Niya Williams

Is it fair that so much is riding on a single test for millions of Chinese students? Write and argument essay that uses evidence to support your claim.

In china many students are put into cram schools where they work every single day from 6:40am to 11:30pm. They all work very hard and study to pass a test called the gaokao. This test can literally make or break you in the world of work. Many students who are poor and cannot afford much take these tests in hopes of passing to get a good education. Many students commit suicide from the pressure and harsh security. The students who pass are not guaranteed a good paying job but they have a good education that can take them far. Some people say that these harsh studying habits can ruin the students and make them feel so pressured that they can’t take it anymore, and some people say that people who take the test (the students) will benefit more from these studying habits because they will help them learn how to push themselves and try to pursue a life of working hard. Both of these things are true, but if the students feel so pressured that they take it upon themselves to die, maybe the pressure is a little bit to hard. No learning experience should make you feel like death is an option.

Many students, who take the gaokao test in china, only take it so they can have a better life (by getting a better job). This will take them quite far. Having a good job leads to making a good amount of money and having a good life by being able to access the necessities you need. One of the students even said “It’s a lot of pressure” showing the readers he confirms that the test do put a lot of pressure on the students. The article also comes to say “Teenage suicide rates tend to rise as the gaokao nears.” This shows how terrible the tests are for the students. I’m guessing as the time for the test approaches the students really start to feel the pressure and understand the consequences of not passing the test. If you don’t pass you will end up with a terrible job. The students start studying even harder, and with nothing to ease the stress because they don’t allow any games or dating, you must try to relax. But the test can really determine your future. The test is way too much pressure and I feel like no one should feel like they should take their own life because of the fact they have to pass a test.

Many parents feel like if their kid stops this harsh process they will drop. Some parents feel as if this harsh working will make their kids dedicated to learn and work hard. They think that having their kids being pushed will make them work harder. I think have pushing your kids a little is one thing but pushing them to the point of suicide is a different thing. Parents don’t exactly understand how hard it is for the students to go through this kind of thing. “My mother constantly reminds me to work hard,” says one student. This shows that parents really want their kids to have a better/ good life. They want them to have a wide variety of schools to choose from and jobs. “Harsh rules and long hours” is what they call the cram schools. “Many parents, who fear that easing the pressure could hurt their children’s futures”

Both sides show that these test are the biggest things in these people’s lives. They take them so seriously because they can make or break you. Your entire life depends on this one test. This also means “teenage suicide rates tend to rise as the gaokao nears”. Personally I find that if a teenager thinks that because this test can literally make you or break you they can’t handle the pressure and must kill themselves is crazy. They honestly let the kids have no fun to ease the stress and ban many things. This leads them to feeling so pressured they turn to killing themselves, feeling like if you don’t pass one test, your entire life will mean nothing and you will have to work building houses is depressing.

In conclusion no one should feel like their entire lives depend on one test and nothing else because it can lead to depression and suicide. Pressuring yourself to the ledge of live and death is a terrible thing and feeling so stressed is terrible.