An cause and effect essay

1. "The Millennials' Stress"
an cause and effect essay
Name: LEE JO YEE
Student ID: 0314880
Course: Foundation in Natural and Built Environment (FNBE) April Intake 2013
Module: English 1

2. Pre -Writing
Ego
Task:
High expectation
from the family
The norm of the
society (Asian
culture)
Self behavior
wants their
children to
bring honor
and pride to
the family
Only looks at the
good academic
achievements or
results instead of
potential talent
Look down to people
with poor result - blame
them
Eg: Do not hire
them for work
eg: Do not accept
them into university
Force them
into different
tuitions, and
give
punishment if
fail to meet
expectations.
Feel humiliated in
front of other parents
if their children are
poor in academic.
Thus, young people
may lost interest in
studies.
They feel even pressure when they
try their very best to be accepted by
the society.
ego
Cannot
accept people
greater than
him or her
Set a lot of
goals for
himself or
herself
Willing to sacrifice their
leisure time, not letting
themselves rest
They may end up
having depression,
anti-social

3. 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 and effect essay.
The Millennials' Stress
Today with the invention of technology and machine man believe that themselves
are able to succeed in anything. It thus leads to a higher demand of perfection in
whatever we do, a faster pace of lifestyle and unconsciously a greater amount of stress
is generated too in achieving such distinction. The same thing goes to the younger
generation, the Millennials (18 to 33 years old) who are the future leaders in the next 20
years. They are found struggling in study and some even described it is an excruciating
experience in handling these invisible yet powerful stress. The causes of these stress
for the young people may be varied but can be categorized into the high expectation
from the family, the norms of the society and their own behavior.
Family with high expectation often exerts huge pressure towards their children.
The children are expected to bring proud and honor to their family name and thus being
put into different kind of tuitions and talent class such as music, ballet, advanced
mathematics and etc. Their schedules have been piled up so that their parents would
not be humiliated or embarrassed in front of the other parents, even it takes to kill their
children precious leisure time. Ironically, when most of the parents try their very best to
raise a genius and what they do not realize is that they are actually killing the children's
talent, or even worse the interest and passion in learning.
The norms of the society is one of the major factor too, typically Asian culture
and society. The society tends to look down on people with poor academic results and
ignore the potential talent that they have. For instance, they do not accept their
applications into a university or do not hire them as an employee. This phenomenon

4. thus stresses the youngsters nowadays to study harder and harder to meet the
guideline that the society has set. In the end, the street will be full of A+ scholars but
without any of their soft skills (Ron, 2013) and communication skill developed --- like an
army of robots produced by a factory with dry facts in their mind but zero critical thinking
skills.
Thirdly, the stress may caused by the youngsters themselves. Some of them
practice egoism and could not accept the fact that others are greater or better than them.
Hence, for example, they are willing to sacrifice their time spending with family watching
drama or playing football with neighbor kids and use it to study instead. Some even set
goals and targets for themselves in order to stand out from their peers, to full fill their
desire to be the cream of the crop. The satisfaction and enjoyment upon reaching these
goals may turn into an instant killing weapon when the students fail and could not
handle the coming stress. This is why some them have depression, anxiety, being anti-
social, alcoholism, insomnia, drug usage and worse case of all, choose to suicide
(Rebecca & Vivien, 2006) --- as a way to run away from every responsibility and stress.
In conclusion, high expectation from family, the norms of the society and the
students own behavior are the causes leading to excessive that most young people face
today. Stress can be a positive energy to motivate you to perform the best but in the
same it can be an overwhelming power that drives you nuts.("Good Stress, Bad Stress"
2013) Always bear in mind: Resting, prepare you for a longer journey.

5. References:
1. Ron Torch. (2013, January). The Growing Importance of Soft Skills in the
Workplace. (30th May 2013). Retrieved from
www.torchgroup.com/TorchLiteJanuary2013.cfm
2. Rebecca P. Ang & Vivien S. Huan. (2006, July). Relationship between Academic
Stress and Suicidal Ideation: Testing for Depression as a Mediator Using Multiple
Regression. (30th May 2013). Retrieved from
mres.gmu.edu/pmwiki/uploads/Main/schoolMED2010.pdf
3. Good Stress, Bad Stress. (2013). (30th May 2013) Retrieved from
www.ulifeline.org/articles/426-good-stress-bad-stress