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Stressed Students Encouraged to Scale Down Their Workloads
> 2/8/2007 12:08:24 PM

The general consensus throughout the world of education is that high school students preparing for college in an increasingly competitive admissions field face more academic stress today than ever before. And in what would seem to be a reversal of popular opinion, some parents, teachers and college counselors now encourage students to restrain their ambitions and address the challenges at hand with a greater sense of grounded realism.

While a surprisingly low 27 percent of teenagers nationwide currently report experiencing significant levels of general anxiety, more than half of those participating in select surveys list school as their biggest source of stress. Whether these difficulties are social or academic in nature, the volume of pressures exerting their influence over American teenagers can be overwhelming and lead to potentially damaging behaviors like chronic disciplinary infractions and the abuse of alcohol and drugs both illicit and medicinal. As the prevalence of traditionally popular drugs like cocaine and marijuana has either evened out or declined in recent years, the illegal use of prescription drugs such as Valium and various barbituates among middle and high schoolers continues to rise.

These issues assume greater prominence in highly populated centers of commerce such as Washington, D.C., Boston and southern California, but have become an unavoidable part of high school for students around the country who have any sort of plans for continuing ed. The college applicant pool is now larger than ever despite the fact that admissions have remained steady or declined in recent years, only intensifying the conflicts inherent in such competitive environments. Many students actually look toward college as an eventual source of relief, certain that its requirements will not be as burdonsome as those they face during their junior and senior years.

The College Board, usually a source of anxiety for the same kids, recently released a statement advising high schoolers that admissions officials could view a curriculum including five or more AP courses as a simple case of showboating. According to the executive director of the national AP program, colleges are usually more interested in accepting students with diverse high school resumes, and extracurricular activities such as community service and participation in team sports may more directly boost the chances of acceptance to a school of choice.Still, overwork is not a major concern for the majority of high schoolers, and the problem faced by most students across the country is not one of too many AP course offerings but too few. Only one quarter of high schoolers took any form of AP exam in 2006, but this number is still a nine-point increase from 2000 statistics.

A researcher at Stanford's incredibly competitive School of Education, who also co-founded a campus advisory group called Stressed out Students, offers a general summary of the problem's most sensible solution:

�To me, the best thing to recommend is to educate not just for academic achievement. We also need to think about the physical, the social and the emotional. We need to make sure that education is focused on the whole kid.�

Indeed, its is in the best interest of educators and employers that our high school system does not inadvertently produce graduating classes filled with academically dedicated but otherwise maladjusted students. Creative approaches are neccessary; while some will question its place in secondary education, independent studies suggest that voluntary extracurricular programs designed to educate students in the art of meditation increase focus and reduce the incidence of negative behaviors. Any form of relief not involving destructive or illegal activity should be encouraged.

Comments
It is so stressful to be a high school student now. Every grade counts and there is a lot of pressure to have the right extracurriculars. My junior in hs son is on Zoloft right now because of severe test anxiety to help him with taking the ACT. He's taking it on Saturday for the second time. He freezes up on the reading and there is a 10 point difference in his reading and math scores. His test scores do not match his grades but are very important for college admissions. Although we have always had high expectations for him, the pressure he puts on himself is all his own. People congratulate us for having such a high-achieving kid and believe me, it's nothing we did. I would prefer he relax and enjoy life more.

Posted by: liz 2/8/2007 12:54:26 PM