‘adic ae theadicheaeiad Exam St r 40-9 . *ip5 ical ie Map a “Pay, ee by) 22 y tty @ #4, Les Pog ty Sp... : Fs “he &, eag 2 perform in other crises. (C99. 8) ne Org b 8fe, Thay. “hay - an ¥ ‘3 2 Ly. i) 3 2) 3, : THE OTHER PRESS by Richard Flint of the McGill Daily dn the middle of writing an exam question a student ran out of paper. He continued to write, first on the desk, then proceeding to the legs and finally the floor. By this time the professor was standing by the student, trying to get him to stand up. Eventually two people carried him out of the room. In another case I saw an exam victim break into hysterical laughter and run out of the room. These are examples of a widespread ailment-- exam stress and anxiety. In its most extreme form examination stress can drive people to mental breakdown. For most students exams are a source of unhappiness and worry. While universities produce programs and couns- elling for students who suffer from the extreme effects of ‘‘evaluation anxiety,’' they rarely address the fundamental cause of that stress. It seems obvious that exams are the cause of exam stress. Yet assessment has become such a central part of the educational process that we accept its physical and psychological side effects without question. The scope of the problem is frightening. In 1968 The British Student Health Association Conference at Leeds University concluded that ress : A Living Soa DD * when they occur. It isn’t good for public relations ’ Rook for the period 1948 to 1958 concluded that; --some influence on the Cambridge suicides period, and four out of five of those who were WHY EXAMS? : Given the numerous problems that examinations fe cause we should question their use in our educational system. Medical and psychological pressures, breakdowns, and personal damage should not be accepted as a fact in any institution. Exams, we are told, prepare students for ‘life in the outside world’. Where in the outside world are we faced with a situation in which a specific set of problems have to be solved in silence, without 2 oe resource material and without co-operation with fellow workers? I can be argued that stress is to be found in many aspects of life, and that examination stress prepares people for life’s many stresses. Yet different types of stress are not necessarily the same. Ability to perform in an examination does not mean immunity from cracking up in a different form of stress-situation. Panic in an examination does not imply an incapability to Dr. D.J. Lucas accounts a story of a patient who suffered extreme exam panic who later experien- Cs € ced no panic or great anxiety when involved in a " ferry disaster in Greece. How well can the cool exam candidate handle a real life crisis? Wednesday, between eight and eleven percent of all universi students seek medical treatment for examination stress. The extreme manifestations of examinatio panic and anxiety are shocking. ‘During the course of an examination student are sometimes brought out in a state of alg total psychic collapse, shivering, unable to v think or even walk,’’wrote Dr. M. Conway. Dr. N. Malleson, another British physician, eve suggested that there is a similarity between shel shock and exam panic, and that similar treat ments should be observed. Symptoms similar tq paranoid schizophrenia have been observed in students suffering exam panic, One of the most delicate questions about exa’ stress is suicide. Few Universities will admit tq student suicide figures or even publicise suicides publicity often invites possible copy-cat deaths. Sadly, some exam-stress students do ki themselves. Many researchers have tried to clai no necessary link between student suicides and examinations. Studies in England, however indicate that exams are a cause of studen suicides. Unlike most North American colleges, thg English examination system group together th¢ majority of exams in a short period at the end of 4 student’s studies. Year-round suicide figures ca be compared with exam period suicides. A stud at the Cambridge University by medical writer A “It is difficult to believe that exams do not have over half of them occurred around the believed to be worrying over their work died i May (the exam period).”’ The medical profession has, however, failed ta produce any comprehensive studies of college suicides. Many people will claim that there arq numerous reasons behind student suicides, ang that it would be impossible to place examinations as the critical concern in every case.