The Pressure Behind School By: Lianna Oldham

During the school year Hillgrove High School students often face academic pressures, heavy workloads, and negative social events. According to CharlieHealth.com, “School stress refers to the pressure, tension, and anxiety that students experience as a result of the academic demands placed upon them. It can be caused by a variety of factors, such as a heavy workload, tight deadlines, difficult assignments, academic competition, and high expectations from teachers, parents, or peers.” School can often cause students more stress and can negatively affect their mental health.

Sophomore at Hillgrove, Layla Turner, exclaims how test and quizzes increase her stress levels, “Definitely heightens those stress levels because you don't know what's going to be on there, but like, you know, like the topics, but like you don't know, like what you're going to see.” Junior, Julian Rios, expresses how some high school classes are more stressful than others, “Like, right now, I’m taking Spanish because I don't speak Spanish, so it like stresses me out, because I'm not, like, always prepared ahead.” 

School also takes a toll on students’ mental health. According to LearningPolicyInstitute.org, “Research shows that good mental health is key to the success of all children and adolescents in school and life. Data reveal young people today show troubling signs of declining mental health, raising alarm among parents, educators, health professionals, and policymakers and creating an urgent need for solutions.” Hillgrove Teacher, Ms. Ivey, describes how teachers can help students when going through stuff mentally, “Well, I feel like most teachers try and make a concerted effort to accommodate students when and where they can um, I also feel like teachers do a decent job of kind of being a safe space for students, um, to allow students to voice their concerns, any sort of anxieties with deadlines or, you know, questions about an assignment or whatever, whatever's going on, and just kind of be there for students and accommodate when and where they can.” Layla Turner, expresses why it is important to pay attention to students’ mental health, “Because the thing is, if you don't pay attention, like things, you'll start to realize that things are getting bad, and then you're like, oh, well, why didn't I see this earlier? And the signs have always been there. You just really needed to pay attention."

The academic pressure and demands affect students mentally throughout their school year. It is important for teachers to recognize and care when students have something going on. Assessments also play a role in students stress levels. Increased stress in students can make some underperform and not do well. Managing stress can help students succeed mentally and academically.