School can take a toll on our mental health in many ways. We spend a huge portion of our lives in school, whether we only graduate from high school or we go to college or university or grad school. And in that time we might have some bad experiences which may leave behind some problems in our psychology.
Students can get exposed to a host of pressures that can cause some painful stress. Being a full-time student, you’re continuously stuck under all that pressure for the majority of the year. You get your winter holiday, spring break, and summer holiday to relax. But when you’re back in school full-time, you’re stuck under all that pressure.
School stress can continue to affect adults that have been out of school for years. Even if you’re not a student anymore, this part of your subconscious can still be lurking in the hidden side of your psyche. And it can continue to manifest itself in your dreams. A common “bad dream” for adults is they imagine themselves back in high school or college and they’re falling behind on homework assignments and tests, and exams and presentations, etc.
For these reasons I think learning how to manage school-stress can be beneficial for anyone. So let me share with you my method for managing school-stress. It involves becoming aware of all the pressures from school, and then changing the way you respond to each one. As of writing this I’ve been out of school for several years, so I’ve never actually used this method myself. However, if I were to go back to school, this is what I would use to try and manage my own stress.
Identifying the Pressures
Really examine your experiences in school and try to identify the triggers of your stress and the pressures acting on you. Think of all the duties and responsibilities that school places on you. Think of all of your own personal desires and goals that you want to achieve in school. And of course, think of the influences that all those other students might have on you.
Probably the first thing on any student’s mind is the desire to get good grades. Your parents might be pushing you to do well in school. Maybe you consider yourself a straight-‘A’ student and set the bar really high for yourself. You might just be trying to “prove” your intelligence to everyone around you and compete with other hardworking preppy students. If you’re in your senior year of high school, you’re probably applying for college or university and scholarships, which require a high average. This “pressure to get good grades” is probably the one pressure that always remains with you while you’re enrolled in school. Underneath all the other circumstances and situations you might face, this pressure is always there.
Your academic work can be extensive and can take many forms. In a math class for example, you’ll have regular homework assignments. In science class you’ll have labs. In English you’ll have essays and presentations. In social-studies, you’ll have a ton of memorization and some research projects. Throughout the term you’ll be given tests and quizzes. At the end of the term you’ll have some sort of final exam. Given the abundance and complexity of your academic work you can easily find yourself overwhelmed and stressed.
Not all of your academic work is probably done individually. In science labs you most likely have to work with a partner. In research projects and presentations you usually have to work in a group. This creates the potential conflict of dividing or sharing the work, as some members might not be “pulling their weight”. If you’re a passionate hardworking student you might find it frustrating putting up with slackers. On the other hand if you have any trouble with your share of the work, you can end up angering or upsetting the others. Either way, this group work is going to be frustrating, stressful or intimidating for you.
If you’re involved in any extra-curricular activities that can place even more responsibilities on you. If you play any sports you have to make it to practices and games. If you play in a band you have to make it to rehearsals and concerts. If you’re a member of any clubs you probably have meetings and sessions to go to. Having all these extra commitments on top of your academic work can make your schedule super busy and hectic.
By attending any kind of public school you’re going to get exposed to all kinds of peer-pressure. You’re surrounded by dozens of people your age every single day.
If you have any kind of social anxiety then you probably feel a general pressure just to fit-in, and be accepted and respected by everyone. When you first started high school or college you were probably nervous about meeting people and making friends. You might worry about who you’re going to eat lunch with, who you’re going to hang out with in the halls, and don’t want to come across as a loner. You might be worried about who you’re going to dances with and be nervous about dating. Having social anxiety would therefore make your school experience so much worse.
If you have problems with stage fright or public speaking anxiety, that could be contributing to your school stress. Several of your classes most likely involve presentations, with the most being in English. You probably find it incredibly nerve-wracking having to stand in front of the class and talk. Then if it doesn’t go well you find it embarrassing and humiliating. Due to your stage fright you probably dread presentations and speeches and music and drama performances, and they give you horrible anxiety.
The whole concept of popularity might have put pressure on you. You might find it intimidating being among a large group of over-confident, stuck-up teenagers who think they’re so “cool” and mature and better than everyone else. There are probably many people who value popularity and desperately try to maintain their social status like their life depends on it. They must be really selective about who they would hang out with and talk to and even just acknowledge. Therefore the concept popularity basically “amplified” that pressure to be accepted and respected by your peers.
In school you might find yourself “pressured” to be like all the high-achieving students, trying their best and living out their goals and dreams and ambitions. In high school you could be surrounded by high achieving students acing their courses, playing sports, and getting involved in extra-curricular activities. They could be getting accepted into universities and planning their career. In university your classmates could be acing their courses and developing connections in their field and applying for internships. Being stuck in these conditions you’ll likely feel a “push” to “measure up” to your peers, and feel behind or “left-out” if you’re having any trouble with it.
Changing Your Response
Now that you’ve become aware of all the pressures acting on you, the next step is to change the way you respond to them. You have to decide how you’re going to “deal” with all the circumstances from school that have been triggering your stress.
