Challenge Success partners with schools to rid society’s notion that all that matters are  grades, test scores, and performance. Several students believe that their future depends on these numbers: SAT scores, GPAs, and AP exam scores. However, Challenge Success focuses on a completely different approach on student life- the need to make sure kids come out of school as resilient, moral, and encouraged people. Take a look at the following statistics that have no doubt, motivated many schools to implement methods encouraged by Challenge Success.

Preschool

• More than one third of toddlers have televisions in their bedrooms.
• According to a study done on children from 60 schools, kids who attended academically-focused preschools received significantly lower grades than those kids who attended preschools that were more focused on play.

Elementary School

• According to research done on elementary school homework, showed zero correlation between homework and the achievement those kids had in a school day.
• Nearly 40 percent of school districts have either gotten rid of recess or reduced recess time, in hopes of devoting more time to academic areas.
• Fourth to sixth graders who went to sleep around 30 to 40 minutes earlier than usual, improved in information retention, attention, motor speed. Additionally, math and reading test scores, were somewhat improved.

Middle School

• Nine to thirteen-year-olds said the’re biggest stressor was academics, more so than bullying or family problems.
• Ninety percent of middle school students reported that they had cheated at least once in their school career.
• According to research done on project based learning, PBL could help to decrease the gap between male and female achievement within middle school students.

High School

• While only 7 percent of parents said that they think their teens use drugs to deal with stress, 73 percent of students said stress from school is their top-most reason for using drugs.
• Most high-achieving private and public high school students average 3.07 hours of homework each nights.
• High school athletes face an average of two million injuries, five hundred thousand doctor visits, and 30,000 hospital visits annually.

College

• The topmost reasons for undergraduate students wanting to cheat, include:
  • Fear of failure
  • Pressure from parents
  • Peer competition
  • Wishing for a good grade
  • Unfair teacher
• Forty percent of college students said they have engaged in binge drinking in the past two weeks.
• According to survey done, incorporating 31,500 freshman undergraduate students from 114 different universities, almost two out of five students had a difficult time developing effective study skills and adjust to college demands.
  • Fifty one percent of freshman undergraduates reported that it was difficult to manage their time well.
  • About 41 percent of freshman undergraduates felt overwhelmed by everything they had to complete.

All the above statistics perfectly encompass why our society has, and continues to place such an emphasis on academics, that fail to understand there is more to life. For preschoolers, social activities should really be of the most importance. For elementary schoolers, at that age, sleep cannot be secondary. The consequences of cheating should be known to each and every middle schooler in the country. High schoolers need to realize that numbers cannot define them. Colleges must realize that students come from different schools, where workloads differed, and they need time and assistance to adjust. As a whole, our society needs to come to the realization that the students of America are the mids of a future that must be protected.

Make sure to read Pratika Katiyar’s article, Challenging the Definition of Success, to learn more about how Challenge Success will be implemented at Jefferson.

*All statistics are courtesy of  the Challenge Success website.