A1 Reflective Response PDF

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This is the first major writing assignment for the year, this one being an analysis on the article, "Generation Stress"...

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Ralph 1

John Kneisly CO 150 09/15/20 Summary and Reflection on “Generation Stress” College students are typically branded as happy, care-free party goers, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for most students. Many of these students are experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety in today’s culture, and the number is only growing. “Generation Stress”, written by Sylvia Mathews Burwell and published on Foreign Affairs in November of 2018, explains how the mental health of students is such an important issue, yet universities are not taking the steps required to address it. In this article, Burwell argues that economic, academic, and social media pressure are three main concepts that all have detrimental effects on a student’s mental health. Although there are the main factors (i.e. economics, academics, and social media) that seem to cause depression and anxiety in these college students, there are so many other embodiments of stress that Burwell presents. These can take the form of the rise in school shootings, increased security after 9/11, and increased sexual assault on campus. Burwell argues the point that so many college kids are dealing with increased amounts of stress, using evidence such as statistics from studies and reasoning. The author brings up points about college debt, academic pressure/unpreparedness, and social media that help provide evidence for why these students are feeling this way. Throughout the article, Burwell constantly makes the point that universities are doing their best to correct this by implementing several programs, funding, and seminars to try and improve students’ mental health.

Ralph 2

After reading this article, I wholeheartedly agree with these main points (economic, academic, and social media pressure) because as a college student myself I have dealt with these problems before. When talking about academic pressure, the author argues that parents have begun raising their children in a risk-aversion environment, this means that parents are not preparing their children to accept failure. I have constantly felt academic pressure from my mother (a doctor) to get the best grades in school and to go into a higher profession. My mom had constantly put pressure on me to succeed that when I started to fail, I got stressed and scared. This is one of the main reasons that led to a 4-month depressive state in high school, so I can only imagine the impact that it could have on college students. Another factor that Burwell argues is that social media is another root for depression in students. She states that, “...people tend to heavily curate what they present, [and] it can sometimes seem as if everyone else has better internships, earns higher grades, and attends more exclusive parties.” I have dealt with this problem before which is why I had deleted Instagram even before reading this article because I started to understand the problems that stemmed from constantly comparing yourself to others. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy”, this still holds true to this day. The economic portion was one that I haven't dealt with much personally, but while reading this article I was able to understand the problems that most students face economically. I came from a white family in the upper-middle class so I been privileged and haven’t had many fears about leaving college debt-free, but I have been scared about what economy I will graduate into. Universities seem to be doing what they can to help with these increased numbers of depressed and anxious students such as increasing counseling staff, holding seminars, and creating awareness. “Across the country, colleges and universities are adding extra professional staff to help students, in part because the types of counseling needs have also expanded.”

Ralph 3

(Burwell). I believe that it is a positive sign to see these universities stepping up to help their students as much as possible, because everyone needs help in one way or another. I think that the most effective way to help college students, as Burwell mentions in her article, is developing a sense of community throughout the campus. This community will make it easier for students to not only go to one another for help regarding mental health or schoolwork, but to go to teachers and faculty members for help without feeling discouraged. Dealing with these issues myself, I have developed a unique perspective not only when reading this article but throughout my life as well. I understand the problems that these students are facing and find it reassuring that universities are recognizing these problems and attempting to help. Throughout my college experience I am going to always try and be available to students if they need help. This “help” doesn’t solely take the form of classwork and assignments, but also if they just need someone to talk with and vent. Reading this article has opened my mind to the issues that college students experience and has made me realize that not everyone’s problems all stem from the same source. However, we are all college students which means we are all one big family, and family has to help one another out. Colorado State University. Healthy State. (Virginia Chaffee, Amanda Memoli, Kristie Yelinek, Genesea Carter), Fountainhead Press, 2020, United States, n.d. 20 September, 2020

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