Test Anxiety, Alessio Giovannoni TikTok, Matthieu Juras………………………………………………………………….……290 Toke, Vanessa Barker…………………………………………………………………………292

Test Anxiety

Alessio Giovannoni

“I’m so nervous, I could vomit.” It is not uncommon for these words to precede an assessment at the elementary or secondary school level. These words are an expression of test anxiety: a form of generalized anxiety that includes physiological symptoms. Test anxiety is hard to study because encounters with it are unique. However, we know that at least one-third of elementary and secondary school students experience test anxiety (Raymo et al., 2018).

Test anxiety is paradoxical because several studies have shown that the tendency of our bodies to sense and respond to stressful stimuli (i.e. test-taking) actually decreases test performance (Raymo et al., 2018). Recognition of this fact, however, will not help students to overcome their anxiety. If more of our students are going to take tests in a state of optimal mental health, we need to stop caring so much about the implications of their anxiety on their grades. That is to say, we need to stop conditioning students to care so much about grades. We have to shift our focus to managing test anxiety for the purpose of better mental health, not for the purpose of better grades. This idea struck me when I was listening to a podcast called “Out with It,” wherein two high school students spoke on the topic of test anxiety. Implicit in the strategies for managing their test anxiety was the idea that doing so might result in higher test scores. For example, exercise was described not as an outlet for improved mental health, but rather as an activity that served to enhance focus on schoolwork afterward.

I am not suggesting that educators disregard assessment altogether; grades can be extremely motivating for students. The truth is, however, that even if educators approached assessments differently and tried to create a different culture around assessments, students who aim for high marks will likely continue to do so, albeit with less pressure from the leaders surrounding them.

This approach may result in lower test anxiety, which ironically, may even lead to higher test scores–but who cares about higher scores? Students who experience test anxiety often have lower self- esteem, fewer positive peer relationships, and are more likely to encounter other generalized symptoms of anxiety and depression (Raymo et al., 2018). These social and emotional outcomes threaten the development and health of a student, and they matter far more than the academic outcome of poor grades.

But can educators really decrease adolescent test anxiety? Raymo et al. (2018) found that the strongest predictors of test anxiety were intraindividual factors; specifically students’ perceived threat of tests. They found that contextual factors did not significantly predict test anxiety. But how can a student’s perception of the threat of tests be independent of the context in which those tests are administered? Among the questions asked to students to gauge their perceived threat of tests were “How much do you agree that this test is very important to your GPA?” and “How much would you agree that this test is nothing to get too concerned about?” An adolescent’s idea of how important tests are to their GPA, and their level of fear or concern for a test is absolutely influenced by their educators, peers, and parents; that is to say: the context in which the tests are administered. Therefore, educators can and should change the context around testtaking, and consequently, decrease test anxiety within their classrooms.

Sources:

Raymo, L. A., Somers, C. L., & Partridge, R. T. (2018). Adolescent Test Anxiety: An Examination of Intraindividual and Contextual Predictors. School Mental Health, 11(3), 562–577.

Ashika, & Meghana. (2021). Test Anxiety [Podcast]. Out With It.

TikTok

Mathieu Juras

The word I have chosen for this assignment is TikTok, the online mobile application that many of today’s youth use daily. However, this online social media platform has drastically and negatively impacted youth’s mental well-being, their perception of the world and their views on body image. The word TikTok is a play on the phrase “tick-tock” which relates to the sound a clock makes as its pendulum swings back and forth. Launched in 2016, this platform has integrated itself into the lives of countless individuals, mainly young people and adolescents (Lemoine). TikTok is thus crucial to the study of adolescence and their mental health as it is one of the most popular applications used by young people, acting as a sort of window into the minds of how young people think, act and communicate through the form of short 60 second videos. As a result, educators can use TikTok to analyse and study the thought processes of young individuals by watching the content they upload. Social media, in general, has played a huge role in the social development of youth; albeit with negative and sometimes fatal consequences. Many youth now report high cases of depression, anxiety and even body dysmorphia due to the negative influence of social media. In particular, TikTok promotes mental health videos by influencers who have no mental health training or professional medical knowledge. For example, the hashtag #unalivemeplease has amassed 9.2 million views on the platform (Tait). The promotion of this hashtag can negatively affect the mind’s of young individuals, such as children in elementary school who use the platform, as they may be unaware or uneducated on the topic of mental health. Another problem is TikTok’s algorithm and how it recommends videos to its followers. For example, if a person experiencing a severe depressive episode were to continuously watch depressing content on TikTok, the platform itself will continue to recommend content related to depression and anxiety, thus further exacerbating the user’s depressive mood and symptoms. This is particularly a problem among young people as their minds are still developing and are in need of proper and professional guidance; two key elements that TikTok does not accommodate. Another form of media that young people are exposed to on TikTok are politically motivated videos which are often wrought with misinformation and disinformation. This can have a severe impact on a developing child’s mind as they are learning false, racist and misogynistic information on a daily basis, thus incorporating problematic habits from unreliable sources into their daily thought processes. Not everything about TikTok is negative, however, as some young people have used it to make money. For example, up and coming singer Bella Poarch has used the platform to gain notoriety online in order to fund her music career. In conclusion, the word TikTok, once stemming from the harmless sound a clock makes, has become associated and turned into a massive online platform that is negatively impacting the mental health of adolescents. As future educators looking to teach our students about the dangers

