Written by By: Aryan Gidwani
Many students worldwide struggle with the same thing: coping with the stress of secondary and post-secondary education. The grades that a student gets in high school affect what universities one can get into, and the grades received in university or post-secondary institutions affect what you do with the rest of your life. As a grade 11 student, I find putting more pressure on myself than I need to. Much of this pressure stems from my desire to get into a good university, and also arises from my need to impress and make my parents happy and proud. In the United States of America, it is reported that 75% of students, specifically in high school, either feel angry, depressed, stressed, or bored. The survey calculated a score from one to ten, which measured the stress rate, where one is the lowest stress score and ten is the highest. For many adults, the average stress score is around 3.8, but for students, the score is around 5.8. From this study, it is seen that on average many students experience more stress due to school and marks they want to get.
How can we reduce the stress of students in our daily lives?
Despite a number of failing methods, I find a couple of ways that always help me focus on the bigger picture. For instance, an example of something that I do to reduce stress is to realize that I cannot be defined by a single number. Each individual, each student is multi-faceted. We all have a large range of different personality traits that make us who we are, and we should not define ourselves based on our marks and stress over a number, as numbers cannot physically represent who we are. Another way that I am able to quickly destress is by thinking of ways to improve. Getting a bad mark allows you to grow and improve on your mistakes, and I find that being able to learn, improve on, and solve your mistakes can really tackle the root of the situation. It is important to understand that stress is normal, especially in our teen years, but it is also important to realize that we can overcome it and use the roots of stress as the tools for personal growth.
Works cited
Bouchrika, Imed. “50 Current Student Stress Statistics: 2020/2021 Data, Analysis & Predictions.” Research.com, Research.com, 10 Sept. 2021, https://research.com/education/student-stress-statistics#:~:text=75%25%20of%20U.S.%20high%20school,an%20average%20score%20of%205.8.
Betune, Sophie. “Teen Stress Rivals That of Adults.” Monitor on Psychology, American Psychological Association, Apr. 2014, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/04/teen-stress.
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