By SHELBY HAMMACK
Sheridan High School Student
Editor’s Note: The Sheridan Student Column is brought to readers by Sheridan High School’s 10th grade English class, taught by Abigayle Williams.
I can personally say that school is way too stressful. There have been days to the point that I’m extremely exhausted and I just want to sleep my problems away. I go to school eight hours a day for five days a week. In those eight hours, I am constantly thinking and doing school work. After school, I go home to spend another hour or more doing homework, as well as studying for upcoming tests. In my opinion, that’s too much stress. All of that stress causes me to be irritated, overwhelmed and overall in a bad mood. School causes too much stress and takes a toll on teens’ health.
According to thehill.com, “On average, teens reported their stress level was 5.8 on a 10 point scale, compared to 5.1 for adults.” For teens, the main reported source of stress was school. Teens spend eight hours a day in school; therefore, teachers shouldn’t assign loads of homework. Teens are dedicating too much time to school-related things, causing us to not have enough relaxation time. Teachers know that we have a life outside of school, so why do they choose to give us a bunch of homework? I feel that someone should come up with a solution. For example, teachers should communicate with one another as to when they are assigning schoolwork. Teachers should also only be allowed to assign two or less items of schoolwork a week. It would improve our lives.
There are many factors that play a role in teens’ stress, one factor being time management. It’s hard to balance school, home activities, peer activities and more. It’s also challenging to balance several subjects and workloads. It ends up overloading our schedules and causing tons of stress. Another factor is fear. According to huffpost.com, fear is a great factor in teens’ lives. “Fear of not getting into a college, fear of not getting financial support, fear of not shining in college or high school so that you’re employable. Fear is a powerful motivator, but it also creates and generates tremendous amounts of stress.”
To sum up, teens fear failing in life. Although, there are ways to minimize stress and cope with school. For example, one way is learning to change your thinking. According to the huffpost.com, “You cannot get stressed out unless you believe your thoughts. All stress is precipitated by stressful thinking.” Another way to manage stress is to lower your goals by a little bit. Don’t slack off but also don’t create goals just to set yourself up for disappointment or failure. Set a goal to make yourself feel satisfied by your performance. You’ll achieve much more.
In conclusion, school is the main source of stress for teens. It not only affects how we act and feel; it affects how long we sleep, how much we eat, and more. The pressures of school work, family life, social life, and more combined results in teens being even more stressed than ever before. Although there are ways to de-stress, it can be hard to handle everything. Too much stress can lead to bigger problems. Everyone knows that it’s hard to manage a lot of stress, so why not make things easier?
This is a great article. It is unbelievable how much homework is assigned to students. My Grandmother, who I refer to as a “Betsy Ross” because she was an Ordained United Methodist Minister, Missionary in South America, and a High School Teacher. We had often wondered if she had also received an RN degree. One of the colleges she graduated from was Butler University & she was an extremely intelligent woman before her time! She would be over 100 years old today, but I feel as though she knew the right way to teach & to help the students in a manner in which they would retain what they were taught. I remember her telling us when we were really small that she did not believe in homework. She said she could not expect the students’ parents to know how to help their children with homework when she was the one who was teaching the material. Now with so many changes to the curriculms, the abridgment of work that the teacher is expected to pass onto their students, homework can certainly be a huge stress period for students. I witnessed my son’s homework throughout the years & even the Math was taught in a different style or manner than when I was a student. How can one change math? Oh well, I feel for the students who weigh less than the book bags that they have to take to school & to home. The stress is too much for these students & I know that I have friends who have been teachers for many years & have decided it’s time to resign because it’s “too much” for them to take on. Let the students be taught in a manner that they will remember what was taught to them instead of having to learn it themselves from a book & it’s never discussed again, except on an exam that they are not ready for. Again, a great article & I am certain it affects all students.