Teen Pressure

In high schools today, most seniors are piled down with work and fatigued from after school activities and jobs. On average, most students spend 7-8 hours in school and most have after school jobs which they work for at least 6 hours. Most teachers and parents would say it’s because they’re in preparation for college and adult life. High school seniors are tensed and stressed because they are trying their best to succeed and make something out of themselves. But how can they do that if they have such busy schedule?

According to Lupien, McEwan, Gunnar, and Heim (2009), going off to college involves significant adjustments to their daily routines; sleeping and eating habits, time-management skills, and stress levels will be altered in one way or another. First-year students have to adjust to the new school environment, different social settings, and new schedules, all without the help and guidance from their parents, who have been there for them for eighteen years. Over 30% of college freshman report that they feel overwhelmed (Klainberg, Ewing, & Ryan, 2010), where some students even opt to work as they juggle their class and work schedules. Some students work at a job or study harder than others, but they are all trying to get degrees so maybe one day they will have meaningful and significant lives. It is a constant struggle for everyone who is trying desperately to make him or herself into a success. And every college student wants to be involved in society in a positive manner, allowing contribution of their ideals and values to others.

In a study at a Midwestern university whose participants varied in age, sex, their year in school, major etc., it was reported that the top four sources that cause stress in college students are from a change in sleeping habits, change in eating habits, the academic challenge of school work, and new responsibilities. Freshman specifically is more prone to this stress because of the new transition into the college lifestyle. Starting out as a freshman and already having a mindset of having too many responsibilities can set up a student to be unsuccessful right off the bat. They are not used to being away from home and being independent. They have never been held to the high

Transitioning from childhood to adulthood is a juggling act. This statement is especially true for any young adult that is also attending college during this time. Every single student feels the pressure of grades and the inherent self-induced pressure. Most students feel pressure from their parents or peers while experiencing pressures from the economy like having a job. And some may even feel their sports team or club is adding to their stress as well. These pressures weigh in everyday, simultaneously in these student’s lives.

The author, Lucy Dwyer, uses data from many professional sources, such as Dr. Sharon Sevier, chair of the board of The American School COunselor Association and counselor at Lafayette High School in St. Louis, and Jason Bradley, counselor at Roseville High School in Northern California, to test their hypothesis that stress and anxiety levels are rising in teenagers. Sevier highlights college’s rising selectivity as a cause of anxiety in teens, along with the rising level of competition that comes with that selectivity. This hypothesis is strongly supported by counselors and nurses across the nation, such as Amber Lutz, counselor at Kirkwood University in St. Louis, and Cindy Zellefrow, a nurse at South-Western City Schools in Grove City, Ohio.

When attending college majority of all students experience some kind of stressor no matter how old. For the young kids who may have the privilege to go to college straight out of high school think they got it good and don’t have any worries. They have it wrong, especially coming straight out of high school kids have the stress of making sure grades are maintained with excellence which should be in connection with career aspirations. Other stressors for some who having to deal with high cost for tuition, having a job while in school, fitting in with new people and the stress of finding a career job after collage. As for the students who chose to attend college later in live with established responsibilities stressors are a little more demanding.

Everyday American teenagers are being pressured on graduating high school and going directly to college. Parents and counselors have such high expectations for teens that the students are unable to focus on going to college. Teenagers face many factors that cause pressure to go to college: worries about keeping up, fear of failure, feeling of stress and anxiety, social pressures academic pressure, human influences, the economy, and college itself . Pressure to succeed has gotten to high levels and is only becoming more difficult to comprehend and accomplish. Teens are expected to have a balanced life with time to be sociable and have free time, but with all of the pressure

Anticipation of the unknown is a true explanation for most of a freshman’s anxiety upon entering high school. Is it anticipation? Compared to the feelings that are acquired throughout a student’s high school tenure and being a senior, most freshmen do not realize the great amount of work that lies ahead. The amount of homework, activity participation, sport participation and worries of achieving and maintaining a good grade develops tension. Though, throughout the years these students are molded-by their work, their parents, and their peers. So what do juniors and seniors in American high school deal with? What have their stress levels become-- and why?

