Student Stress in School

Stress for students can be caused by anything in life, however, it is mainly caused by school. School is a very stressful environment from the workload to relationships. There is also a lot of stress that is caused in a student’s everyday life. Stress that students deal with in school could be because of peer pressure, struggling in school, balancing responsibilities, disappointing their parents, and fear of the future. Pennridge High School believes that they are doing everything they can to make their school environment less stressful. Meanwhile, Pennridge High School Students believe that Pennridge does not do enough to make school less stressful. 

Ever since the pandemic hit, life has been different for everyone, which can also create stress. Many students still deal with this stress every day while going to school. Chloie Brion, a senior at Pennridge, said, “My teachers have not been sympathetic at all with everything that’s been happening with Covid”. Pennridge started the school year out with students going to school two days a week and had a launch day every Monday, where students would join zoom for class. Halfway through the school year, they switched to going back full time but changed the schedule so students would be done school at 1:00 p.m.  This drastic change has caused stress for most students because they did not adapt to the new schedule. The school has also changed a lot since students were last there. Hallways have arrows you have to follow, some stairwells are going up, and some are going down.  School is no longer what students knew school as.

Teachers also have not been helpful for students who are struggling with stress. A senior at Pennridge, Dalton Guthrie, explained, “Teachers give a huge amount of work with little time to complete. They also have little consideration of students having a life outside of school.”  Most students have jobs and other commitments outside of school.  Teachers constantly give work for students to do, and not enough time to complete them; it makes it difficult for students to balance out all their responsibilities. Chloie Brion explained, “I literally can’t function most of the time because all I think about is how much homework I have to do. Instead of being able to enjoy my senior year with my friends, all I’ve been doing is stressing out about school work and trying not to fail.” The amount of stress that she is feeling has affected how she lives her life. 

When asked if Pennridge helps her manage this stress, she simply replied, “Not at all.” Pennridge offers programs to help students who are struggling: Student Assistance Program, Guidance Counselors, and Safe 2 Say. However, most students who are struggling do not feel comfortable using these programs. They feel like the school will add more stress. Chloie Brion continued to explain that when she reaches out to her teachers, they usually pin her as a failure because she’s struggling in school. She said that when she talks to them about the work, they just ask when she will complete it or give her a new due date to have it done by. 

Students deal with a lot of stress every day of their life. Going to school should not be a stressor for students. Students deal with stress from their everyday life and then with stress from school on top of it. Pennridge High School has a handful of resources students can use, but are too afraid to reach out.  They believe that it will create more stress for them. Pennridge should reassure their students that getting help for their stress is normal. It is not something to be

ashamed about. Getting help should also not be another thing that stresses them out more. It should be a relief to the students but, it is doing the opposite.