Yahoo News GCSE results day 2019: Parents can harm students' mental health by bragging about results on Facebook, education experts warn
Parents are harming young people's mental health by boasting on Facebook about their child's exam results, according to education experts ahead of GCSE results day.
The Good Schools Guide said proud mothers and fathers should give more thought to “fragile” teenagers whose self-esteem could be “bruised” when they tag their child in triumphant posts about top GCSE results.
Ahead of results day on Thursday, it added schools should also put less focus on the importance of GCSEs when they will “loom considerably less large” on life and career prospects once they are over.
Elizabeth Coatman, an education consultant at the magazine, told the Standard: “Parents would do well to stop singing from the rooftops about their kids’ GCSE results because it’s piling on more pressure and stress to other children, who can feel they’ve underachieved.
“It’s a huge temptation to tell the world when your child does well, but you’re only really interested in them.
“But kids these days can’t resist accessing their social media and if they see lots of messages from parents with a full flush of A*s - and you only end up with fives and sixes - people need to think about the affect that could be having on fragile mental health.”
The government is facing scrutiny over the impact of far-reaching reforms to make the exams tougher.
And Ms Coatman, a parent and former teacher, says 16-year-olds are already under enough pressure in the “high stress enterprise” of GCSEs.
She continued: “Kids are just going from one test to the next, from SATs to GCSEs to A-levels in such a high stakes environment, as well as dealing with a nexus of worrying factors emotionally at those stages in their lives.
“So parents of course should praise them for the work they’ve put in, but shouldn’t put too much emphasis on the results they or others have got. It’s a fraught time for them and the impact of extra pressure can be devastating on those whose mental health is fragile, such as anxiety sufferers”.
But on popular parenting website Mumsnet, the consensus was that "there's a fine line between pride and smuggery" - and that parents have every right to sing the praises of their exam-weary child when the envelope is opened.
Founder Justine Roberts told the Standard: "On the whole Mumsnet users think parents have every right to be proud of their children's achievements, especially if they've worked hard for them.
"Someone who knocked themselves out to get a Level 4 in maths deserves just as much cheerleading as someone who studied hard for a 9."
But she added: "Whether you're deliriously happy or completely despondent it's as ever important to remember that your social media post might have an impact on someone else."
It comes as the NSPCC saw a 50 per cent rise over the last four years in young people reaching out to Childline with exam woes.
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Some 1,414 counselling sessions were delivered to children and teenagers in 2018/19 alone - many in August.
The children’s charity said the main concerns they heard from young people around exam season were about letting down parents and teachers by not reaching expected grades, and being unable to sleep because of the stress weighing on their mind.
An overhaul of the GCSE system since 2015, waved in by former education secretary Michael Gove, has seen 9 to 1 grades replacing the traditional A*-G spectrum, while exams have been made tougher with coursework gradually all but scrapped.
