Back to School Blues

The first thing you might be thinking when you read this title is "It's June!! Why are we talking about school in the middle of the summer?!" We at shakeoffstress are enjoying the summer too, and definitely are avoiding anything that reminds us the school year is quickly approaching. However, we wanted to explore how the demands of the school year could be contributing to your stress before the end of the summer, so you have information to come back to once school starts. Let's get into it!

Our first study concerning stress stemming from school was published by a researcher named Noelle Leonard at NYU. She collected data from affluent day and boarding students in their junior year at two different Northeastern private schools. Students in junior year were specifically selected for this study as they often face the added pressure of preparing for college applications along with the demands of their classes.

In order to collect data from the 128 students she selected, Leonard sent them an anonymous survey. About half of the juniors reported doing three or more hours of homework on an average school night. Despite this heavy course load, the juniors' average motivation was relatively high, at an average of 2.35 out of 3.

Leonard also found that 49% of students surveyed felt they faced extreme stress on a daily basis. Another 31% of students said they experienced moderate stress. Finally, 26% of students showed indications of clinical depression. The average amount of stress, motivation, and time spent on homework varied, depending on whether a participant was male or female. However, the common factors contributing to stress for both participants of both genders were homework, grades, and college preparation.

Our next study is from our good friend, the American Psychological Association. In a similar fashion to Noelle Leonard, they sent out a survey revolving around stress resulting from school to a group of teenagers. On average, teenagers felt that their stress during the school year sat around a 5.8/10. When adults were asked to rank their stress, they felt that it was a 5.1/10 on average.

As a result of this stress, 31% of teens surveyed said they felt overwhelmed, and another 30% said they felt sad or depressed. Sleepiness also prevailed among these teenagers, with 36% saying they felt tired during the school year. Another 23% disclosed that they'd skipped a meal due to stress. Luckily, a large portion of teens emphasized that this stress did not affect their mental (52%) or physical (54%) health.

Next, let's consult the Washington Post, who analyzed the results of a 2013 APA study to determine how school and stress affected teenagers. The APA focused on 13 to 17 year olds, and asked 1,018 of them to complete an online survey. Teenagers often recorded levels and symptoms of stress that were highly similar to what adults documented. They said that the stress they faced made it difficult to reach their full potential at home, school, and work.

36% of students recorded feeling nerves and/or anxiety, whereas another 40% said that they had faced irritation and/or anger in the month before they took the survey. When asked whether school contributed to stress, 83% of teenagers said it played a part to a significant or moderate extent. In addition, about 60% of teens said that having a schedule full of extracurriculars, a social life, and classes was difficult to manage.

In terms of physical symptoms, stress manifested in the stomach and head for many teens. 21% said they experienced pain or discomfort after eating when stressed. Another 23% said they tended to skip a meal if they encountered stress. 32% said stress resulted in headaches.

When teens were asked how they approached eliminating this stress, common answers were watching something on TV, playing a video game, or searching the Internet. Researchers were concerned at how many teens chose to sit in front of a screen instead of moving their bodies as a way to relieve stress. 20% of teens said they exercised once a week at most. Although screen time can be a great way to relieve stress, the experts emphasize that exercise has proved to be a great stress reliever time and time again.

Last of all, let's consult NPR, who looked at how virtual school during the pandemic was affecting teens using a Common Sense Media study. 47% of public school students and 18% of private school students reported having never attended a virtual class, in April 2020. Even when students attended virtual classes, they often felt there was a lot of their minds that made it difficult to focus.

80% of students said that they often found themselves trying to stay up to date about the pandemic by watching the news or reading articles. An additional 60% of students were anxious about how the pandemic could affect their families, by infecting a loved one or compromising their source of income. A majority of this 60% were teenagers of color.

Although virtual school will hopefully cease to exist in the near future, it still could lead to hazardous long-term effects. In past instances where school was suspended for an extended period of time, researchers found that students were more likely to drop out and forgo higher education following graduation. Factors that contributed to this increase include students having to support their families, as well as having to look after younger siblings if their parents are unavailable. When this study was distributed, 56% of students said getting behind in school was a big worry.

How can this risk be avoided? Researchers also wrote that helping students stay connected could increase their chances of staying in school and doing well. Friends, teachers, and family can be reached through phone, email, or social media, and researchers encourage teenagers to take advantage of the many communication platforms available. On the bright side, 68% of students wrote that they were making an effort to stay in touch with their school faculty and administrators while studying from home.

That was a lot, so let's do a quick recap. Noelle Leonard found that homework, grades, and college preparation contributed to the moderate to extreme stress many high school juniors faced daily. The APA wrote that the degree to which teenagers felt they experienced stress was often larger than adults, and manifested in both physical and mental ways. Another APA study said that 83% of teenagers said that school was a stressor for them. Finally, NPR and Common Sense Media found that school during the pandemic resulted in a whole new batch of stressors for teens.

Let's face it: school is hard. In our next article, we'll explore some ways to hopefully make it a little less stressful. We here at shakeoffstress hope this article was informative and gave you some information about how to identify common symptoms of school stress to shake off stress. Thanks for reading :-)

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