Before you even get a chance to process a grade on a test your teacher hands back, a voice is already screeching next to you and tilting their head to look at your paper. What did you get? Even when you do well, you might be reluctant to share. The thought runs through your head: Why do you care? Is the need to be better than everyone else really that severe? For many, the answer is yes, and it’s a wound that cuts deeper than you might think.

Whether it’s something as big as applying to college or something as tiny as a math quiz, unhealthy and unnecessary competition is rampant at the high school level. Competition can be good—it encourages people to be the best they can be and not settle for something smaller. Although seemingly harmless on a surface level, academic competition often negatively impacts students far more than one would expect, gravely harming the mental and emotional health of many students across the country. 

Natural human rivalry plays into this competition, which isn’t surprising. With so much pressure placed on students’ academic, athletic, and social performances, it’s natural for students to compete with each other to be the best. It’s even expected. This is especially true in smaller and closed off environments such as high schools, where students are intimately familiar with each other and friendly competition is at an all-time high.

However, unhealthy competition is not an issue strictly created by students. Pressure from adults such as parents or mentors to be the best, while most likely well-intentioned, only worsens the issue. It makes sense that every parent wants their child to succeed, but for some, that desire is often translated into unreasonable pressure to perform, in turn forcing the child to compete with other kids. Or, adults may compare their kids to other peers, worsening animosities and resentment. Comparison really only leads to one thing: competition.

Then, competition, in turn, only leads to one thing: stress. 80% of college students base their self worth on academics (University of Michigan). This issue does not just apply to college students. The seeds of self-doubt and pressure to perform academically are planted as young as elementary school, and they grow significantly in high school. 

Think about those little competitions in elementary school and middle school, like the spelling bee or MathCounts. In childhood, the competition is usually pretty harmless. You work with your friends so that everyone can succeed. You prepare together and generally have a fun time. There’s no worry about grades or academics at that point.

Then, high school hits. Competition suddenly approaches an all-time high. Unlike past years, grades actually determine your future. Moreso, with the rise of trends like grade inflation or higher standards for college, students tend to put more pressure on themselves to be the best as the standards are through the roof, compared to past years. 

This time, instead of happily participating in little competitions, there’s an added pressure: getting into a ‘good college.’ The competition genuinely matters. Winning matters. This shift in mindset causes terrible consequences. Suddenly, friends may not want you to succeed. They might not tell you about those exciting opportunities out there or about ways to get better at math or English. They won’t give you good feedback, in fear that you will get better. It becomes so bad that people truly don’t want you to succeed, because it might mean they won’t succeed themselves. This unhealthy mindset and backwards way of thinking only creates a more undesirable environment in the battlefield that is high school. 

Unhealthy academic competition can cause another disturbing trend: many students, hoping only to improve their chances of getting into college and beating their peers in class, will learn content simply for the purpose of memorization and regurgitation. They’re learning content just for that sweet A. School becomes purposeless in such a harsh environment if no one actually cares about learning anything. After a huge test, many students will simply forget all the content they’ve learned. This practice benefits lots of kids; their transcript only shows the things they can brag to their peers about, and what’s the fun in bragging about your genuine knowledge of the content?

Also, there’s a pressure to make it all look effortless. When was the last time you heard someone bragging about not studying, and then acing their test or final? There’s this confusing paradox where you’re expected to gain amazing grades, balance extracurriculars, all while making it look like it took no struggle or hard work at all. It makes other people feel ashamed of their own hard work. Hard work is genuinely admirable, yet certain high schoolers pridefully tout their lack of effort. This toxic sense of superiority that many have just because it takes them less effort to succeed academically feeds into an egoistic and narcissistic mindset, and that carries over into college and adult life.

Nowadays, many students fall into the same pattern of thinking: the real winners of the game of school are not those who actually learn and gain experience. The winners are the ones who take dozens of AP classes, have straight A’s, and get perfect test scores, even if they might not care about actually understanding the content. Their pride is not unjustified; that is the idea of success that many have, students and parents alike. Those students do have a right to be proud of themselves (to have those accomplishments, hard work is required). 

However, the pressure put on them (by others, themselves, or both) takes away from the joy of learning that school is supposed to provide. That happiness is often lacking due to the constant competition students face. For many high-achieving students, school is no longer the fun challenge it once was; it’s an inescapable conglomeration of both their self worth and their biggest fears. These high-achieving students are simply playing the game in order to get into college, instead of enjoying a quality education.

Despite the stressor that grades are for so many students, it can still be difficult to find pride when one does get good grades. Competition takes almost all of the joy out of school. While one student might have been proud of themselves for getting a 95% on Biology test, that pride and joy might be quickly dashed when the girl next to her is complaining about her 98%. 

Although it sounds easy to just ignore these seemingly harmless comments and comparisons, they are so common in a school environment that it becomes an impossible task. In our own personal experiences as students, the academic competition begins to lack the fun and harmlessness it did when we were younger. Academic competition can feel like a bottomless pit of comparison and self doubt; however, it’s turning into a ladder that thousands of other teenagers are trying to climb in order to get to the same college or secure the same job. Heavy competition, and the animosity stemming from that, is making that hole feel bigger while steepening that ladder. As a result, the practice of extreme competition is only negatively impacting kids. Instead, we should aim to manipulate the ladder of high school to support all teenagers and create an environment where everyone can succeed, without putting down others.