The number one problem facing teenagers is stress. Teenagers stress over school, family problems,
relationships, and their identities. Most adults always say, “Teenage years
were the best years of your life!” However, they left out all of the hardships
that came along with being a teenager. Personally, I think that being a
teenager is one of the hardest phases to go thorough in life. Not only are
teens stressing out over grades in school, but they stress over finding themselves,
home/family problems, and even relationship problems.
This chart shows how many students feel pressured to improve their grades.
According to SmartGirl’s report on Peer Pressure, most
students feel pressured to improve their grades. High school students are not
only stressed over perfect grades for College, but most have to satisfy their parents
as well. They have to try and balance out their life with school, family, work,
and possibly a relationship. Eventually, it all becomes too much to handle. As many as 1 in every 33 children may have depression; in
teens, that number may be as high as 1 in 8 (Understanding Depression).
Teenage years are also considered the hardest years to go
through in life because it is when most teens are trying to find themselves.
Girls especially have a problem with this. Since society portrays that you have
to be skinny in order to fit in, they think that they have to be a size zero or
a size two. This is one example out of a million. Teens also feel stressed to
give into peer pressure with drugs, alcohol, and sex. Some even have the constant
stress of home problems, whether it is their parents going through a divorce,
physical or mental abuse, the death of a loved one, etc.
In order to help prevent stress, teachers should start
taking into consideration how much work they are giving their students. I
understand that they have to teach a certain amount of work by the end of the school
year, but they need to step back and look how much they are giving their
students. Also, parents should take into consideration how their children are feeling.
It’s good for teenagers to have that reassurance that they can talk to.
Teenagers should also just try to relax sometimes; that would help a lot. They
are so stressed out about everything that they don’t take the time to worry
about themselves.
