Student Anxiety in High School
Introduction
According to Hess (2014), decades of research have characterized and termed anxiety as a mental and health tsunami that is prevalent in the current teen generation. In the contemporary US society, teens, particularly high school students are filled with myriads of pressures which have led to the hospitalization of many of them over the last couple of years and even to date (Hess, 2014). According to various mental-health surveys conducted, it is evident that the current age faces a lot of pressures that revolve in trying to fit in the society, achieving, and social media aspects (Hess, 2014). More importantly, students are pressured with the current domestic attacks in the US that have been consistently targeted at schools. Students no longer feel safe while in school and thoughts of getting shot to entangle their minds every day, and this makes it harder to be a teenager. Forsthoefel (2018) states that unravelling the forces that cause these kids anxious is still an action that is undergoing numerous research to develop an efficient methodology that will render these students free from anxieties besides the usual methods like yoga, sleep, stress balls, and positive self-talk.
According to the American Psychology Association (APA), there exist several aspects that have blossomed the level of anxiety in high school students lately. Firstly, academic pressures are the poignant causal forces to teen angst where top students are encompassed with an overwhelming compulsion to pass alongside striving not to disappoint their parents who often are not helpful (Bernal-Morales, Rodríguez-Landa & Pulido-Criollo, 2015). Ideally, according to a report by a high school counsellor, parents with top-performing kids tend to be less concerned with the well-being of these students in the name that their integral focus is on their studies. Often, they hide behind the phrases, ‘you are smart-I believe in you-do not disappoint me.’ However, Bernal-Morales et al. (2015) note that parents fail to conceptualize the kind of pressure they impulse on their kids, and their realization comes when it is a bit late.
Another issue reflects on social media impact majorly illuminating the effect of the sudden ascendance of the smartphones. Hess (2014) notes that numerous studies have scoured the rising cases of depression and suicide attempts over the past years, mainly exhibited in high school adolescents. Social media has formed a platform where students idol in almost 70% of their time, resulting in addiction (Hess, 2014). Counsellors point out that the content shared in these social platforms is completely undistinguished on face-to-face communication (Buchler, 2013). For instance, kids may say to each other things such as why one should commit suicide for reasons like physical appearance and family status. It is worth noting that these commentaries are mainly out of radical teasing. Yet, most teenagers perceive them otherwise resulting in depressions, isolation, stress, lack of sleep, and to some considerable extent, suicide (Bernal-Morales et al., 2015). Other causal factors that may result in anxiety include, drug and substance abuse and bullying.
The American Psychological Association has developed a couple of mechanisms that may be adopted to help ease steams among adolescents to enable them to concentrate and lead a healthy life outside teenage voodoos. One, institutions may implement policies that restrain the use of phones around the school during learning hours (Buchler, 2013). However, the integral role lies within the jurisdiction of parents to control the amount of time students spend on phones. Alternatively, kids experiencing depressive episodes may be subjected to early therapy sessions to help them recover and adopt a positive living (Forsthoefel, 2018). Deployment of trauma-informed specialists to schools is also an efficient technique to curb teenage anxieties. However, studies indicate that both parents and students have been adamant to this solution, which leaves the mental-health situations of these kids at jeopardy. More so, school counsellors and psychologists need to spend more time with students, and this calls upon the school managements to create more time for such sessions. Forsthoefel (2018) observes that constant positive-talks may be leeways for a positive living for most adolescents. Also, Buchler(2013) suggests that due to the increased cases of suicides and attempts on the same, mental health agencies and psychology curriculums should adopt strategies to address such issues to the communities, parents and more importantly to these students to prevent further impacts.
Conclusion
Conversely, it is correct to affirm that being a kid in the current society is way too tricky. Teenage life illuminates a vast of challenges encountered during the scavenger hunt of self-realization, attempts to fit in society, and accomplishment of dreams. It is a period of episodic anxieties that reflect depression and stress that may ultimately result in mental health retardation and even suicides. Studies have indicated the causal factors to be academic and social media pressures which have been directly linked to the increased hospitalization of students with anxiety cases. Therefore, it is empirical for both parents and schools to adopt convenient measures to help students overcome this great challenge that is taking its toll in the current youthful generation. Through measures like phone-use regulation both at home and in schools, therapeutic sessions, counselling sessions, and open address of these issues to the entire community will aid in curtailing the rising spread of anxiety impacts.
References
Bernal-Morales, B., Rodríguez-Landa, J. F., & Pulido-Criollo, F. (2015). Impact of anxiety and depression symptoms on scholar performance in high school and university students. A Fresh Look at Anxiety Disorders, 225.
Buchler, R. K. (2013). Anxiety-reducing strategies in the classroom.
Forsthoefel, K. E. (2018). Mentoring Strategies for the Support of High School Students Experiencing Anxiety and Depression: A Case-Study of Two Catholic High Schools.
Hess, J. (2014). Anxiety prevalence among high school students.