School Stress and Tragedies
School appears to many to be a time when everything is going right for students and all they need to do is study, get good grades and learn how to be good citizens. Unfortunately, the recent events with regard to campus shootings and other tragedies fly in the face of such beliefs.
The pressures of school are felt by all students, but for some the pressures are more than they feel they can handle. It's at these times, and even before, that efforts need to be made to reach out to these students to help them see that there are solutions for problems, pressures can be handled and help is there for the asking. It is, however, it is this "asking" that may prevent some students from getting the help they need.
How can schools, teachers and parents approach this dilemma and attempt to short-circuit tragedy? The first step must be to recognize where the pressure is coming from and then we can look at ways to help.
Stress in school comes from several areas: schoolwork, expectations of parents, the student's expectations of themselves, and personal relationships. There may also be times of the year when this stress is greater than others. For instance, just around mid-terms and finals time, holidays when students are heading home, or at graduation time. These are all prime stress times because of the added pressure to achieve, the loss of person contacts and support and the new challenges graduates face.
The time to help is when students just enter their school activities and I would urge that all students receive on-going workshops, stress refresher training, and that the counseling office make itself known on a daily basis. We can't always expect these students to come to us and we have to begin to go to them. It's really a mission to reach out to students and their parents because the two, working together, can be most effective in helping.
Things to Remember
Keep the following in mind:
Pin this list up on your desk or the refrigerator or paste it on the wall and look at it daily. It's one way to help you keep a healthy focus on things.
Are you feeling stressed in school? Know someone who is? Try a visit to our support group or discuss things with other members on our Health Cafe message board.
Related Topics:
The pressures of school are felt by all students, but for some the pressures are more than they feel they can handle. It's at these times, and even before, that efforts need to be made to reach out to these students to help them see that there are solutions for problems, pressures can be handled and help is there for the asking. It is, however, it is this "asking" that may prevent some students from getting the help they need.
How can schools, teachers and parents approach this dilemma and attempt to short-circuit tragedy? The first step must be to recognize where the pressure is coming from and then we can look at ways to help.
Stress in school comes from several areas: schoolwork, expectations of parents, the student's expectations of themselves, and personal relationships. There may also be times of the year when this stress is greater than others. For instance, just around mid-terms and finals time, holidays when students are heading home, or at graduation time. These are all prime stress times because of the added pressure to achieve, the loss of person contacts and support and the new challenges graduates face.
The time to help is when students just enter their school activities and I would urge that all students receive on-going workshops, stress refresher training, and that the counseling office make itself known on a daily basis. We can't always expect these students to come to us and we have to begin to go to them. It's really a mission to reach out to students and their parents because the two, working together, can be most effective in helping.
Things to Remember
Keep the following in mind:
- There are no "failures" in life or coursework; everything is a learning experience
- Being stressed is a part of life and there are things you can do
- Give yourself some mental distance from the problem and talk it over with someone
- Asking for help, no matter what the problem, is always a good, positive move
- Nobody's perfect
Pin this list up on your desk or the refrigerator or paste it on the wall and look at it daily. It's one way to help you keep a healthy focus on things.
Are you feeling stressed in school? Know someone who is? Try a visit to our support group or discuss things with other members on our Health Cafe message board.
Related Topics:
5 Comments:
Thank you for your thoughtful entry on school stress. It highlights the point that stress can be harmful in a variety of ways. People who are interested in stress management may wish to visit my blog entry on the topic at http://kctherapist.blogspot.com/.
I agree.
hello i need your help i have been having very bad anxiety like pains in my chest and always like at night mid day and mornings very stronge tensness in my chest and i really need help with what i should do i get this tensness all the time almoxst every second but i really get tenesness and thinking things of others when i go around people i try not to let it bug me but it does i would love it if ya could write me back and let me know what type of med and what type of anxiety this is my e-mail is kkristina2007@yahoo.com thanx so much
anonymous,
Please visit Dr. Farrell's message board to ask specific questions about your situation.
I have not read the whole site, and this may be on there later. But it is not only children that are in school and stressed. There are adults working full-time jobs with at-home responsibilities and attending undergraduate or graduate schools.
The family needs you, the job needs you, and the professors think that all you have to do is their weekly paper.
It is extremely overwhelming to juggle everything in one day.
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