E-Magazine: Coping With the Stress of School
Coping With the Stress of School
With school starting back up, it is important we remember how to deal with the stress that comes with the multitude of assignments, classes, and extracurricular activities we face on a day-to-day basis. Especially with the unprecedented circumstances we faced last year, this year brings about many new challenges. It is paramount that we prioritize our mental health and ensure our well-being comes first. However, this is commonly not the case among students as a 2019 Pew Research Poll found that around 70% of teens state stress as a major problem in their life. This combined with the increase in self-inflicted wounds from stressed adolescents demonstrates the severity of the problem at hand.
This mental health problem does not begin in high school but a decade earlier. Starting from preschool, parents push for their children to be placed in top schools, hoping for a better education and eventually a successful career. This academic pressure continues throughout the educational experience as students face pressures from parents, teachers, peers, etc. Especially in high school, teens overload themselves trying to achieve their college admission goals, but the dropping admission leads to no guarantees which only contributes to already tremendously high stress levels. Professor Diane Keating states it best by saying “There are academic and career aspirations, diminishing opportunities and reduced social mobility, and tremendous competition to get ahead. For teens [today], it’s not clear that there’s going to be a prize at the end.” However, it is crucial to remember that even with all the exterior stressors, good mental health remains the ultimate goal. You can not control your environment and the way situations play out, but you can change the way you respond to stressors.
There are tools, practices, and techniques that can help you manage stress and make sure you prioritize your mental health. All of these techniques might not work for you, but it is important to remember to keep an open mind and find what best helps you. As someone who has struggled with anxiety and feeling overwhelmed, I have taken a lot of time for self-reflection and trial and error to see what techniques allow me to best manage my stress. Try doing each one of these tips one at a time, and then once you figure out what works best for you slowly add some of the tips together. Completely changing your schedule and method often does not result in long-term results, so give yourself some time to acclimate to new techniques. Lastly, give yourself a break. School and all the other extracurriculars can be very stressful, so it is crucial to take some time away from that constant face-paced lifestyle. You are doing the best you can, and it is important to not be too hard on yourself.
Here are some techniques to help you manage the stress of school and other extracurriculars:
Have a Planner
By having a planner, you will be able to see when deadlines, assignments, and tests are coming up. This will help you avoid feeling overwhelmed, since you can see weeks in advance what you need to accomplish. This planner could be physical, like an academic year planner, or electronic, such as an app you can access on your devices. I use an electronic planner called “my Homework”, since it allows me to create classes and add tasks for that class, so definitely check it out if you are interested in it.
Stay Active
This tip may not seem like it relates to the topic of stress in school settings, but being active and exercising can greatly impact your mood and stress levels. Exercising releases endorphins which trigger a positive feeling in the body and make it easier to cope with stressful situations. Some ideas to make exercise fun are: exercising with a friend, taking a long walk around your community, or doing new workout routines.
Relaxing or Meditating
Just winding down is a great way to give yourself, and your brain, a much needed cool down. Constantly putting your body in a state of stress creates physical changes in the body, such as muscles tensing up, so relaxing can greatly benefit both your mental and physical being. Try sitting down and taking a few deep breaths; you can also try doing yoga if you want to be more active. Whatever method you choose, try to take a few minutes each day and let yourself be calm.
Speaking to Others
Sometimes, simply speaking about our stress and worries can help reduce the anxiety we feel. There are a multitude of resources for you to utilize if you want. You can join support groups, speak with a medical professional, or just talk to your friends. If your stress is more academically-related, try joining a study group to talk about your academic problems/work with others. It is important to find which outlet works best for you and your needs.
With all of those techniques in mind, try using some of them to alleviate the stress you feel during the school year. If these techniques do not work for you, try looking at some other techniques at the links below, or try using a combination of different techniques to achieve the best results. Give yourself some time to create your best plan, and be patient with yourself. It is important to remember that you are not alone in what you are feeling. If you ever want to talk to someone about anything, you can always reach out to any of the state officers, and we would love to talk with you.
For more information on teen stress and coping mechanisms check the links below:
https://www.edutopia.org/article/teen-stress-increases-teachers-look-answers
https://counseling.online.wfu.edu/blog/school-stress-management-for-students/
- Bavishya Yeturi