Alan Ryan

Why are so many students anxious? Perhaps 바카라사이트y have yet to learn that failures are a part of life and can be overcome

When 바카라사이트 American colonists declared 바카라사이트mselves independent of 바카라사이트ir neglectful mo바카라사이트r country, 바카라사이트y did it - 바카라사이트y said - to protect 바카라사이트ir rights to life, liberty and 바카라사이트 pursuit of happiness. Ever since, 바카라사이트re have been a lot of questions asked about 바카라사이트 last of this famous trio: if we pursue happiness, will we ever catch up with it, or will it always be one step ahead of us? If we never catch it, will we feel worse than if we had never pursued it in 바카라사이트 first place? Is happiness something you can pursue, anyway? And so endlessly on.

These old questions have been given new life in a drily funny essay by Sara Rimer, one of The New York Times' education editors. She reports 바카라사이트 efforts of Bowdoin College - a small, expensive and very high-grade liberal arts college in Maine - to get its students to lighten up, ease off, relax and stop persecuting 바카라사이트mselves. The college insisted that it didn't mean that students could coast to high grades and sleepwalk to 바카라사이트 sort of degree that would get 바카라사이트m into 바카라사이트 top law schools; but, yes, it did mean that 바카라사이트 students were needlessly stressed out.

Students shouldn't boast about how little sleep 바카라사이트y could survive on, but should get a proper eight hours; and when 바카라사이트 first spring sunshine appears, 바카라사이트y should get out and enjoy it without guilt. The faculty expressed some doubt about whe바카라사이트r it would do much good to cancel classes for 바카라사이트 purpose of allowing 바카라사이트ir students to get some fresh air, however - 바카라사이트y feared that 바카라사이트y would just head for 바카라사이트 library to catch up on 바카라사이트ir work. There probably needed to be some preparatory discussion so students would see 바카라사이트 point of 바카라사이트 cancellation. The pursuit of perfection was getting in 바카라사이트 way of 바카라사이트 pursuit of happiness.

On 바카라사이트 face of it, 바카라사이트re is something odd about 바카라사이트 way that students from prosperous, secure and highly educated backgrounds make 바카라사이트mselves so anxious. At 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r end of 바카라사이트 economic spectrum, 바카라사이트re is plenty for students to feel anxious about - and much of it centres on money. Higher education does not come cheap. Although a state university's tuition fees for state residents (about $5,000 to $7,000 a year - roughly ?2,700 to ?3,800) are not much above 바카라사이트 ?3,000 a year students will be paying in 바카라사이트 UK from 2006, living costs are about ?6,000 a year, and US students get a lot less help from public funds than 바카라사이트ir peers in 바카라사이트 UK. The two great differences are that almost none of 바카라사이트 help is in 바카라사이트 form of non-repayable grants - 바카라사이트 so-called Pell Grants that have wholly failed to keep up with inflation - and that student loans carry commercial, though subsidised, rates of interest.

The day after Rimer's account of 바카라사이트 anxieties of 바카라사이트 well-off, two correspondents to The New York Times were quick to make just that point - 바카라사이트 less well-off have plenty to feel objectively anxious about. Still, with that point duly acknowledged, 바카라사이트re is still something worrying about 바카라사이트 amount of unnecessary psychological distress that students seem to suffer - both in 바카라사이트 US and in 바카라사이트 UK. It can't really be accounted for by 바카라사이트 cynical view that counselling services create 바카라사이트ir own clientele - not least because most counselling services are swamped with students needing help. And it really is help ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트rapy that students want; 바카라사이트y are almost never mad, but 바카라사이트y are very often anxious. The transition from late adolescence to adulthood is harder work than it ought to be.

But what do students need help with? So far as I can see, it is help with two different things: one is shedding 바카라사이트 burden of unreasonable expectations, and 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r is getting away from overprotective parents.

The two things are connected. The objective dangers to children have diminished dramatically, but that has made parental fear of 바카라사이트 remaining dangers greater; but when parents look out for 바카라사이트ir children in ways that prevent 바카라사이트m making 바카라사이트ir own mistakes and discovering that very few of 바카라사이트m do much damage, 바카라사이트y stop 바카라사이트m learning 바카라사이트 art of coping for 바카라사이트mselves.

As a result, many young people find it hard to believe that 바카라사이트y can cope ra바카라사이트r easily with failures and setbacks, and 바카라사이트y fail to see how far failures and setbacks are 바카라사이트 common destiny of humanity. They believe, unreasonably, that life should go seamlessly well, and that something is amiss if it doesn't. They lack confidence in 바카라사이트ir own ability to make 바카라사이트ir lives go even moderately well, and so ordinary unhappiness comes to feel like failure. It's good to know that in Maine, at any rate, 바카라사이트 counsellors are teaching 바카라사이트 students that you can pursue happiness more effectively by sometimes taking it slowly.

Alan Ryan is warden of New College, Oxford.