When speaking about kids and teenagers, stress should not be mentioned. It shouldnt be an issue for most people under 8 as they dont have real life problems like work and payments. Yet when asked, most teens agree during the school year they have high stress levels, especially due to the high expectations they need to uphold when it comes to standardized tests. They get brainwashed from a young age that standardized tests determine their whole lives, starting with what grade they get placed into, to what college is willing to let them in. ΒI really dont like the standardized testing that we take for the state, sophomore Frida Moya said. I have to spend so much of my time studying and I get really stressed out (Holland Forsythe). ThatΒs too much for any teen to have to handle. Most teens who have to take standardized tests also are required to have to have a large amount of extracurricular activity as a requirement for a school or club. Chowdhury finds it difficult to balance the four to five hours of IB homework he gets and the two sports he plays with the large amounts of studying that come with standardized testing. He often finds himself staying up until two or three oclock in the morning trying to get everything done (Holland Forsythe). On top of having to
do work for classes, volunteer for community service hours, and whatever else they have like work or sports, theyre expected to have to be able to study for a test which makes it all the more stressful.
Next negative effect due to standardized testing being an assessment of intelligence is the fact that it is sometimes biased to a certain group of people. Some students arent born in the country theyre studying in and usually have a different first language. Regardless of this fact they have to go through testing just like everyone else even if they dont have the same sort of knowledge as a native speaker. English language learners take tests in English before they have mastered the language (ProCon.org). This puts them at an unfair disadvantage compared to the rest of the people around them. Furthermore if you are born in a low to middle class family, most of the time these standardized tests are too expensive and arent really in their budget but they have to find the money some way or else they cant take them. This means kids with wealthier parents can take tests multiple times without caring too much about it and having more chances to get a better grade. While some students can only afford the test once or twice putting them at a disadvantage from the start.