RESOURCES

What is Stress?
General Articles about Stress
Fill Out a "Stress Tree"

 

Literature:
Book Reviews
Recommended Reading

 

What Does the Research Say?
Homework
Sleep
Motivation
Perfectionism
College Readiness
Stress Management
Over-scheduling
Academic Honesty
Parenting Adolescents

 

Consider These Links:

• Stanford’s Stressed Out
  Students Project
• Benson-Henry Institute for
  Mind-Body Medicine
  School Health: Education Initiative
  Research Link for Students
  Sophomore Study Consent Form
  
• American Academy of
  Pediatrics' Stress Plan
• ASCD's Whole Child Initiative

 

We'd Like to Hear from You:
Share with us your "story" or ideas on the stress problem

 

Data:
Needham Stress Surveys &
Survey Analyses

 

 

Consider These Stories

 

Jordanna, a freshman, has found the high school a very different place than middle school, a place marked by new and distinct social and academic pressures. For the first time, she finds herself in ability groupings (i.e. tracks) for most of her classes. This exposes her to new classmates and redefines her “circle of friends”. She has worked hard to handle the increased responsibility and self-direction her teachers now demand. She finds herself very busy after school juggling sports, the Anime club, and commitments to her local church, not to mention the three plus hours she spends nightly on homework. She is not sure how she became so busy, but she thinks it’s normal because this is also how her friends spend their time. Her parents are supportive, loving, and tell Jordanna they want the best for her. They routinely emphasize the importance of taking advantage of high school, turning in all her homework, and getting good grades in her classes (at least a ‘B’); they have begun to occasionally leave college pamphlets on the coffee table. Her teachers expect more work from her than did her middle school teachers. They emphasize the importance of “doing your best”, are proud of the school’s reputation, and have genuinely made efforts to get to know Jordanna (despite the pressures she knows they too are under). Jordanna at times feels overwhelmed by the rigor and her commitments, but she relies on her steadfast coping mechanism of buckling down and working harder to get through the challenge. She has accepted this relatively new student identity and lifestyle, and longs to “fit it”.	John, a sophomore, is enrolled in mid-level classes and hopes to go to a good college when he is graduated. He loves the social and athletic aspects of high school, and lives this by playing three sports and attending as many school-sponsored events as he can. His proficiency on the pitch and personal charm makes him popular among his peers. He has found a niche. To the best of his ability, John hides the fact that he struggles academically. Because of his social standing, he feels he needs to hide his deficiencies in the classroom. He creates a persona that all things come easy to him; when things don’t go well, he minimizes its importance. He’s not proud of it, but John will often resort to cheating to keep up with his schoolwork. Privately, John will tell you he feels an overwhelming pressure to excel academically. Some of this comes from his parents, who support him but have always wished he could get higher grades; his teachers also push him to do better. He places blame for much of the pressure he feels on the school culture as he perceives it, where he finds his classmates often talking about top colleges and the upcoming PSAT (which he believes will firmly set the “pecking order”). He has found himself more and more tuning out this pressure, including advice from his parents and his teachers.
Sarah, a junior, is maxed out in the high school experience. Knowing that junior year was the most important academically to the college admission process, she now takes two Advanced Placement courses and four other high-level “core subjects”; she’s dropped Art to take an extra language class. Her after-school activities are nearly as energy consuming. She has always loved field hockey, but now finds it somewhat annoying because of the time it takes to compete at the varsity level. She agreed to be secretary of the Student Council, which she added to her Habitat For Humanity commitment (recently, she’s found herself blowing off the meeting to attend the SAT Test Prep course). Sarah would rate her happiness as “low” and her stress as “off the charts”, but sees this state as a temporary thing and believes her schedule and dedication will be rewarded next year when she applies to Ivy League U. She longs for the spring of her senior year when she can relax and look forward to leaving high school behind.             Sarah set distinct performance goals for her classes, believing that if she earned at least a ‘B’ in the top-level classes, she would be in good shape. As the year progressed, she revised these goals to where she feels she needs all ‘A’s to stay competitive with her peers. She has become very anxious over what her friends’ SAT scores will be (not to mention whether they will apply to the same schools as she will). Practices that she once believed were cheating—copying homework, finding out the exam questions, etc.