This depiction of school, exams, teachers, students, stress, anxiety, and cheating does not apply to everyone.
Neither am I saying "school sucks so stop doing it". Many parts of school are good and great, it’s just that some things could be better, starting with the reward system.
I am simply sharing part of an experience in the current school system. My intention is to show how pressure from the letter grade, percent grade, or number grade makes learning feel more stressful than it should be. Learning should be fun/neutral, and schools are mainly for learning. Some tests do nothing but hinder learning because instead of learning the material, students might be tempted to learn how to pass the test instead to get the best score possible, like a twisted game in real life.
How else are we supposed to know how much society knows?
There are many ways to do this, but the surefire way to make people insanely anxious is to determine one's whole future based on a score.
Grades determine what colleges/universities/schools you get into. They determine if you get financial aid (money) or not. They determine if you get a “good” job (that pays you well and lets you live a "better" life). Since this is the case, why in the world would ANYONE want a bad grade?
The people who I have talked to at least (in technology and medical fields), say that at least half of what they learned at school isn't necessary for their jobs now, prerequisites included. That other half is necessary, and that's awesome. Schools should teach the necessary stuff that people want/truly have to learn for their future careers.
How are children (like the one in this game) supposed to know what they want to do with their lives?
Exposure. That doesn't mean memorizing the periodic table element for element. Make children feel overwhelmed with awesome career choices. Then again, the main reason some careers aren't "awesome" is the way those workers are treated and their salary...
If you have a higher average grade than your peer, does that make you smarter than them?
... Do I have to answer that?
This needs to change (and it slowly is), but this is merely how I feel.
Let me know how you feel (and maybe even talk about your experience too).
