The Reality of Student Stress

School is already very hard. We spend eight hours a day in classrooms, and then we go home to hours of homework. For Grade 9 students, the pressure is even higher because we are told that these years "count" for our future. Adding mock exams on top of this is not helpful; it is harmful.

Mocks are meant to be "practice," but for most of us, they feel like the real thing. They cause us to lose sleep, stop eating properly, and feel constant anxiety. When a student is too stressed, their brain actually stops working as well. We forget the things we learned because we are too busy worrying about a grade. If the goal of school is to help us learn, mocks are doing the opposite by making us hate the process.

We cannot ignore what is happening around us. Just yesterday, on May 4, 2026, many of us received emergency alerts on our phones. The news reported that the UAE air defense systems had to intercept multiple missile threats. Hearing these alerts and the loud sounds of interceptions is terrifying for anyone, especially for teenagers.

How are we supposed to sit in a room and focus on a "practice test" when we are worried about our safety? When the national news says to "stay in a safe location" and "steer away from windows," our minds are not on math or biology. We are thinking about our families and our homes.

Current events in the region have created a "toxic stress" environment. This isn't just normal exam nerves. This is real fear. Asking students to perform at their best during a time of regional instability is unfair. We need to feel safe and calm to learn, and right now, the environment is too tense for extra testing.

Mental health is just as important as physical health. Doctors in Dubai have already said that more and more students are struggling with depression and anxiety because of school pressure. Mock exams take away the little "free time" we have. Instead of reading our favorite books, spending time with friends like Arham or Salim, or working on our own creative projects (like comic books or startups), we are forced to cram for tests that don't even count for our final grade.

When we are forced to study for mocks, we lose the joy of learning. We start to see school as a place of fear instead of a place of growth. If the school cares about our well-being, they should see that we need a break, not more pressure.

Mocks actually take away time that we could be using to learn new things. We spend weeks "revising" for the mock, then a week taking the mock, and then more time waiting for the results. That is nearly a month of school time where we aren't learning anything new.

We would be much more successful if we used that time to:

1. Finish our actual classwork: Many of us have big projects or portfolios that actually matter.
2. Focus on weak areas: Instead of a general test, we could work on the specific things we find hard in Spanish or Chemistry.
3. Collaborate: Working together with our peers on real-world problems is better than sitting silently in an exam hall.

Many people think that fear makes students work harder. But science shows that fear actually makes the brain "freeze." When we are scared of failing a mock, we don't think clearly. This leads to lower marks, which makes us feel even worse about ourselves. It is a cycle that never ends.

We want to be successful. We want to do well in our Grade 9 subjects. But we want to do it in a way that doesn't ruin our health or our happiness. By cancelling mocks, the school shows that they trust us to work hard without needing to use a scary test to motivate us.

We are asking the school leadership to listen to the students. We are the ones sitting in the chairs. We are the ones receiving the missile alerts on our phones. We are the ones feeling the burnout.

We demand no more mocks for the following reasons:

• Safety First: We cannot focus on tests while there are active missile threats and regional tensions.
• Protect Our Health: We need to prioritize our mental health and sleep.
• Better Use of Time: We want to spend our time learning and finishing our actual school projects.
• Reduce Anxiety: We want a school environment that is built on support, not fear.

Let us focus on our regular classes and our safety. Let us be students, not just test-takers. Sign this petition if you agree that it is time to stop the mocks and start focusing on what really matters.