Essay on The Overachievers The Secret Lives of Driven Kids

Every fall millions of American adolescents gear up to apply for the thousands of colleges and universities across the nation. For many students this process is a simple-natural progression through a linear educational track in which no extra preparation, beyond a paper application, is required. However, for many students college preparation can begin as early as conception. Alexandria Robbins follows the stories of nine students from Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland. Whitman is known for and could be summarized by a simple term in which Robbins’ book is also titled: Overachievers. The author explores the hectic nature of helicopter parenting, bureaucratic admission processes, the culture of Ivy (a term describing the upper†¦show more content†¦Robbins concludes her bestseller with a seemingly rushed outline of best practices and recommendations for teachers, parents, students, educators and legislators. The Science of Psychology The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Psychological Disorders IV revision describes a variety of conditions that the student participants may have or were diagnosed with. The students of Overachievers had a variety of psychological disturbances including, but not limited to, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Clinical Depression, Stress, Suicidal Ideation, and/or Chemical Abuse. This is not atypical of the average student not only in America but globally. A 1993 study by Lewishon, Hops, Roberts, Seely and Andrews examined the prevalence of Depression and other DSM-III-R disorders longitudinally in over 3,000 high school students. This study found that 9.6% met criteria for a current disorder, more than 33% have been previously diagnosed and 31.7% of which experienced a second diagnosis later on. In addition, the research by Lewishon et al. (1993), describes female students as having significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and adjustment disorders while male students experienced higher rates of behaviorally disruptive disorders. While this particular research was conducted nearly two decades ago and under an old revision of the DSM, it runs particularly parallel with the accounts ofShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Overachievers : The Secret Lives Of Driven Kids Essay1173 Words   |  5 Pagesbattlefield that is the education system in her book, The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids. Robbins explores the lives of multiple students who are stressed and pressured to maintain good grades and get into an Ivy League college. This text allows for intriguing insight on how the educational system has â€Å"spiraled out of control† and displays the different measures students must now take to be the best. Robbins’ The Overachievers is an eye-opening bestseller which exposes the social pressuresRead MoreThe Overachievers, by Alexandra Robbins Essay2319 Words   |  10 PagesThe Overachievers by Alexandra Robbins is a non- fiction book that follows the lives of nine high school/ college overachieving students. On the outside they look healthy, happy, and perfect, but upon closer look the reader realizes just how manic their lives and the lives of many other high scholars are. It is no secret that high school and college has become more competitive, but the public doesn’t realize just out of control this world is. â€Å"Overachieverism† has become a way of life, a social normRead MoreDecreasing Academic Stress in Schools1080 Words   |  5 Pagesnot working properly, feelings run wild. Feelings of despair, helplessness, and anxiety go berserk (Tennant). In order to cope with the pressure and stress from school, students may turn to bad habits. In many cases, students may turn to cheating to live up to the standards set by parents or older siblings. Standards that are usually academically demanding and put more pressure on studen ts, thus, they resort to cheating (Kaur). Teens are also learning ways to cope with stress at a young age and thisRead MoreEssay about College Is Not Worth It: The Fleecing of Americas Youth3314 Words   |  14 Pagesbeing accepted into these awesome universities that will apparently secure them a happy, long lasting life. Unfortunately, it costs an arm and a leg to go, averaging $58,927 (1). In The Overachievers, by Alexandra Robbins, she believes that the truth behind Ivy League rankings will surprise people. She reveals a secret about the U.S. News World Report’s â€Å"America’s Best Colleges† issue that annually ranks every regionally accredited four-year college in the United States (188). The â€Å"America’s Best