Teens and Stress

[Juicybearfut]

While i was up finishing my paper last night at like 1 in the morning...i had an idea for this topic...

what do u think about the amount of stress that teenagers face? has it always been this high or has is escalated in recent years and why? what are your opinions?

my opinion: i think teens have to face more stress and pressure then before. Now, all that matters is getting into college to parents, and the put more pressure on their kids to do well. "Ok" grades are no longer enough to get in. You need to take good courses, do well in them, and do tons of extracurricular activities. suicide is now the 3rd leading cause of death among teenagers, and i think stress has a big part to play.

[Insidious Rex]

Well I think teens have always had to deal with stress. In fact you can argue more so in the past then now. a lot of people would say kids have it pretty darn easy now. but that may be the very crux of the problem. every generation has been more and more of a navel gazing generation because of technical developments (we no longer have to plow the fields or go to work at 10) and because of a change in how we view things socially. We have more of a leniant open culture now which exposes teens to more stuff then ever before and that can be overwelming. not to mention the activity levels of kids now, even little kids, is unreal. hockey practice. band practice. homework. plays. organized sports. clubs. etc. etc. When do you guys have time to just go out and climb a tree or kick a can! oh wait, i forgot, even if you did your parents wouldnt let you for fear youd get hurt or kidnapped. Yes I do feel sorry for you guys sometimes...

[Nurvingiel]

I think that you're right about academics Juicybearfut. There's other causes stress too including bullying, but I'll just comment on academics.

It is getting more difficult to get into university, and consequently there is more pressure on teens. And, once you're in university, it gets even worse! Now, this does not trivialize what teens face in the slightest. Far from it.

When you're in secondary school, I think there should be less of an insistence on academic excellence - you have more important things to learn like music, sports, the complexities of social interaction, shop, your own identity, art, drama, writing, etc. Leave the mental horrors for university where it's more appropriate.

It's worth noting that both my brother and I chose our intended future careers from activities we undertook outside of school. There is an attempt to convince young people that they need to decide their careers while they're still in school. Not only is this a very silly idea, but it also adds even more pressure! (I recall a course called Career and Personal Planning we had to take that was a complete waste of time.)

My advice, such as it is, is to not worry about your career, and study whatever interests you most. University is important and useful in itself, not just to vault you into some high paying job.


Education is not a means to an end. It is an end in itself.
- Robert Heinlein

[Juicybearfut]

Originally Posted by Nurvingiel

I

When you're in secondary school, I think there should be less of an insistence on academic excellence - you have more important things to learn like music, sports, the complexities of social interaction, shop, your own identity, art, drama, writing, etc. Leave the mental horrors for university where it's more appropriate.

i think that seconday school is high school...but anyways.....i mean, i dont have time to focus on other things besides academics,..i do a sport every season and take 4 honors/ap classes and i only have a half-year free ebcause this year i wanted to do something that really interests me like videography, which i love, but i willl not have enough time in my schdeual to take advanced video. We're pikcing courses for enxt year....and AGAIN i only have a half year free because i really want to take animal behavior.....
i just dont have time to focus on other things out of school like climbing trees or such and being outside like i used too, and i think thats why our generation is missing out on the things in life that arent school related.....

yea sorry i just kinda went off in a tangent about school.....5 hours of sleep for the past 2 nites can do that to you

[Millane]

the end of my secondary schooling years was cushy as... I did no sports or "extracurriculars", the school i went to said you had to do at least two we occasionally turned up on a wednesday arvo to play table tennis if we were particularly bored but thats about it... Exams were a bit stressful but nothing too horrid and they're always bad anyway.
I didnt really bother about school that much and i still got into the course i wanted to do...
Now ive got the year off before uni and im just gunna bum around, work here and there and travel...
very cushy life indeed

[Nurvingiel]

Secondary school and high school are equivelant to each other, it just depends what country you live in.

It's totally fair to focus mostly on academics, I did too in high school. But my point was people should be allowed to put their attention elsewhere (such as Millane ) if they want.

[gollum9630]

Originally Posted by Nurvingiel

(I recall a course called Career and Personal Planning we had to take that was a complete waste of time.)

Ah CAPP, they are finally taking ath out and making grade 10's take a half year course on the exact same stuff. Such a waste of time and thankfully my teacher agrees and so we do nothing for CAPP and she gave us all 100% in the course. Unfortunately this grade has nothing to do with applying to colleges and universities.

Personally i find life now unbelievably stressful. I have 3 soccer practices, 3 basketball practices 2 bball games and 1 soccer game a week and on top of that i have to maintain at least an 80% average to get into a good university with 86% in language otherwise i have to write another exam just to get into most universities (thankfully the one i am applying to does not require such an exam until next year). However, i know that what i do is my choice so i cant really complain to much but i still foind it can get pretty stressful when i have exams or tests.

[Sister Golden Hair]

You guys think you have stress now, just wait til you have kids.

[Nurvingiel]

Parents can say that, but it doesn't mean the stress of people in university is any less, and just because it sucks for us, doesn't mean that the stress of kids in school is any less, or any less valid.

Besides, apparently there's a high rate of suicide at university relative to the rest of the population. And given the amount of bullying that goes on in secondary school, I say bring on the little tykes. (I probably would still get more sleep than I do right now with a newborn baby to take care of instead of academics.)

I may eat those words some day, because I do want children. But I doubt it.

EDIT: Oh yeah, so they waste your time other ways gollum9630?
The thing is, CAPP or equivelant actually could be useful. But do you know where I learned how to write a good resumé? My dad showed me. Where was I introduced to budgeting and economics, and how to interview for a job? An elective I took called Business Ed.
They should just get rid of CAPP etc. and let you take a free period.

[Elemmírë]

Originally Posted by Juicybearfut

my opinion: i think teens have to face more stress and pressure then before. Now, all that matters is getting into college to parents, and the put more pressure on their kids to do well. "Ok" grades are no longer enough to get in. You need to take good courses, do well in them, and do tons of extracurricular activities. suicide is now the 3rd leading cause of death among teenagers, and i think stress has a big part to play.

I know what you're talking about, JBF. Of course... it doesn't end with getting into college. Honestly, that's just the beginning.