There’s a big debate in the media at the moment about modern childhood and all the pressures children face.
Early testing is one of the areas being discussed and I agree there’s too much pressure on young people at school nowadays. My cousin’s only 12 and they’ve introduced all these tests for him to do throughout the year to see what level he’s at. It’s made him really stressed. You can tell he’s not the same since he’s been doing all this work. He has a really short fuse now and gets angry easily when you ask him about schoolwork.
If he’s not doing homework he’s revising. He doesn’t have time to see his friends or go out and play and do normal things. He’s either studying, asleep or at school. School just isn’t fun anymore and it’s putting too much pressure on children.
Another problem I see is 10 and 12 year olds doing a lot of crime in my area. I see them sitting in the park, doing graffiti and setting fire to bins. They rob people, or stab people and I’m sure it’s because they play violent computer games for 18+ adults.
Every couple of weeks they bring out a new computer game and they’re often about killing people, blowing up stuff and stealing cars. This happens for real in my area. Kids are being violent and stealing cars and bikes every day.
The scary thing is, it’s actually parents who buy these games for their kids. I know because when I went to buy the 18+ game ‘grand-theft auto’ for my older brother who’s 21 when I was 16 they asked me for identification.
So, if we want to improve young people’s behaviour then it’s up to parents to set more boundaries for their children. And it’s up to schools to make learning fun if they want to see a change in young people’s mental health.
About this team
This article was written by Siobahn Slowey, 17, from our London newsroom. It was published in The Guardian.
