ABOUT SHAKE OFF STRESS

Many teenagers are plagued with a disease that seems impossible to treat: stress. Teenagers are asked to balance a lot of things on their plates. An 8 hour day of grueling classes is often preceded or followed by sports practices, extracurriculars, lessons, and mounds of homework. Although the pandemic has eliminated many out of school activities, a whole new assortment of stressors have been integrated into teenager’s lives. Virtual classes prevent students from getting the level of teacher support they are used to, and trying to focus in a casual home setting instead of a school environment presents more difficulties. Students spend around eight hours a day sitting and staring at their computers, taking five minute breaks to scroll through social media, which is overwhelmed with information about COVID-19, social justice issues, and politics. Not to mention, many haven't seen their friends in months. Although video chat and messenger platforms are a way to communicate, they cannot compare to face to face interaction.

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It is easy to feel lost, as many of these stressors are unprecedented and there are no resources on how to combat them. All of these factors combined have made these last couple of months extremely stressful for teenagers. According to a 2020 survey from the American Psychological Association, 43% of teenagers say their stress increased in 2020. 81% percent of the sample of 1,026 teenagers said school closures negatively impacted them.

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What is being done to help teenagers alleviate their stress? It seems as if the majority of resources available are targeted towards adults and young children. I aim to create a platform that helps teenagers relieve stress stemming from the pandemic, with strategies that can be useful for a lifetime.