Middle school is not an easy time and the mental health of children between the ages of 11 and 14 depends on how schooling goes. On the occasion of the World Day for the refusal of school failure, September 22, an association specializing in school support Afev, interviewed middle school students from priority areas to understand how they feel at school. Many of them testify to their discomfort.
Before going to college, out of more than 800 children surveyed, 29% report having stomach aches. They are very numerous to live with stress in the school rhythm, fearing the evaluations (56% of them) and generally show a mixed taste for school: they are only 25% to have ticked the box “I like school a lot”. 7% don’t like it at all and 18% don’t like it “too much”. This could also be explained by the fact that 44% are bored often or all the time.
Academic demands and stress
But also perhaps because the context is not welcoming. On the one hand, the premises are not pleasant (13% of responses). On the other hand, middle school students point out that the atmosphere in class does not allow them to feel confident: 49% feel judged by other students and 35% testify that they feel alone and misunderstood. They also bear witness to the violence found in middle school: 45% say they know someone who has already been extorted or threatened.
The Afev association, which fights against school failure, points out that the fear of failing is very present among children attending school in REP, school requirements are a source of stress. Thus, 42% of girls dare not participate in class and 26% of boys. This is largely motivated, all genres combined, by the fear of error in the face of the public in the class: 55% testify to this. They are only 19% to understand all the courses taught to them, 66% say they don’t always understand and 15% point out that this happens often. They are 32% not to ask for help in this case.
Source : Barometer of the report to school of children from working-class neighborhoods, Afev, September 22, 2021.
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