Some of these circumstances might be more important than others. You might conclude that some of these circumstances don’t matter at all. Perhaps some of these circumstances are completely beyond your control. The 3 methods I like to use are Removing the Pressure, Taking Responsibility, and Accepting the Futile.
Removing the Pressure
When external pressures are acting on us, they induce stress within our mind. But when we take those pressures off, the stress within us disappear. Whenever I try to manage stress, I always first look for any pressures that I can take off.
Now that you’ve identified all the triggers of your stress, you need to evaluate how “important” these circumstances really are. There should hopefully be certain things that you conclude are completely unimportant and not even worth worrying about. Then you can choose to “take the pressure off” and eliminate the stress inside of you.
For example, you might be setting the bar too high for yourself if your goal is to achieve a straight-‘A’ report card in the high 90’s. If you’re getting stressed out about not reaching that goal then you might need to set the bar lower, to take the pressure off. And if your reason for wanting that goal is just to show off and “prove your intelligence” to your classmates, then you need to learn not to care what people think.
In my opinion, I’d say all these peer pressures are completely unnecessary and you’d be better off just removing them.
If you have any problems with social anxiety or public speaking anxiety or stage fright, then these are problems you’re going to have to get over. These anxieties are completely unnecessary and serve absolutely no purpose. All they do is make your life more difficult and miserable.
The pressures coming from popularity are also probably better off removed. You don’t need to spend your school years worrying about what some over-confident, stuck-up kids think of you. As long as you have a few good friends, that’s all that matters.
The pressure coming from you “comparing yourself” to high-achieving students is probably better off removed. Of course you should try your best in school, but your motivation shouldn’t be to simply compete with other students. If you’re allowing your standards to be defined by the people around you, then you are a victim of circumstance. Everybody has a choice in how “ambitious” or “high-achieving” they want to be or not. You need to focus on being yourself and defining your own standards and doing the best you can at that.
By removing some of these pressures you are subsequently eliminating some of the stress inside of you. That allows you to focus on the more important circumstances that you have to face in school.
Taking Responsibility
Now that you’ve removed some of the “unnecessary” pressures, you have to acknowledge the most important pressures acting on you. Think of these as the most important concerns or issues or situations that you have to face in school. These are responsibilities that you have to make yourself ready to take on.
For example, if you chose to get involved in extra-curricular activities such as sports teams, clubs, a band, etc., then you have a duty to commit yourself to them. You can’t just go skipping practices and games and performances and meetings.
In your academic work you obviously have a desire to get good grades or at least “pass” all your courses. That leaves you with a responsibility to pay attention in class, take notes, do your homework, complete your projects, and study hard for tests and exams.
Most importantly, the group work should be prioritized over your individual work. Any academic work that involves other people is so much more important. It’s not just your grades that are at stake here, it’s your classmates. You have to make sure you get your share of the work done to the best of your ability for the sake of the group. On the other hand if any of your group members are slacking with their share of the work, don’t be too hard on them. Try to give them a break, as it might be a difficult task that they’re struggling with.
If you can become “confident” in your ability to handle these responsibilities then it should feel like building up a “resistance” to these pressures. That should help reduce the stress in your mind.
Accepting the Futile
Lastly, you need to recognize when your stress is being triggered by circumstances from school that are beyond your control.
Probably the first thing to recognize as futile is how busy you can get with your academic work. You don’t get to decide on the structure or components of your courses. You don’t get to decide how much homework your teacher assigns or how many tests or quizzes they give. Worst of all you probably don’t get to decide what deadlines the teacher gives for all these assignments. Being busy is a pain, but your stress and worries really aren’t serving much of a purpose here.
When you get busy in school you have to plan and prioritize, and most importantly do one thing at a time. You’re going to have to juggle all your courses and their various homework assignments. Make use of a personal planner/agenda where you record everything you have to do including all your academic work and their deadlines, the dates for tests and exams and presentations, any meetings/events for extra-curricular activities, your work schedule if you have a job and everything in your life. That should help “ease your mind” by having everything written down, and it will allow you to focus on one task at a time.
Another thing you have to recognize as futile is the actual content that your teacher assigns. You don’t get to control what homework your teacher assigns and how difficult it is. You definitely don’t know what exactly they’re going to put on their quizzes and tests and exams. This “uncertainty” can motivate you study as hard as you can, but after you’ve done that there’s no point in stressing about it.
By recognizing certain circumstances as futile or “beyond your control”, you can remind yourself that there’s no real reason to worry or stress about it.
Conclusion
Being enrolled in school exposes us to a host of pressures that can induce a ton of stress in our mind. To begin managing your school-stress, start by becoming aware of all the triggers of your stress and pressures acting on you from school.
Try to identify any less important, “unnecessary” pressures that you can take off, and learn to stop worrying about them. Then become aware of your most important responsibilities and make it a priority to always fulfill those duties. Lastly, you want to become aware of circumstances that are beyond your control and decide what you’re going to do about them, and try not to worry about them.
This is my method for managing school-stress. Unfortunately, I’m not a student anymore, so I can’t say that this has actually worked for me. But if I were to go back to school, then this is honestly what I would do to try and manage my stress. I hope this article helps to alleviate any mental tension that school might be posing on you and helps you relax a bit.
Good luck in your education.