To what extent do our educational systems, and even our society at large, contribute to or inhibit our ability to live well and learn the tools necessary to flourish as a human being? Over the last few years, students have expressed a different view of education or have come to conceive of the purpose of schooling in a different way. Some see it merely as a means to the end of a good college and career and thus have not engaged in school in ways that would be conducive to well being. Some have termed this phenomena “Doing School” as students forgo learning and engagement for building a resume for college (Pope, 2003). Similarly, there has been a noticeable rise in stress among teenagers during the school year (Bethune, 2014) )and this has caused concern about the purpose of education as well as the health or wellness of students today.

Similarly, the intensification of globalization has led to a more interconnected world and governments often stress the need to prepare students to compete in the global economy. The pursuit to secure higher global rankings among universities worldwide has also led to greater competition in universities to secure the brightest students. This race to compete and outdo others has meant that students become valued in so far as they demonstrate top scores in high-stakes examinations or are able to enter reputable ivy-league colleges. Consequently, the student's well-being, his or her happiness and sense of fulfillment that comes from learning and fulfilling his or her potential in life, becomes secondary in this race to outdo and out-last others.

A Study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed that Singapore students, despite attaining high scores in the international tests on mathematics, science and reading, experience high levels of anxiety about their grades. While 66% of students across OECD countries said they were worried about poor grades in school, among Singapore students, it was 86% (Davie, 2017). Another study by New York University found that students in top high schools in the US experience high levels of chronic stress affecting their mental health and ability to succeed academically (New York University, 2015). In another report, the overall number of US students taking AP courses are increasing which indicates greater pressure for students to take more difficult classes (Cullotta, K. A., 2017). One risk factor is that students in such high pressure environments may get burned out before entering college; at worse, this can also lead to at-risk behaviour such as depression and suicide which has also increased gradually across all age groups (Scutti, 2017).