The high standards of students are unreasonable. It increases stress levels which affect our mental health, physical capabilities, and social life. Chronic levels of stress can lead to depression, anxiety disorders, and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). An average teen’s stress level is 5.8/10, as opposed to an adult’s, which is 5.1/10. Furthermore, 30% of teens are sad or depressed because of stress, 31% are overwhelmed because of it, 23% have skipped meals, and 34% expect their stress levels to rise in the near future. Stress can also affect your nervous reactions,

“Teens routinely say that their school-year stress levels are far higher than they think is healthy and their average reported stress exceeds that of adults, according to an annual survey published by the American Psychological Association” (Teens More Stressed Out Than Ever). It’s concerning to see that teens stress levels are as high as adults. They should be able to enjoy their youth and not be pressured as much to get perfect grades. Teens should not be pushed so hard because it can lead to mental illnesses, unnecessary stress, and altered parental relationships.

Young adults experience a significant life transition when graduate from high school and enter college. During this transition, it may be the first time they are away from their friends and families. Additionally, it is a time where they have to learn how to live independently and become more self-sufficient. A common mindset in college is you have to receive exceptional grades as well as attain the best internship or work experience to succeed in life after college. This mindset causes a variety of academic, personal, work, and social pressure put upon college students. However, some individuals do not cope well with this type of pressure and feel overwhelmed. In some individuals, the overwhelming and anxious feeling does not go away and disrupts

First of all, adjusting to academic challenges in the freshman year can create stress for students in a variety of ways. First-year students experience stress while trying to keep up with the new academic workloads in college, which are completely different and more challenging than the workloads in high school. To illustrate this, in Alan Schwartz’s article in the New York Times magazine entitled “More College Freshmen Report Having Felt Depressed,” he wrote about the results

A young college student sits at a mundane wooden desk. He’s frantically working on an essay that he has already spent days writing. He needs to finish this English essay so he can move on to work regarding the speech outline that is due later in the evening. In addition to that, he also has two tests the next day that require a few hours of review each. He never pictured college to be a cakewalk but never did he imagine it would take this much to earn a decent grade. This is the reality for most college students, especially ones in their first year. It 's a difficult struggle but everyone that 's been through college has been here before: cramming for tests, spending hours writing essays, reading chapter after chapter of thousand page books, the late nights studying… The stress is an atrocious beast everyone with a degree has had to battle. Stress is commonplace among college students, especially ones fresh out of high school due to the newly found freedoms they enjoy conflicting with the colossal amount of responsibility gained at the same rate. How does all of this stress affect the process of learning?

My day just started and I’m already beyond stressed; I had to wake up, fix my hair, put on makeup, find my suit, and then bring myself here, ugh. As a high school student, I can say that I go through a good bit of stress trying to juggle advanced placement classes, clubs, maintaining a social life, and literally everything else; it seems like I never get a break. According to the American Psychological Association, high school students rank a score of 5.8 on a ten point scale of stress during the school year, whereas adults rank as a 5.1. To put those scores in context, the healthy level for a high school student is a score of 3.9. Clearly teens are inundated with high levels of stress though the adults around them often refuse to acknowledge that fact. Today I would like to give you a peek into the hazards of teen stress by classifying a few well known stressors, analyzing the side effects of those stressors, and following that up with solutions to relieving some of this stress.

Many people in high school, mostly teens, experience dozens of pressure in their life. To be specific, Schoolwork. Most teens want to excel in school, but want to have a social life or play some kind of sport. One thing that teens don’t understand is that once you’re out of high school, you have college, and then maybe graduate school. Our education will not be over just in High School. You have to work hard and these four years of your life, will impact everything that you do. If you mess up even once, it may ruin everything. This article is named, “Teens Biggest Stress? School.” It has been featured on MSNBC.com. It is written by, “The Associated Press”. It explains how 13-17 years old have the most stress in their high school life.