My first experience with academic validation came in grade four when my class was given the project of drawing an advertisement for a made-up product of our choice. As a nerdy little nine-year-old, I “invented” the Super Knob; a little knob that you can buy to attach to your glasses that upon being turned, gives you superpowers. Now, keep in mind I have also always been a bit of a perfectionist, especially when it came to art. When it came time to draw my advertisement for the project, I wasn’t happy with the aesthetics, so I scrapped it. On my second attempt, I went for a pretty much empty paper with a little white rectangle (meant to be the knob) wearing a cape in the centre, and the name and slogan of the product in the corner. In my mind, I saw it as minimalistic and professional; however, my teacher couldn’t say the same and gave me my first 2+. This was earth-shattering to a kid who had no clue that this really wouldn’t be as detrimental to my grade as I first believed it to be. While some people grow to accept that grades are not the end-all-be-all, if I told you that I’ve become more rational about getting bad grades, I would, unfortunately, be lying.
What is academic validation?
Someone who struggles with academic validation is someone who gives grades a lot of power over their sense of success. This increasingly common pressure that teenagers and young adults face is a product of societal standards and expectations, notably the expectation for students to continue to higher education and be at the top of their class. While society plays a large role in this phenomenon, I would argue that parents play an equal if not larger part in the rise of students who struggle with academic validation. Past generations of parents tended to expect their children to do well in school but didn’t get involved very much. Then, as the world entered the hippie movement, parents’ general opinions shifted to just wanting happiness for their children, regardless of what that looked like. That rapidly shifted again when society saw a rise in “helicopter parents,” who are parents that are extremely involved in their children’s lives and academic success. That paved the way for the current trend of “bulldozer parents,” who share many similarities to “helicopter parents,” except that they are even more active by trying to eliminate any and every obstacle in their children’s path to success. This extreme presence of parents in their children’s academic performance has led to the pressure that students face to do well in school, not only to make themselves proud but also to win their parents’ approval.
What do we do about it?
Academic validation isn’t technically a bad thing; having high aspirations for yourself and your future is great. However, it becomes an issue when you get to the point where you’ve worn yourself out by pulling all-nighters in order to perfect every project and neglect other important aspects of your life, like your physical and mental health. It’s also damaging when getting bad grades ruins your self-esteem because your worth is not defined by your grades in school. So, what do we do to solve this problem? The main way that I deal with it is simply by finding a balance between academics and personal life. This way, I am still making time for my stress-relieving outlets like yoga, skincare and spending time with friends that help offset the stress I feel regarding my performance in my courses.
Now, while I am still struggling with practicing what I preach, and most definitely still get upset about low grades, I have been better at not letting school consume my life. Instead, I’ve been working on a healthy balance by finding time for my physical and mental health alongside my academics.