”

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Source 2: “Emotional and Cognitive Responses to Academic Performace and Grade Anxiety”

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"In multiple studies, students have reported preoccupation and worry with achieving the “best” grades rather than taking advantage of the value of what’s being taught. This concept could be understood, in strictly clinical diagnostic terms, as “grade obsession" (Marcus, 2020).

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Source 2: “A study of the Relation between Mental Health and Academic performance of the Islamic Azad University Ahvaz Branch”

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Source 2: “A study of the Relation between Mental Health and Academic performance of the Islamic Azad University Ahvaz Branch”

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As Mehdi (2014) mentions, Researchers found that there is a strong relationship between mental health issues and grades. Within the study, they found that high school students' moods are based on the outcome of their academic performance. This means that if they do well they will feel some sort of content. However, if they do badly they will feel extreme disappointment that will last longer. Which can cause disorders like depression and anxiety to form.

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Source 1: “Conceptualizing High School Student’s Mental Health Through a Dual-Factor Model”

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Source 1: “Conceptualizing High School Student’s Mental Health Through a Dual-Factor Model”

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"Youth who experience poor mental health (low SWB) are referred to as distressed and mentally unhealthy) comprised 8% to 17% (M  12.25%) of youth samples. Troubled students routinely have the worst outcomes of the four groups, including the lowest global self-worth, greatest external locus of control, and worst perceived behavioral competence" (Suldo, 2016).
This quote includes the mention of the troubled student group. Which was included with other groups in the research measuring the mental health status of students. This means that the troubled group had the lowest grades and the lowest mental health status. This would then lead to the assumption that grades are an interquel part of controlling one's mental health. But the most important part of the quote was when it included the other effects such as self-worth etc. This means that grades can change the mental health of a student which can lead to poor actions in other areas of their life.

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THEMATIC CLUSTER 2: School's Insufficiency to help

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THEMATIC CLUSTER 2: School's Insufficiency to help

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THEMATIC CLUSTER 3: The negative impact grades have on mental health

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THEMATIC CLUSTER 3: The negative impact grades have on mental health

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Context + Introduction + Focus (Problem Statement) 

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Context + Introduction + Focus (Problem Statement) 

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Today's grading system within schools creates a competitive atmosphere for the youth, especially in high school. But, this competition can be toxic for the student's mental health. According to Marcus et al., (2020) who's in the department
of psychology at the Community college of Vermont, the current letter grading system encourages students to define themselves by their grade outcomes. This is almost inevitable due to the fact that this type of toxic grading system was introduced and repeated from a young age. To a similar point, Yasmin et al., (2020) who's a professor at the University of Swaziland, the high value of grades that was explained above causes a high level of stress. This leads to an obsession that takes high schoolers away from activities other than school. This gives them less time for themselves which ultimately makes their mental health worse. Due to this, there is a clear connection between the negative social effects that are caused by a harmful grading system. Which makes students value for grades ultimately harming their mental health.

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THEMATIC CLUSTER 1: Overvaluing of grades

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THEMATIC CLUSTER 1: Overvaluing of grades