Is School Asking Too Much of Students?

I feel like I’m still just getting used to this school. But then I realize I’m a junior and that means that I’m an upperclassman and suddenly people are asking me if I know what I want to do with the rest of my life. My brain isn’t even fully developed yet, and you’re asking me to make a decision that will influence the rest of my days on this earth? Agh! This is stressing me out.

As the new school year roars to a start, I think we’re all gradually starting to remember why we were so blissfully ecstatic when summer started. The STRESS. All the stress that comes with trying to participate in after school activities, clubs, sports, and get involved in the community all while struggling to keep our grades up and maintaining social relationships inside and outside of school. One student groaned, “Even my stress has stress.”

So, is school asking too much of us? Or are we just lazy and unmotivated? Maybe a little bit of both. But beyond the obviously negative effects of stressed out students (and parents), perhaps school forcing us to learn how to deal with lots of pressure now is a good lesson for us awkward adult-children. Like it or not, after we leave high school, we will be an adult member of society who will have to juggle financial, social and other life-related pressures. It’s better to make some mistakes and learn from them now than to make the same mistakes later in real life with more serious repercussions. So maybe all this stress isn’t such a bad thing. We just have to learn how to mitigate it.

These days we have more resources than ever in dealing with stress and our teenage hormonal imbalances. We have great guidance counselors who do so much to help us prepare for college and life, not to mention supportive teachers and parents. When it comes to stress management, we hear the same words so many times that they have almost lost their meaning: mindfulness, meditation, destress. But what really works? Here’s what some students and teachers have to say.

“Get [work] done when you get it,” emphasizes one junior. Other students also agreed that procrastinating does not help. Several students also stated that taking periodic breaks from school work helps. They play piano, listen to music, take a nap, or engage in physical activities to reboot. One teacher even said that she does yoga or has a dance party with her colleagues.

Personally, I find that it’s usually time constraints which cause me the most anxiety. So, I did some research and deep philosophical pondering. All of my complaining always leads me back to the same cliche: Use your time wisely. So instead of wasting time online or whatever it is kids do with their gadgets these days, try to finish your work first. We may think we’re capable of multitasking and responding to a Snapchat while outlining for History, but we’re not. Even responding to one, quick text is enough to distract us and break our concentration. David Meyer, a psychologist who studies the effect of distractions on learning at the University of Michigan, said that “it’s far better to focus on one task from start to finish” than to devote attention to several at once. 1 The MIT Center for Academic Excellence (presumably an authority figure on studying and time management) recommends breaking study/homework sessions into one-hour blocks with ten minute breaks every 50 minutes.2 Only check or turn on your phone in that 10 minute block for optimal efficiency.

So if you think about it, school does ask a lot of us. We have every reason to feel stressed out. But in the end, there are many effective ways to deal with stress, and it will help in the long run if we make use of our time and opportunities now to learn how to deal with stress and managing our lives.

1Paul, Annie Murphy. "The New Marshmallow Test: Students Can’t Resist Multitasking." Slate Magazine. 03 May 2013. Web.

2"Tooling and Studying: Effective Breaks." MIT Center for Academic Excellence: Tooling and Studying. Web.