As students get older, stress levels start to increase due to the amount of work piling up, more challenging concepts in classes, and tests like finals and the ACT. Although stress is part of life, some may argue stress negatively impacts people.
Many students may agree that some common factors of stress are the amounts of homework, finals week, and balancing sports/jobs with school. Sometimes, these factors may be too overwhelming for some students. Sophomore Ava Hearty participates in cross country and believes that juggling sports and school is a factor that causes stress.
“I would have to study or do homework along with cross country practices and meets. Plus, I’d have to eat dinner and take a shower” said Hearty.
Many student athletes may understand how Hearty feels. Student athletes have games or meets that may end late at night and additionally, have to complete their school work.
This issue poses a question. Should the school system change its ways to prevent stress?
Hearty has her take on this. “The school system should change its ways by giving us (students) less homework because after school should be the time to do whatever we want, not to do more work after a long day of school,” said Hearty.
School producing stress has it’’s negative effects on students. But how is stress a negative thing amongst students? Sophomore Dawson Baye says, “Stress is an overall bad thing in my opinion. It weighs on you and can affect your sleep and concentration. It can be good in some cases as a way to motivate yourself.”
Baye also shares how stress has affected his life. “In my worst part of the semester, I was getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night because of how I dealt with stress. I’ve gotten way better at handling it now but it for sure still affects me,” he said.
Although students may agree stress is a negative thing for them, school counselor Martha Dowd believes that stress can be both a positive and a negative thing. “It (Stress) can be both (positive and negative), depending on how the person changes their behavior because of the stress. If stress about a test causes you to study more to be prepared, that is a positive thing. If stress about a test causes you to lash out at your parents and siblings, that is a negative thing,” said Dowd.
School may not be the only reason why students experience stress. There are other ways that cause stress like social media or issues with family or friends. When students are experiencing a great amount of stress, many turn to school counselors for help.
School counsellors often deal with students who may feel pressure in school, at home, or other factors concerning stress. Many students often seek out help, and usually turn to school counsellors.
Dowd shares how she has helped students with how to deal with stress.“I talk to them about what is causing their stress. If their stress is because of things they are seeing on social media, we talk about ways to either not let it affect them so much or ways to eliminate those factors. If the stress is caused by family or friends, we talk about what the student can do to help alleviate those stressful events. If school is the cause of their stress we talk about if there are things the student can change or if there is something that the school needs to change. It is also important for students to know that there are things in life that are going to be stressful, and 100% avoiding all stressful situations is not realistic or healthy. Figuring out how to handle stress in a healthy way is the ultimate goal,” said Dowd.
In general, stress is a part of human life, and sometimes, it may be too overwhelming. When you’re feeling a great amount of stress or put under pressure, think of the famous song by Bobby McFerrin, “Don’t worry, be happy!”
Here is some advice on how you can relieve stress:
