Students with social ‘injuries’ required to present in classes 

Stuttering, sweating, panicking and breaking down are all symptoms of what students with social anxiety or depression suffer through when they are forced to present in front of a class. When a student has a broken leg or is injured they get out of gym class but when students are emotionally damaged, they are still forced to stand in front of their peers and suffer. Students are required to take a speech class and speak frequently in front of all of their peers; this could potentially only make their anxiety worse.

Students should not be required to stand in front of the class to present their work. High school students are cruel and will break down their peers’ presentations no matter how good or bad they are. Students with social anxiety or depression are forced to work through their handicap and push themselves to give a speech in front of their whole class. Students who are physically injured while in a gym class get out of activities but still get the credit. This should also apply to students who are mentally or emotionally injured. They should not have to work through their ‘injury’.

Although a speech class is a state requirement class for graduation there are ways around breaking down a student with mental or emotional ‘injuries’. Instead of having the student face all of their peers, the teacher could allow those with anxiety or depression to present in front of only them. It is not fair to the student to force them to tear themselves apart just to present something in front of the class. Granted in life students may need to be able to present, however teenagers should not be required to push themselves through something they cannot handle. Students with these social ‘injuries’ cannot handle the pressure of all eyes on them. It causes them to think poorly of their own work and break down in front of the crowd. Students with depression are not even comfortable with themselves so why would they be comfortable in front of a crowd?

Teachers and administrators need to realize that mental or emotional injuries are just as important as physical injuries. There are ways around making a student speak in front of all their peers. Have them present in smaller groups so they feel more comfortable or just In front of the teacher. The little adjustments that anyone makes for those who are suffering mentally and emotionally will not go unnoticed. Their social anxiety or depression won’t be pushed past limits.

Students with anxiety or depression need to make it apparent to their teachers or principals that they are injured too. Although it is not as noticeable as a broken leg, it is still there. The student’s with these disabilities need to stand up for their rights and make the teachers realize that they are at a disadvantage for the presentations. No one should feel pressured into something that stresses his or her ‘injuries’.