"College entrance examination sequelae" endangers the parents who also need to decompress. How can foreign students relieve stress after the college entrance examination?
[Global Times Special Correspondent in Korea and Germany Xia Xueqingmu] Exams, scores, volunteers, and admission notices... The 2021 college entrance examination period in China is coming to an end. Some students have successfully entered the ideal colleges, but some students have not received them. The expected result.
Regardless of whether the result is good or bad, many students have not yet escaped from the stress of long and tense test preparation.
Effectively alleviating stress is the only way to meet the new life in the future.
"College entrance examination sequelae" is harmful
In South Korea, which places great emphasis on education, the college entrance examination is regarded as a major examination that "determines the future of students."
Therefore, after the exam, the students went from the long-term high-intensity tension in the third year of high school to a relaxed state, and various psychological problems followed one after another.
This phenomenon is also known as "college entrance examination sequelae."
According to South Korean media reports, after the college entrance examination, most candidates will experience sequelae regardless of their test scores. In particular, students who fail to pass the exam usually have symptoms such as anger, guilt, depression, and even extreme choices.
Every year before and after the college entrance examination, it is the peak of Korean student suicides.
According to statistics from the Korea Statistics Office, the suicide rate among teenagers in November of the month of the college entrance examination is higher than that of adults.
From this point of view, it has nothing to do with the college entrance examination.
In the eyes of many people, European society seems to be the place where there is the least pressure to enter a higher education, but this is not true.
In recent years, Europe has paid more and more attention to university entrance. The proportion of high school students in countries such as Germany, Switzerland and Austria who went to university at the beginning of this century was only 25%. At present, this number is about 1/3.
"Global Times" reporter observed that although compared with Asian countries, senior high school students in European countries have relatively loose academic performance, middle-class families attach great importance to their children's education.
If their children can be promoted to prestigious schools, parents will even hold grand celebrations and invite relatives and friends to share the joy.
In the process of entering high schools in European and American countries, although the usual scores are also the target of assessment, the "big exam" of the university entrance exam still brings great psychological pressure to students and affects their mood after the exam.
The results of a survey recently released by the German Higher Education Information System (HIS) show that more than 40% of high school graduates in the 27 EU countries have great psychological pressure on their academic or employment prospects.
Participate in off-campus activities to transfer pressure
In view of the psychological sequelae brought about by the college entrance examination, at this period, various local education departments and health departments in South Korea will promote students' mental health related work.
For example, during the college entrance examination last year, Daegu Mental Health and Welfare Center held mental health and life respect activities in major examination rooms to motivate candidates and parents.
Volunteers distribute brochures with 24-hour mental health consultation telephone and suicide prevention consultation telephone to protect the mental health of young people after the college entrance examination and spread the culture of respect for life.
They will especially ask candidates not to feel pessimistic about the test results. If you feel distressed or need consultation, you can consult the public hotline at any time.
Lena, the mother of Marcus, a middle school student in Berlin, recently told the Global Times reporter that after taking the German college entrance examination "Abitur", her son will not be able to apply for the medical profession he yearns for because of insufficient performance in some courses, and is very depressed. , Shutting himself in the room every day, not going out, and even lost the courage to face the future life.
Therefore, she took her son to the Berlin Youth Bureau, where there are professional academic and employment counselors. In addition to psychological counseling for students, there are also practical academic career guidance.
In addition to youth organizations, European countries also have for-profit psychological counseling services, which are usually provided by psychotherapists or academic counselors.
In addition to individual conversations, a common method is to use mutual aid groups to reduce the psychological pressure of students through means such as animals and nature.
However, professional psychological counseling and counseling require expensive fees after all, and many countries do not provide medical reimbursement for this project.
Therefore, many students adjust themselves through professional websites and psychological counseling apps.
These programs will first understand the information about the exam situation of high school graduates, and then investigate the current psychological conditions of the students, and at the same time give some psychological treatment prescriptions, such as relaxation exercises, reading specific stress-relieving books, etc.
It is also popular among European high school graduates to take a year off after graduation, which is the so-called "gap year."
During this year, some graduates went to the company for apprenticeship training, and most of the students served as social volunteers or ecological volunteers, participating in social welfare activities or environmental protection work.
Marn, who is currently studying computer science at the University of Munich in Germany, told the Global Times reporter that the "gap year" allows them to increase their experience and experience life, and students can rethink their future after graduation.
It is understood that the college entrance examination results of most European countries are valid for a long time, and there is no restriction on "graduate students", so "gap years" do not affect university applications.
Parents also need to decompress
As for whether or not to repeat the college entrance examination, students from different countries have completely different choices.
Take South Korea as an example. There are many students who choose to repeat courses, and some students will repeat courses for three or four years. The society will not look at such choices with colored glasses.
However, in Europe, there are not many students repeating, this is because the school believes that this will take up additional teaching resources.
If students strongly request, or have special reasons such as illness, they can negotiate with the school to repeat the course.
In addition, it is easier to transfer majors and schools in European universities, so some students who are not ideal for exams go to university first, and then apply for transfer or major transfer after one or two semesters.
Of course, there are also some European students who are more realistic. If they do not perform well in the exam, they will resolutely decide to give up studying.
Some students will try to start their own business or receive training to work in a company first, and then go back to university after a year or two.
However, it should be noted that, generally speaking, college graduates earn higher incomes than high school graduates, so even students who are not ideal for the college entrance examination will be "plated with gold" in the school in the future.
The most important thing to solve the pressure of students after the exam is the existence of the family, and the parents themselves have accumulated the same pressure during the years that they have been studying with them.
Therefore, parents need to "decompress after the college entrance examination" to help their children get out of the predicament.
Professor Jin of the Department of Mental Health Medicine at Yonsei University Hospital in South Korea suggested that parents should first pay attention to whether their children have great changes in their emotions.
"When a child has symptoms of depression, it helps a lot to see a doctor in time. This is the time when communication between parents and children needs to be strengthened." Generally speaking, if you suffer from depression, your concentration will decrease and your surroundings will be affected. Symptoms of uninteresting things, or reticence, slow actions, fatigue or anxiety, and feelings of excessive guilt.
Jung Seok-hoon, a professor in the Department of Mental Health Medicine at Seoul Asan Hospital, also believes that the role of parents at this stage is very important: “Parents should not blame their children too much for poor test results; Lovely.” Professor Zheng also said that the parents’ association had a sense of disappointment because the children who had been taking care of them for many years became independent after the college entrance examination.
At this time, giving up the attachment to the children, having one's own spare time or self-development, etc. are all helpful to parents and the family.