
Our Education System is Leaving Out an Important Life Skill: How to Manage Stress
I grew up trying to put my best effort into school, given my capacity. It stems from not wanting to regret that “if I could have prepared better, I would get better results”. All in or all out, and nothing in between.
Sure maybe to some, it sounds ambitious, perfectionistic, or strong-willed. To be frank, it stems from certain insecurity, “if I don’t do well at school, I am not enough”.
Now I’ve learned to look at it differently. I’m acknowledging the fixed mindset part of me, and embrace the growth mindset that whatever results, I am learning, and I am worthy regardless.
I wonder if these self-doubting questions in my head were shared by other students, regardless of their background. The bigger pattern I see is how much school and exam, evoke stress to their students. I’ve experienced that my school-related stress comes from the fear of failure. Without the proper knowledge of relaxing and taking care of our body, this accumulated sense of stress becomes toxic stress.
While the right amount of stress can increase our ability to perform better due to enhanced attention and focus, but too much stress is just debilitating and when left untended may lead to anxiety and depression.
“Globally, depression is one of the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents. The consequences of not addressing adolescent mental health conditions extend to adulthood, impairing both physical and mental health and limiting opportunities to lead fulfilling lives as adults” — World Health Organization
Schools and their standardized tests are there for a reason. Right now and in the near future, there is no way in getting around it. Our formal education system seeks to give us information, if it’s a good school — stimulate our critical thinking, and test whether we fully comprehend what was given.
Recently, I discovered something missing from the school’s curriculums. It’s educating young people with important life skills.
Emotional intelligence, financial literacy, time management, nutrition, and well-being, to name a few. What I would like to highlight here is the education of personal well-being, such as how to deal with stress and maybe, how tools like practicing mindfulness can aid that.
All of these are important life skills to prepare our young children to be independent and make the best decision for themselves. I find it more and more ridiculous that students are spending so much time studying for things they may or may not use, and may or may not like, when the school can carve out time to properly educate life skills so they grow up to be leaders, of themselves and the world.

Teaching Mindfulness in Schools Helps to Reduce Student’s Stress
Stress in the form of anxiety and depression in teenagers has increased by 70% over the past 30 years. Zooming out to human evolution, aren’t we living in the most comfortable times? But why do teenagers experience more stress than ever?
It may be due to society’s celebration for young achievers, trickling down to starting in schools in earlier ages or rushing to be ‘successful’ in society’s standard with whatever cost. It may be due to social pressure enhanced by social media.
Regardless of these various reasons, our schools should support us with tools to help deal with external stress. Some schools have picked up these practices.
370 primary and secondary schools in the UK have started to integrate mindfulness into their curriculum. They provide breathing exercises and relaxation techniques to support children in the age where they are more prone to stress and school-related anxiety.
My current university, University of Amsterdam, offers limited mindfulness training and sessions near exam period to cope with exam-related stress. From my personal experience, there is an immense sense of support from the faculty members and other fellow students.
We started the session by taking turns and mentioning “I am stressed when [fill in the blank]” and “I am relaxed when [fill in the blank]”. The trainer also taught us breathing and body-scan techniques to be mindful of where we feel stress in our body, and just by paying attention and releasing the tension can help reduce stress as a quick-fix.
I would imagine if mindfulness techniques were taught in school, that they would not only help students by reducing stress but also improving performance by increasing attention span, improve creativity and problem solving with a more clear mind and healthier mental state.
I wished when I was younger, I was told that this booming-term “mindfulness” existed. That a tool, as easily as noticing your breath and settling in your body can help manage stress better and more frequently. It’s an accessible tool, and its benefits can be experienced by everyone, regardless of age or background.
Maybe someday, we can introduce more of these mindfulness techniques and provide a solid ‘business case’ to credibly argue the importance and urgency to make mindfulness techniques accessible to our young children.
Until then — take care.
Namaste,
#MindfulMillenials
