Leaving & Junior Cert Pressure

Theredjaybird

Is the leaving & junior cert becoming too much pressure on teenagers these days.
Points reaching insane heights and I am so glad I will never have to resit either exams.

silverharp

I did my LC in the 80's and it seemed to be a Death Match setup, so no. I guess its important to manage expectations and usually there are different routes to get to your final destination outside of a few choice careers

bonyn

Parents and teachers place far too much importance on these exams. And too much importance on getting a 3rd level degree, regardless of how crap the degree was.

They don't consider alternative routes into careers, alternative careers than don't require higher education, or any other aspect of a young person's personal development. Some parents are obsessed with the bragging rights of having their kid start college at 16. Big deal

And then their kids are trapped in 4 years of a damaging cycle of Christmas and summer exams and CAs. Some suffering awful mental health issues during and after that time.

Maybe it's different now, but when I was doing mine, most of our parents didn't have a leaving cert, and walked in to long term jobs with decent cash. While that doesn't exist any more, all the pressure before beginning their careers cannot translate into a happy and successful work life!

silverharp

bonyn wrote: »

Some parents are obsessed with the bragging rights of having their kid start college at 16. Big deal

that's mental, I have never heard that before. with my son we could have picked either year to start school but my preference was that he leaves school in the future 18 going on 19 rather than 17 going on 18