Cracking Under Pressure

In my personal experience at high school, students push themselves beyond their fullest potential and often work themselves past the point of illness because they’re afraid that by taking a day off they’ll fall behind in their classes.

 I’m included in this group of overworked students.  To be fair, I really bring the stress on myself due to heavy courseloads and the choice I made to attend school over 20 miles from my house, although my busy schedule isn’t unique to myself.  According to psychologytoday.com, “1/3 of children reported experiencing physical symptoms that are frequently associated with stress.”*  These teens sleep less so that they can study more; if they get back the essay or the test and the grade doesn’t live up to their standards (realistic or not), the teen may plummet into feelings of hopelessness which are often followed by a renewed effort towards their schoolwork.  This can result in even less sleep, and therefore has a negative effect on physical health. 

The problem of declining physical health is a problem in many different ways.  The first is that it makes concentrating more difficult, so grades start to slip and more pressure to do well next time is added.  The second is in taking a day off to recover; many students are worried that if they’re out too often they’ll end up with too many missed days and lose credit for a course.  Personally, when I get sick I tell myself ever day “just one more day and tomorrow I’ll stay home and get better,” but I continue putting off a day of healing until I’m either better or too sick to leave bed.  All while I’m denying sickness to myself, my grades fluctuate and I stay up later to do better while getting sicker.

Health is not the only aspect of a teen’s life at risk from the heavy pressures of high school life; a teen’s mental safety and sometimes even his or her life is also in danger.  According to nimh.nih.gov, nearly 7 in 100,000 teens commit suicide each year (this number makes the 15-19 age bracket the highest among young people ages 10-24)**.  That may not seem like very many people, but considering that in 2010 there were 22,040,343 teenagers in the US, those 7/100,000 add up quickly; going by the 2010 statistic, over 1,542 teenagers committed suicide in that year alone.*** 

And because the number of teenagers rises every year, if the 7/100,000 statistic is true then even more teenagers will commit suicide by the end of 2012.

Studies show a correlation between scholastic stress and teenage suicide; most suicides among teens occur during exams, which are usually periods of intense stress and pressure to succeed.  In cultures where both students and others put pressure on the teens to succeed, the rate of suicide is higher. **** That’s not to say that school is the only cause of teen suicide; merely it is a significant one.

If we want to protect our teens, we need to relieve some of the pressure that causes them to crack.

 

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*http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/teen-angst/201109/teen-stress-how-much-is-too-much

**http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/suicide-in-the-us-statistics-and-prevention/index.shtml#children
***http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-03.pdf (page 4)
**** http://mres.gmu.edu/pmwiki/uploads/Main/schoolMED2010.pdf (page 2)

Poll Questions

Do you feel overwhelmed now in your freshman year?

Do you feel pressure (from family, friends, teachers, yourself etc) to take higher level courses in the coming years?

Do you think that teenagers are overworked?

Slipping

Good morning.  It’s 5:30 in the morning; it’s a random Monday during Junior year.  You were up until three in the morning last night finishing an essay; it’s perfect and you’ve never been more proud of an assignment in your life.  As you lie in your dark room listening to the alarm, you feel as though your soul were withering and dying at the notion that you have to get out of bed and go to school for another week.  You tumble out of bed and shuffle to the bathroom.  The shower sings to life and you stand under the scorching water, trying to warm up.  You dress, grab some food and coffee (the coffee is what matters; food is secondary), and sprint out the door to make your bus.  While you drive to school you read the article you were supposed to finish last night and scrawl some annotations down in the side margins.  Sweat makes your grip slippery as the fifth stop rolls by and you realize you aren’t anywhere near done.  You arrive and sprint inside, nodding to your friends before slamming your books onto the desk of your first period class and frantically completing your annotations.  All of your classes blur together into a whirl of people teachers tests textbooks questions homework vocab until it’s time for lunch.  You feel the heavy backpack cut into your shoulders as you make your way to the cafeteria, the weight of the world weighing you down and bending your back into submission.  You sit with your friends and joke a bit, but mostly you work on homework, which either is due next period or was assigned last period.  You proceed to your final classes and then the bell rings, setting you free.  However, you’re in your junior year and colleges are looking at you, so despite the heavy weariness sapping your strength and the mountain of work to do, you drag yourself to a club for your resume and enjoy the meeting as much as you can as evil whispers in the back of your mind speak of the homework you need to finish and the tests you think you failed.  The club ends and you hurry to a sport, because it’ll make you appear balanced even as your mind teeters out of control.  Your thoughts are numb as your muscles automatically stretch and flex to do what they must in order to complete the practice.  As you walk out of the door you run into the teacher for whom you wrote the essay.  He’s finished grading it, and lets you see your grade before he leaves.  Staring up at you is a big red 84, and you calmly hand it back even though on the inside you feel everything in you crumbling.  That’s not nearly good enough; with grades like that you’ll never get into the college you want.  You wander to the bus, sit in silence, and shuffle home, where you sit and work all night.  Repeat.