of online media, we can use TikTok as a tool to educate ourselves about the developing minds of young people and, in turn, guide them in their use of online social media platforms. Links to learn more about TikTok

Academic Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.641673/full Non-academic Source: https://9to5mac.com/2022/08/30/tiktok-mental-health/ References

Lemoine, Alexa. “TikTok.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, 19 Jan. 2021, https://www.dictionary.com/e/techscience/tiktok/#:~:text=It%20went%20international%20in%202017,with%20competitor%2C%2 0musical.ly.

Tait, Amelia. “Are Tiktok Algorithms Changing How People Talk about Suicide?” WIRED UK, 27 May 2022, https://www.wired.co.uk/article/algorithms-suicide-unalive.

Toke

Vanessa Barker

As referenced in The Notorious B.I.G’s graphic song Dead Wrong, “relax and take notes, while I take tokes off the marijuana smoke,” the term toke is commonly used to describe inhaling marijuana. While toke is still used in this context, the term has a broadened usage due to social contagion between marijuana and e-cigarette users. The overlapping user groups (users of both substances) and shared social practices make toking appropriate verbiage in both contexts. The triggers for partaking in these harmful substances both often stem from peer pressure in the adolescent years that may carry on into adulthood. The skyrocketing number of e-cigarettes users, specifically adolescent users, have given the term traction outside smoking marijuana. E-cigarettes, or vapes, have a broad appeal to adolescences. A toke from a vape can be discrete like the devices themselves, due to the often temporary smell. A toke can be offered to others-offering to take a toke from a vape is acceptable, whereas offering a toke from an actual cigarette makes no sense. A toke is enjoyable, a fruity taste that giving a short-lived head rush that can alleviate feelings of anxiety for seconds. It is seen in the eyes of many adolescences as harmless and commonplace. Vapes are designed to be less harmful than cigarettes, accessible, and undetected from parents and teachers. These devices are incredibly easy and affordable to purchase from corner stores or online without age verification like marijuana. The social pressures to fit in with peers are not coercive but situated, like smoking marijuana it is difficult to avoid when friends are users and offer tokes from their own devices. Adolescences offer each other tokes in class, afterschool, at parties, on weekends, so it is increasingly difficult to avoid toking a vape at least once and caving purchase a device for personal use. On popular platforms like TikTok, a vape can often be found in the videos of countless young micro-influencers. But just like actual cigarettes, vapes are highly addictive and can contain a high nicotine content along with a concoction of other substances, so the ability to toke all day is particularly alarming. Young people begin vaping in high school without understanding the consequences on their mental and physical health. Anxiety becomes more difficult to cope with, respiratory and cardiovascular issues emerge, and there is limited conclusive research on the long-term effects. Vapes can serve as gateway into additional illicit substances, like actual cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. Despite this, it is difficult to condemn adolescences for toking their vapes when companies earn billions of dollar mass marketing vapes to young people and government is lax on regulating nicotine content and vape flavours. Massive brands like Juul intentionally or unintentionally targeted young people in marketing their devices. Popularized flavours like Strawberry-Mango, Blue-razz, and Skittles, make it difficult to view these devices as a tool for adults to quit smoking. Until government regulations limit flavour offerings, it is unlikely the year over year growth in adolescences toking their vapes will plateau.

Sources

CBC News. (2019, September 24). Vaping Sickness: What we know and what we don’t. Front Burner. CBC Podcasts. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0chUk3HoxUIYieNIuo3ZkT?si=OgOWt0UhQOSr3VW3O61RQ Teenage Therapy. (2021, March 12). What It’s Like to Quit Vaping. Teenage Therapy. Flighthouse. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1lL8NVKZy5uPl7BBavZzPV?si=yWUcFViLRAC4u7r zosJcVQ

Statistics Canada. (2022, July 20). Vaping among adolescents. Retrieved from Statistics Canada: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220720/dq220720d-eng.htm

Notes on sources:

Academic-based sources- Stats Canada and CBC News* Non-academic source- Teenage Therapy *somewhat academic