The future puts too much stress on teens (Editorial)
This guide may offer a plan for getting into college but does it offer help in dealing with the pressures of the future?
March 25, 2014
The third marking period is coming to a close for CHS.
Students are already starting to scramble to get in the assignments and tests they’ve missed or failed this last marking period. Some students are trying to get straight A’s, while others are simply trying to not fail their classes. Especially as marking periods come to an end, there comes a point where grades weigh too heavily on students.
Grades and academic performance mean the most in the grand scope of the future for a teenager. In fairness, colleges are getting more expensive and it’s getting harder to meet their requirements.
According to the National Center for Academic Statistics, prices for tuition, room, and board at a public institution rose 42 percent between 2000 and 2010.
Due to the higher cost, scoring the acceptance letter or scholarship is even more pressing. The job market is unreliable at best, so getting into college to make a living is already a burden on the minds of many students.
Despite the legitimate importance of getting good grades to get into a good college, students start to become their GPA or their test score above actual people. The pressure for better grade is put on heavily by teachers, parents and other students alike, making it a constant underlying worry.
Anxiety, depression, and antisocial behavior in teens has increased twofold in the last thirty years, according to nuffieldfoundation.org.
This is likely a correlation to the increased standards for academic performance in high schoolers.
There is no quick or easy solution to the issues relating to college, or the general unease and anxiety over the future felt by many.
Honestly, all we as students can do is find personal ways to alleviate stress, and find solutions to our own problems and anxiety. The stress put on isn’t fair, but we have to fix it ourselves.
Rachel Day • Oct 28, 2014 at 11:56 am
This is a great article because this is something virtually every high school student can relate to. There is a lot of stress that surrounds students. My parents are constantly telling me about their school days, and it sounds so much less stressful. Stress can and should be avoided, and then we wouldn’t have to worry about how to cope with it.
Janie Haseman • Apr 1, 2014 at 9:46 pm
“Your diploma is, or should be, the least of what defines you. Show me someone whose identity is rooted in where he or she went to college. I’ll show you someone you really, really don’t want at your Super Bowl party.
“And your diploma will have infinitely less relevance to your fulfillment than so much else: the wisdom with which you choose your romantic partners; your interactions with the community you inhabit; your generosity toward the family that you inherited or the family that you’ve made.
“If you’re not bound for the school of your dreams, you’re probably bound for a school that doesn’t conform as tidily to your fantasies or promise to be as instantly snug a fit.
“Good. College should be a crucible. It’s about departure, not continuity: about turning a page and becoming a new person, not letting the ink dry on who, at 17 or 18, you already are. The disruption of your best-laid plans serves that. It’s less a setback than a springboard.”
-Frank Bruni, NY Times
Teenagers definitely need to “find personal ways to alleviate stress, and find solutions to our own problems and anxiety”; stress is part of life and we all need to learn to deal with it. However, I think that what really needs to happen is that we just need to stop putting so much stress on ourselves in the first place! Yes, work to do your best, but it is okay if things don’t turn out as planned.
Sonja DeSario • Apr 1, 2014 at 2:29 pm
The educational system is not fair to students and the way the display stress on them. It is put to the students to handle the stress – which they need to do for themselves – but teachers needs to be more aware of it and how the students react to the stress. Teachers need to help the students with this as much as studnets help themselves.
Marguerite Stasyszyn • Mar 31, 2014 at 1:19 pm
I agree with the article in the fact that student need to find their own means to relieve their stress. Not every way will work for everyone. In my personal case, exercise and art help me relieve the stress of too much homework. These activities could just add more stress to another person.
Alec Di Ruzza • Mar 30, 2014 at 11:14 pm
I believe the key to success in high school (ei getting good grade marks) is knowing how to deal with stress well, as well as have good self discipline. Whether it be listening to music while doing homework, getting a head start on assignments, or going to the gym and relieving some tension, if you know what works best for you to relieve stress then you have won half the battle. I have found that the less stressed I am the more likely I am to preform better.