—she now justifies as okay (she believes if the school is going to ask so much from her, she must take these measures; besides, everyone does it). High school has become about survival. She adores many of her teachers and has forged good relationships, but is getting increasingly belligerent about the level of busywork she sees in the four plus hours of nightly homework. Her physical health has taken a nosedive. She can’t remember when she got her current cold and it shows no signs of letting up; she knows that the five or so hours of sleep she gets on school nights is not helping her situation. She has started taking caffeine pills at night to get her through her homework. She longs for Friday nights, where she parties with her friends; she believes the drinking helps her unwind and to sleep in to noon on Saturday. She will often miss school to catch up on both sleep and schoolwork. Her parents have supported this because they see an extremely motivated daughter who seems wholly engaged and productive. Something in their gut, however, doesn’t feel right about this situation, but they feel helpless to change things for their daughter. They also see their daughter’s behavior and commitments as finite.	Joshua, a senior, is thrilled to have just a few weeks of school left before moving on to Rural Liberal Arts College; he is “so done with high school!” He looks back on his experience with mixed feelings. He remembers working hard and making good friends, but it all went so quickly. He’s confident that he’s a better reader and writer than when he started as a freshman, but he struggles to identify other areas in which he has grown. He is sometimes asked, “What have you learned in four years?” He will often wryly respond, “To do school”. Upon reflection, Joshua wishes he didn’t sweat so often over the difference between an A- and a B+, or ask his parents to intervene with the school as much as they did. He also would have spent more time with his friends rather than join do so many clubs to pad his transcript. Nevertheless, he’s confident that he’ll excel in college because he excelled in high school. He looks forward to being more independent and feeling less pressure from home and school, yet questions whether he would have been happier going to Big City University. He comforts this feeling of misgiving by reminding himself that if he is to get into a good medical school he’ll need to “ace the MCATs” and that the small name brand school he will attend has a proven track record of getting kids in.           How can I identify whether chronic stress is a problem in my life (or my child or student's life)? Consider asking this question: Have you seen these behaviors or heard these questions? - “What is this worth (rather than what are we doing?” - “Who won the group presentations?” - Discomfort in asking critical questions - Paralysis when asked questions that require deep thought - Absence of originality, imagination, or creativity - Absence of having any fun or joy while doing academic or extra-curricular activities - Overreaction to a disappointing grade - An urgency to call home to resolve disputes - “Whining” over what else is coming due in their lives.
How do these stories make you feel? Is this what the high school experience was intended to be? Will this type of experience best prepare graduates for college? For work? For life? What would the alternative look like? Consider the following: Jaime is angst-ridden. She spent so much time on her art portfolio project that she neglected to do her index cards for a research project—missing the deadline will lose her 10 points off the final grade. Her parents offer support, but she knows she’ll need to speak to the teacher herself and work it out with him. Despite the acute stress of the research project, Jaime loves high school. She points to social stress as the cause of most of her anxiety; she feels academically challenged and connected to her teachers. She’s taken two advanced courses in subjects she is most interested in—English and history—and stayed with mid-level courses for math, science, and world language (not her favorites). She has tailored her academic and extra-curricular experience to her love of design and culture; she hopes to one day work overseas as a designer in a multinational corporation. While she describes her day as busy and sometimes hectic, she doesn’t feel frantic or overwhelmed, but rather just engaged. Next year, she looks forward to participating in the school’s exchange program with France. She describes her parents as “awesome”. They support and love her unconditionally and tell her this frequently. They have helped her through difficult situations in the past but have always stepped back and let her deal with the problem directly. They allow her to be independent but set boundaries and hold her responsible for the decisions she makes. As a family, they have defined “success in high school” as Jaime being “healthy, engaged, happy, and growing”. College occasionally comes up at the dinner table, and is usually initiated by Jaime. Her father longs for her to go to his alma matre, but has also been clear that Jaime should find a campus that allows her to be herself, make new friends, and blossom. As a family, they have incorporated a few college visits into their regular vacations and Jaime has begun to collect information from a large and diverse list of potential schools. This organization and parent support has taken much of the craziness out of the process. Jaime has made good friends in high school and views the time they spend studying together as critical to her success. They routinely give each other encouragement and support. While high school has been filled with ups and downs, successes and failures, and lots of awkwardness, Jaime feels this is normal and her parents confirm that.

 

The Stress Initiative at Needham High
Guiding Principles

Email the Chair of the Committee (Principal Paul Richards)