Just a thought, but surely one of the most important things for young people is to find out who we really are, and be comfortable with that.
Sure grades can be important (assuming what we want to do in life requires academic qualifications), but it is important to take our time growing up before its too late to learn and get away with making the mistakes we need to make in order to do so.
Maybe we cant all get straight As three years early, master several instruments at the age of 7, or take part in the olympics before we finish school!
What we can all do, is find something we enjoy and are good at, to be happy with who we are, find people we care about and trust to surround ourselves with.
Also although many things have changed since our grandparents were young say, there are just as many things that will never change: we all want freedom from pressure to be what people want us to be, to find happiness and a place we belong; and hell we want to get out and have fun, be young and see how far we can get away with bending the rules.
Not sure if thats much help really, but thanks for the opportunity to ponder and wax all philosophical
good luck with the writing!