1. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGN
Foundation in Natural and Built Environment (FNBE)
Name: Nge Jia Chen
Id: 0317738
English 1 [ENGL0105]
Module: 1. Cause or effect essay. . In some countries young people have little leisure time and are under
a lot of pressure to work hard in their studies. What do you think are the causes and effects of this
condition? Plan your response, and then write a cause or effect essay.
Lecturer: Thivilojana Perinpasingam
Submission date: 24th March 2014
Session: February, 2014

2. Pressure is something inevitable for everyone as we will face it no matter how we
struggle to avoid it because pressure is a parasite. It will appear and haunt us every time the
challenges surface from pretty much everything we do. For instance, we are pressured when we are
talking to a bunch of strangers, when we are having a hard time passing the difficult stage of a game,
when we are trying so hard just to keep our parents from knowing that we screwed something up,
but most importantly, when we are trying to work hard in our studies. Most of the students are
dealing with the same issue as all of us are in the same stage of our life as this is the time for us to
fight for our dreams, a stepping stone to live our ambitions but to accomplish our goals , we have to
work hard in our studies. According to IELTS. (2011) mentioned as per the study there is 7%
students committed suicide by not bearing the pressure given at school and home on their
studies. Some tripped and fell but they don’t want to get up and they ended their lives instead, how
irrational is that. Therefore, we must understand the causes of students having a little leisure time
and under pressure in working hard in their studies which are peer pressure, parental pressure and
the wrong attitude of the student.
Firstly, peer pressure causes students to suffer under academic stress. They somehow
feel stressed out from the pressure given by the peers, although it is an indirect one. In a class, there
are people who excel in studies, people who did moderately in studies and also the people who are
still standing on top of a fence between the boundaries of passing and failing. What if we are not in
the category of people excelling in studies, what do we get? Yes, it is the pressure from the peers
who excel among us. For example, I belonged to the category of the ones who did moderately. I
always felt under pressure as some of my friends got very good grades and I don’t. I didn’t want to
fall below my friends’ standards and being left behind. That’s the reason I worked hard in my studies
just to keep the distance between me and my friends nearer.

3. Secondly, parental pressure is also another main factor of pressuring the kids and
causing them to overwork. It is natural for parents wanting their children to excel in studies, sports
and life but when the children feel pressured from always chasing for perfection, they will suffer.
Too much involvement of parents in their children’s academic will stress them out. For instance, my
parents will send me to tuitions without even me knowing it. I will not deny that tuitions do help in
my studies but imagine you have 6 days of tuitions in one week, how much stress will pile up in five
straight years. Every time a test result comes out, they will be questioning me about my result. If I
did well, they will say that is what I should get, but if I did badly, they will lecture me like there is no
future for me anymore. Thus, parents give me pressure more than anyone else.
Thirdly, the wrong attitude of students definitely is the biggest factor of students
putting themselves in the shoes of feeling under pressure and stress in studies. A person’s attitude
defines his or her academic condition. A person with wrong attitude such as procrastinating will
force themselves to put themselves in four walls of stress and pressure. As an illustration, students
were given due dates on some particular assignments, but when they saw the due dates are few
weeks away, they will delay their work until a few days before the submission date. They assumed
that they will get the final push when they have tight deadline, but as a result, they ended up in
anxiety and stress as they realised, “Oh no! I have got no time to finish the assignments.”
“Procrastination is the thief of time.” quoted by Young (1683-1765).
In conclusion, students have limited leisure time and under a lot of pressure to work
hard in studies is caused by peer pressure, parental pressure and also wrong attitude of the
student. According to GlobalPost (2014) mentioned by Dr. Andrew Weil, a holistic medical
provider who is director of the Arizona Centre for Integrative Medicine at the University of
Arizona, your child needs time to be a kid without facing the pressures of adult life. Behaving
like a child is what helps your child foster creativity and imagination, and facing too much
parental pressure can have lasting negative effects on your child. Henceforth, parents should

4. understand their children and aim for learning goals rather than performing goal which is far
more productive than pressuring them. It is important to realise that students themselves
must imply the right attitude in their studies so that they can alleviate and avoid the stress and
pressure in their studies.

5. References
1. Raiford. T. (2014) Parental Pressure On Children. Global Post. Retrieved on 23th March 2014
from http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/parental-pressure-children-5276.html
2. Author unknown. (2010). Peer Pressure Affects Academic Performance. National Centre For
Policy Analysis. Retrieved on 23th March 2014 from
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=9745
3. Kenda Cherry. (2014). Attitudes. How Attitude Form, Change and Shape Our Behaviour.
About.com. Retrieved on 23th March 2014 from
http://psychology.about.com/od/socialpsychology/a/attitudes.htm