College Students: Stress

Because health issues, excessive stress, and loss of interest in the learning experience result from overworked high school students, school need to limit the amount of homework given to their students. Excessive stress in high school students is a concerning outcome that results from an excess of work from school. Sixteen year old student Bretta McCall, who has had her fair share of homework, says, “Academic stress has been a part of my life ever since I can remember. This year I spend twelve hours a day on schoolwork. I’m home right now because I was feeling so sick from stress I could not stay at school.” (MindShift) Because McCall is a high school student herself, she knows first-hand what it is like to deal with overly excessive amounts of work and stress.

Not only is it not good enough to just have perfect grades, but you have to strive for perfection in other areas to stand out. High school is putting more and more stress on students every year. The stress that some students experience can be life altering and fatal. The American education system has put unrealistic expectations on high school students, causing a great deal of stress, which produces mental and physical illness. High school students are putting more stress on themselves due to the lengthy list of recommended qualifications to get into the best colleges.

It drives people to do something or help to overcome difficulties. Also, according to Auerbach and Grambling (1998), this type of stress can motivate a person to achieve tasks and reach success (as cited in Yumba, 2010). However, they also claim that stress that is not managed in time may cause serious mental and physical illnesses. Due to the pressure that students feel at universities because of workload and lack of time, teachers and students should take responsibility to avoid academic stress. Academic stress is the problem of many generations.

Having to adapt to a new place and new people can intimidating to some. Anxiety plays a huge role in some students lives, and with anxiety also comes depression. Every college student at some point in time feels down and stressed in school and life. Dori Hutchinson, director of services at BU’s Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, says that “When your mood state interferes with your ability to function in school is when a student is claimed depressed”. Trying to escape this curse can be frustrating and sometimes can feel hopeless to fix.

As we find ourselves held prisoner to four years of constraints, deadlines, and all-nighters, high school can be whirlwind of trials and tribulations. As emphasis is placed on academic excellence and social involvement, many students lose themselves in the mix, lacking self-respect. Self-respect and esteem issues are a constant threat to the average teenager. The worries of acceptance and success weigh on their minds. Being attentive to those can increase their level of respect/esteem.

A big cause of academic pressure relates to students having poor time management. Students have to take into consideration the course load verse the time available as a stressful factor in academic pressure. My perception of course load positively correlates with exam stress and academic pressure. Problems with this stressor can also lead to all different kinds of side effects including depression which can contribute or interfere with effective study habits and as a result weaken academic achievement even more. Problems associated with this stressor can even lead or affect a student’s future.

Stressors affecting students can be categorized as academic, financial, time or health related, and self-imposed (Goodman, 1993; LeRoy, 1988). Academic stressors include the student 's perception of the amount of work they are being dealt from each of their professors. Students report experiencing academic stress at predictable times each semester with the highest sources of stress coming from taking and studying for exams, grade competition, and the large amount of school work to complete in such a little amount of

However, an excessive amount of homework can have many damaging consequences. Students who receive an abundant amount of homework will experience more stress and health problems, such as depression. Teachers who give excessive amounts of homework every day and claim it helps students are clouded with ignorance. Teachers need to understand that unreasonable piles of homework can take a toll on students, especially if they are encountering stress, fatigue, or even responsibilities they are met with at home. As a result, excessive quantities of homework are not healthy since it not only causes people to let go of valuable opportunities, but also puts an enormous amount of stress and fatigue on them.

However, these tests actually deteriorate the true meaning of education. It confines students to think a certain way about themselves and about education in general. Education is crucial to success because the more you know, the better you’ll be prepared. Time is eliminated from actual learning by focusing on these inaccurate tests. All these factors and emphasis on testing ruins the educational experience for students, not allowing them to expand themselves and be happier.

Following the recent studies, test anxiety has been related to situations where students want to either sit for an examination or perform on stage, further test anxiety is common in places where one is supposed to perform and produce results (Watson and Driver, 1983). Part 1 Test anxiety is actually one of the greatest dangers in the education system. In most cases, test anxiety leads to health problems like students becoming stressed because of failing to achieve a target or failing to do something. Following such occurrences, test anxiety can bring about depression, anger, hatred, and agitation (Walberg and Haertel, 1992). This kind of anxiety is not good for human health.