Many young people have had home schooling in recent months, including my son Pim (17 years old, 5 VWO). At the kitchen table, he tells me how he feels:

On the one hand, I think it is a real shame that I am not going to school because of corona. I miss my friends and classmates. When you are at school, you make plans with friends to do fun things together or study together in the library. I really miss that. On the other hand, I am experiencing an enormous sense of calm now. When you are at school, you always have to do all kinds of things, you constantly feel under pressure, you run from one lesson to the next, teachers demand a lot from you, you have to get up early every day and cycle fast to arrive on time. I do not feel any pressure now, I feel much better, I exercise a lot, pay attention to what I eat and sleep much more. I wish things could continue like this after corona, with much more balance.

I am glad to hear that this period is doing my son good, but at the same time it also shocks me. Apparently, a pandemic is needed to expose something. But to what extent is the picture he paints accurate? Surely the Dutch youth are among the happiest in Europe? They have scored highly in life satisfaction for years and are no less satisfied than their Scandinavian peers in Finland and Sweden. Are young people just talking themselves into it, or is something really going on?

Pressure from school

The HBSC study published in 2018 shows that pressure from school has increased considerably over the past 10 years. The study ‘Happiness under Pressure?’ by UNICEF Netherlands, conducted by the Trimbos Institute, Stichting Alexander and Utrecht University, shows that pressure from schoolwork has decreased slightly over the past two years, but is still high. Almost half of 16-year-olds experience stress because of school or homework. This includes stress about tests, the fact that grades count towards the final exam from an early stage, grades being shared in the class group chat, feeling that they are not taken seriously, having chosen the wrong course of study, problems with teachers at school, or young people becoming completely stuck at school.

The stress young people experience is associated with more emotional problems and lower life satisfaction, according to the study ‘Happiness under Pressure?’. Performance pressure among young people is also high. Almost 1 in 3 young people aged 12 to 16 regularly experience pressure to meet their own expectations or those of others, such as parents and teachers. This fits the current picture that young people seem to be increasingly experiencing pressure from education, but it is not new.

Performance pressure

Performance pressure has increased since the 1980s, partly because of the knowledge economy. Success is important and is measured by your grades and later by your CV and salary. This has meant that the focus within education has increasingly been on achieving good grades. However, this rat race has not led to greater motivation. An OECD study shows that Dutch young people are the least motivated students in the world. If it is not about a grade for a test, the average student's attention disappears. The same study shows that the enjoyment Dutch young people get from school has been declining for years. How could it be otherwise? Take a country like Finland, for example. There, students do not receive grades until the age of 16, but oral feedback on their performance. Personal growth and development are central to the education curriculum.

Intrinsically motivating Dutch youth

How can we intrinsically motivate Dutch youth again? First of all, by supporting them and listening to them. The results of the study ‘Happiness under Pressure?’ show that young people who receive a great deal of support from their surroundings experience less pressure from schoolwork and are therefore less likely to experience stress. Experiencing social support from, for example, parents or teachers is an important protective factor in young people's development. It is related to a wide range of positive outcomes, such as academic skills, self-esteem and well-being, as well as a lower risk of depression.

In addition, we need to stop the rat race and pay more attention to meaning, personal development and learning social-emotional skills. As adults—parents, teachers, trainers and policymakers—we must first look at ourselves. Rather than merely wanting to get the best grades and performance out of our children, pupils, trainees and young people, we should look at what they need to develop and grow. Young people are asking for this themselves. The young people interviewed for the study ‘Happiness under Pressure?’ indicate that they have a strong need for personal development. They want to learn how to be themselves and believe in themselves, have their own opinions, deal with emotions, interact with others, learn to compare themselves less with others and accept that growing up is a process of trial and error in which not everything is equally enjoyable.

As one girl (15 years old, VWO) put it in the ‘Happiness under Pressure?’ study: “As far as I am concerned, it is important that the focus at school is less on your grades and your level, and more on the development you undergo as a person. More attention should be paid to the search for your own goals.”

Back to the kitchen table with my son Pim. I wonder how he will return to school once the schools fully reopen. Will everything go back to the way it was, or will things change? Will we learn lessons from the past period? That will not be easy, but if we listen to our young people, we will get a long way. They are asking for more attention to personal development and growth. This will enable not only my son, but all students in the Netherlands, to go to school with less stress and more enjoyment.

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