Imitating Kincaid: A Rant About Rights

"That the native does not like the tourist is not hard to explain.  For every native of every place is a potential tourist, and every tourist is a native of somewhere.  Every native lives a life of overwhelming and crushing banality and boredom and desperation and depression, and every deed, good and bad, is an attempt to forget this.  Every native would  like to find a way out, every native would like a rest, every native would like a tour.  But some natives - most natives in the world - cannot go anywhere.  They are too poor.  They are too poor to go anywhere.  They are too poor to escape the reality of their lives; and they are too poor to live properly in the place where they live, which is the very place you, the tourist, want to go - so you, they envy your ability to leave your own banality and boredom, they envy your ability to turn their own banality and boredom into a source of pleasure for yourself."  --A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid (18, 19)

Long ago we were promised that in America each person has the same rights and freedoms. It is apparent that even now and despite numerous struggles from minorities, there are still groups without certain rights. Despite the infamous words of the Declaration which promise the right to the pursuit of happiness, there are still those who, despite the promise our forefathers made, try to take this right from others.  Every person should have the right to be happy, the right to live their lives, the right to love the person of their choice.  But this fundamental right – that of happiness and life – is forbidden to homosexuals.  They are outcasts. They are shunned by friends and family alike.  Even strangers on the street may taunt or jeer at them; there are many cases where an individual from any one of these groups has harmed a young homosexual, many cases where the outcast has been teased, has been beaten, some to death – these pariahs, thrown from home and from social group to walk alone, are treated nearly subhumanly by those with the misguided belief that to love whom you love is wrong and should be punished.

Problems with Society: From the Petty to the Problematic

Personal:
    Person to Person contact

• Ignorance.  This is one of the things that I hate more than anything else.  Please, think before opening your mouth and if you don't know about what you're about to discuss, either don't say anything or search simply to broaden your horizons and learn something.
• Stereotypes.   They aren't always true; in fact, they rarely are.  And even "positive" stereotypes have negative effects.  Often the stress of people expecting you to do well can be as damaging as the expectation of failure.
• Irrational fear of/sense of superiority over a minority group.  Here's looking at you, racists, homophobes, and sexists.  Your way of life is not better than the group of people you look down on, nor is it any worse.  we all have the right to the pursuit of happiness.  You have no right to deny people their rights

School:
   Problems within my school

• Homework assigned just to give us homework.  I understand the homework is necessary to reinforce the lesson, but make an effort to keep it reasonable, at least.  A worksheet going over the new verb tense you learned or the key points of the lesson is ok.  A 30 page packet due the next day is not.  It will just stress out kids, we'll resent you, and we'll lose sleep and not pay attention the next day.
• Guidance.  Be less strict with schedules.  Yes I know that you don't want kids changing classes on a whim, but if within the first wek of school a student comes to you nearly in tears and begs to be allowed to switch because the work load is already too much, you should have a responsibility to allow the student to transfer into a class that is more reasonable. 
• Clubs.  Don't take up entire hallways.  I don't care about your signs if they're just a piece of paper with the name of your club on them.  And if you're doing a demonstration in the hallway, please leave enough room to get to class.  I know that you think you're bringing our attention to the issue, but honestly, if you make it so I can't go through a hallway and I'm late to class, I will kick you the next time you do it.
• Course pacing.  Depending on a person's level, they'll have different views.  But personally, I believe that if only a few kids in a class don't understand a topic after a teacher has explained it, it should be the responsibility of the student to look it up later, ask a friend, or go in for extra help.  Otherwise kids who understand more are dragged down, and more time is spent on reviewing than on learning. 

National:
    Problems with the government and the US (in my eyes)

• Tax cuts.  I'm a huge fan of graduated income tax.  To me it's a great idea.  However, if the super wealthy isn't doing their fair share, the entire nation is losing out on money that could be put into increasing education and health care to improve those with no money as well as those with an abundance of it.
• Socialized Medicine.  It seems to be working pretty well for Canada.  And if we spend more on preventing illness then workers don't have to take time off of work for sickness for which there are vaccinations or can be found during a routine check up.
• Pretending to sympathize with a certain group.  *cough*Ann Romney*cough*.  Ok I understand that you used to not have much money. But you aren't part of that class now; you're part of the elite.  People don't really admire you for eating tuna and pasta.  Many I have talked to feel patronized and resentful.  Talk about what you know, and go ahead and mention being poor for a while.  Just don't try to present it as if you are still poor, and not one of the elite.
• Education.  College students take out exorbitant amounts of money on their student loans, and end up spending years paying them off.  A higher education should be available to all students; how far you go in college should depend on your ambition, intelligence, and perseverence, not how much money your family has.
• Abortion.  If you are a male, you can't fully understand this and you have no right to make legislature for it.  If a girl cannot raise the child well then it will probably grow up miserable.  And she may end up losing credit for school due to pregnancy, which will be an impediment later in her life and in providing for the child.  At the very least, either give us contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies or give us the option of an abortion if it comes to that, although preferably both.
• Homosexuality (or rather, homophobes).  These people are searching for love and acceptance just as much as you are.  They aren't trying to destroy your happiness or your way of life.  Even if you don't agree with the idea of having a same sex partner, give them the same rights that you have; everyone deserves to spend their lives with the person they love.

