Misconception #18: Stress in school is beneficial

Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. The purpose of these posts is to explain why I disagree with various comments that I have heard people make about schooling. These are meant as personal thoughts rather than conclusive proof, and I will admit that I'm not always the best at explaining my thoughts. Regardless, I have decided that I should be willing to share these posts when I encounter someone online who makes an argument that I have already discussed.

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Among the more shocking pro-schooling arguments that I have heard has to do with stress. Some people feel that children should be stressed in order to help them learn how to deal with stress.

The schools do provide a stressful environment. They do not teach people how to deal with stress. Perhaps a stressful schooling environment can force people to deal with stress before they have jobs that can be on the line, but the this stress is unnecessary and potentially harmful. Not only that, but they can learn on the job just as well as in school. It’s better to wait for the stress than to manufacture it.

I think that the real idea behind beneficial stress is that people have to get used to it. That is true, but you have to be careful. There is a huge difference between accepting far more stress than necessary and handling stress well. It’s better to find ways of reducing stress than to let stress build up to a breaking point.

This is stress for the sake of stress. How can anyone buy into such a stupid idea?