The day-to-day responsibilities teenagers have between their school assignments and after-school activities are overlooked by many. When the pressures of teens are compared to those of adults, people assume teenagers do not have it as bad, and that their stresses are not valid.
Stress comes from the students around them, parents, teachers, close family members, themselves and societal influences, such as television and online media.
The expectation to do well makes teenagers feel an overwhelming pressure to succeed. A majority of jobs today require a college degree, so not only do teenagers have to worry about applications and acceptances to colleges, they stress about being able to obtain a job in the first place. Eight in 10 students feel that success is important and should be achieved under any circumstances. Teens are constantly thinking about the future, and whether they will get the job they want.
Additionally, according to the Teen Ethics Poll, 797 people ages 13 through 18 felt the pressure to succeed. With the excessive amounts of tasks students have every day, they do not have a lot of time for themselves.
On the other hand, adults do not have to do hours of homework and studying to make sure they will get into the best college. The “Stress in America” survey, which included 1,950 adult and 1,018 teen responses, suggests that teens feel more stress than adults.
A majority of teens feel that school is the main source of their stress. Often, parents are not understanding of the pressures and responsibilities put on students. Although they seem insignificant in an adult’s life, a teenager feels as if they are the most important in theirs.
Teenagers are flooded with social pressures, academic demands, and a whole bunch of hormones. Parents forget what those feel like because they have other issues in adulthood. A teenager’s life consists of trying to figure out who they want to be and what they want out of life.
Sometimes students will feel angry, anxious, and tired, and end up not actively managing these feelings due to their stress. This can affect one’s sleep, exercise and eating habits.
Freshman Gabby Gomez said, “Sometimes I won’t have time to get all my work done right after school, so I’ll stay up late trying to get it all done. The next day, I will be so tired along with having to deal with things outside of school.”
Aside from school, emotions, changes, and added responsibilities fill a teen’s life, which is all the more reason for people to be considerate about things students experience in and out of school.
Freshman Alivia Karwowski said, “I am constantly worrying about my schoolwork. Not everyone gets how much I want to do well, but have certain things outside of school I need to deal with first.”
Many adolescents do not have the capability to think of the long-term consequences their choices have. Instead, their initial response is to act upon the pressures they have currently.
Students should be reassured of their work ethic and be less worried about whether they get the best grade or miss a homework assignment. There are other things that play a role in their lives besides school, and grades should not define a person’s intelligence.
How do you manage to accommodate the pressures put on you as a student and teenager at home and in school?
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