Miscellaneous:
      The random things that bug me

• Religion. Religion itself doesn't bother me; sometimes I wish I was more religious so I could maybe deal more easily with obstacles in life.  No, my problem with religion is the conviction that there is only one true religion. Stop with all the anger and hatred of other religions besides your own.  Be open to new ideas and willing to accept that people may view the universe differently, but those differences aren't necessarily bad things.  Are all Muslims evil? No, and likewise not all Christians are good.  And also, don't preface an argument with "Well the Bible says..." Please, I am literally begging you.  It makes you sound close minded and ignorant, especially if you're arguing against scientifically proven facts.
• Media.  Stop presenting these unrealistic expectations for people.  Not all girls are supermodels, and even some supermodels don't look the way they do on the cover of magazines.  People come in all different shapes and sizes, and it's time to just accept that and move on with life. 
• Television.  Reality tv shows are not interesting or funny.  The people on them set a bad example for how we're supposed to behave, and the fact that they tend to have a target audience of teenagers makes it even worse.  Written shows are so much better; off the top of my head, I can come up with How I Met Your Mother, Sherlock, and 30 Rock, just three of hundreds of incredible shows that are funnier, more touching, and more interesting than reality tv.
• Corporations and manufacturers.  Make products that are of at least decent quality.  Your products should last longer than a few weeks or months.  At the very least, I should be able to take a frame out of the box without it falling apart in my hands.
• Increase the number of magnet schools.  If a student has an idea of what they want to do, they should go to a school that specializes in that area of study.  Preferably changing during Junior or Senior years, perhaps with a general school for the people who still don't know.  It would give students the opportunity to get ahead before going to college and see if the work in their chosen line of studies would be something they could do for a long time.

A Little Rant (the first of many)

Hello there.  My name is Jaime Lee Anderson and I’m a junior at Brien McMahon High School.  What do you think of me, based on that?  You probably think I’m bubbly and enthusiastic, although that may be different based on different Jaimes you know.  You probably think I’m intelligent, and probably athletic, with a lot of friends.

Unfortunately, my name isn’t Jaime, or anything even remotely exciting.  I’m Sarah Elizabeth Breault, the most boring name my parents could possibly have picked.  How about now? Has your opinion changed based on my name?  You probably think I’m not trustworthy, although I’d die before exposing another person’s secrets. (I’m sorry about lying; I was curious about how a person’s name affects other people.  Comments below please!)  You probably assume I’m white – as one of my friends pointed out, Elizabeth is a rather generic white girl middle name.  If you’re being racist like this, you’re absolutely correct.  You probably stumbled over my last name in your head, and if you didn’t you’re almost guaranteed to mess it up out loud (I don’t mind; I’ve gotten used to it).  I can’t guess how you’ve reacted to the rest of my name, because I don’t know the other Sarah Elizabeths you know and I don’t know how your brain works.  Instead of trying to guess, I’ll take you through my name and my personal reactions:

First off: Sarah.  Hebrew for princess, which I suppose is a reasonable way to describe myself.  I’m spoiled and stubborn and usually don’t take kindly to being told no.  As far as I can tell, there’s no reason for my name.  It just is.  I suppose my parents like it, although it’s a bit plain for my taste. 

The real problem for me is how common it is.  Personally, I think that being an individual is incredibly important.  I want to make a difference, which isn’t really possible if I’m one of the crowd.  One of the most common complaints about my name I have is that it doesn’t really express individuality.  At least 8 or 9 times per week, I hear “SARAH!!” screamed in public and often whip around and respond before realizing that the other person was not talking to me. 

Second: Elizabeth.  Meaning: God is my oath, which is ironic considering the fact that I tend to lean towards atheism.  Yet another painfully plain and common name.  I don’t mind Elizabeth; it only irritates me when it’s shortened to “Beth” and stuck after “Sarah” to form one painfully southern name.

Finally: Breault.  I’m sorry; my European is showing.  It’s a French name, and from it is born my hatred of French.  No one can pronounce it; too many unnecessary vowels.  Maybe it’s been a blessing as well as an extremely annoying curse.  Maybe it’s why I’m tolerant of other’s mistakes and don’t take insults too personally.  Regardless, I look forward to getting married. 

Another problem for me is that the name “Sarah” is rather rigid.  There’s not much to do with it if you’d rather be known more…interestingly.  Yes I could go with Elizabeth, but no one I know would find the transition easy. 

Maybe it’s a good thing that I have such a rigid name; it’s given me the motivation and desire to express myself in other ways, such as how I speak and how I spend my time.  Maybe if I had been named differently, I’d be a different person; maybe I’d be more quiet and ashamed of my weird name, or maybe I’d live up to it.  Either way, Sarah is my name and I guess it’s not so bad.

However, if you know a good nickname for Sarah, please leave it in a comment.  I’ll be forever in your debt.