The Effects Of Stress On High School Students

In high school, students will experience a wide range of emotions, feelings, and emotional, physical and mental strains. The major strain that almost every student will face is stress. As Pope (2010) says, “More than 70 percent of the high school students reported that they felt often or always stressed by their schoolwork, and many admitted to taking illegal stimulants to stay awake to study and complete the lengthy homework assignments each night (p.5).” Whether the students are stressing over a test, their grade point average, their college acceptance, or even their upcoming sporting event, high school students experience stress on a daily basis. These high levels of stress at such a young age are a chronic health risk. Schools should
Some of the effects of school stress on students are, physical illness, anxiety, depression, irritability, social withdrawal, and even in some severe cases drug and alcohol experimentation and addiction. Physically, the stress takes an obvious toll on the students’ well-being. The students stay up to the late hours of the night in an effort to study for a test or quiz or to try to finish all of their homework. The next day the students will be extremely tired and sleep deprived. This will result in a lack of focus from the students in class. Stress on high school students has various negative effects on them. As Sedere, Conner et al, Copeland, Wilde, and Muir write, “Continued exposure to school-related stressors often leads to physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms, such as fatigue, irritably, depression, and decrease in academic performance (qtd. in Blazer, 2010, p. 2).” The school-related stress students feel has multiple negative and harmful effects on their health. There have been many witnessed outcomes and even many reliable sources who experienced first-hand the effects of school related stress. Stress takes a toll on the students mentally as well. Wedner, Koedijer, and Budde (2014) have added to the argument that stress negatively affects students. They write, “Regarding the effects of psychological stress on motor skills most
Many health experts have recommended various tips and suggestions to help relieve the stress. These tips are directed toward the schools, the parents of the high school students, and even the students themselves. Examples of these tips are to revise the testing and homework policy, to emphasize learning over grades, and to think positive. The schools need to push the idea of students actually learning the materials they are taught rather than just cramming for a test then forgetting. Many schools have changed their daily schedules and revised their homework, and their testing policies (Blazer 2010, p.9). Students will benefit from the schools actively making the effort to reduce the stress the students feel. The students need to feel comfortable at school and, with these changes, they finally