Over the years teens have become more and more stressed. This stress comes from personal situations and mostly from school situations. Stress has, in a sense, become the new norm within students in high school and college. There are ways for stress to be handled and dealt with, by both the students and their teachers/parents.

Stress is and has been taking over the minds of students, causing them to want to just give up and this has to be changed. There have to be ways for our parents and schools, and even ourselves, to help reduce the amount of stress that most high school students and college students experience, in order to reduce the risk of possible health issues (due to stress).

School stress can be caused by quizzes, tests, loads of homework, AP classes, AP exams, SAT/ACT tests, thinking about your future plans, and because of parents.

Stress has many consequences to it; it affects both the body and mind. In an article written by Alexandra Ossola, she mentions short-time stress can lead to anxiety, and over a long period of time stress can start to take a toll on a person’s immune system, cause heart problems, worsen the respiratory system and can even bring chronic anxiety and depression (TheAtlantic).

An American Psychological Association article states that in a 2013 study of 1,018 students, 31 percent report that they feel overwhelmed, 30 percent reported they feel depressed or sad, more than one third (36 percent) reported they feel fatigue or a constant tiredness, and nearly one quarter reported they have skipped meals because of stress.

Students are expected to complete at least an hour of work for (sometimes) all seven of their different classes. I was literally stressing out about having to write this article because I had so much other so stuff to complete in such little time for each of my classes.

“I take AP Biology, AP US History, and math honors. There’s always a ton of homework, the classes go really fast and there’s tests almost every week,” said junior Gregory Clark, “Sometimes it seems impossible to get done.”

While a lot of stress comes from school work, some parents can add onto this. They can make their children feel pressured to do their absolute best, but sometimes what the parents want isn’t what the students can accomplish. Students will do their best to keep their parents off their back, so they can focus more on doing good instead of worrying about doing bad and disappointing their parents.

To help, parents can learn to not pressure their child into making sure everything is perfect and to not nag at them when they get a bad score on a test or quiz. Although parents only want the best for their children, it makes it more stressful to be constantly reminded of your grades and feeling as if your best is not good enough. Parents can also help their children by doing whatever they can to help them with any problems or answering any questions they have about their homework.

There are many different ways that stress can be reduced, inside and outside of schools. In school, teachers can help to reduce stress. One being homework. The amount of homework students are given each night can be reduced. Most students, besides some of the seniors who opt out, have seven different classes. This means that on some nights, students can have homework in each of their seven classes, some of the work taking up to an hour or two to finish.

Here is ways on how students can deal with stress from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America:

On your mind: accept that you cannot control everything, keep a positive attitude and learn what triggers your stress/anxiety.

On your body: limit caffeine consumption, eat well-balanced meals, get enough sleep and exercise daily.

On your actions: take deep breaths, count to ten slowly, take a time out or talk to someone.