Written by Jan Ruiz
Nowadays, a lot of schools are based on a competitive system where students have to show who is better. This type of educational system is very popular around the world but it is not the best option to create great students. An educational system should not be based on competition as it is the worst thing you can do to a student.
First of all, competition is a constant struggle and sometimes a fight between your classmates. Who finishes first, who has the best grade… This causes stress and anxiety, sometimes even depression or leaving high school. A study from Harvard explains that 72.3% of students that are in a competitive system commonly feel anxiety and stress. Also, 17% of them might end up with depression caused by all the pressure they have. Lastly, 42% of people that leave high school do it because of that, the competition. In my opinion, this should not be like that. Students are in school to learn, not to compete with each other. And if this creates stress, we must ban this strategy.
On the other hand, students might lose their creativity and ‘free will’ to do tasks in school. The expert on education Mark Miller, who is also a professor in Oxford, says that “Competition destroys students’ creativity.” In order to be their best they always prefer to do the same instead of innovating with new ideas. This happens when they have todo a project for example. It is better to “play it safe” rather than trying something new! This perfectly explains why I do not support this type of system. Students should get the opportunity to try new things and fail.
In conclusion, forcing students to compete will not make them better. It will cause stress and will make them lose creativity. This method should be banned from schools!
