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Stress! Learning to Cope in a Fast-Paced World


by Brian Burton and by Maleaka Briggs



Stress contributes a great deal to problems in school and outside in life. It is something you can't get rid of. Dealing with stress is difficult for young students most of the time because other problems tend to pile up on top of each other time after time.

Stress is important not only because so many people experience it, but because the symptoms can disrupt life. The symptoms of stress are physical pain, feelings of being hurt, not sleeping or not eating. Stress can prevent students from thinking about other problems they may have and this can make matters even worse.

Stress from school sports and academics is the biggest kind of stress for most young adults. Students may have problems getting to class or school on time and that will cause them to be sent home. The students will not like this, especially because they may have a big test that day.

Stress in football is a big deal because the player and the team work so hard at practice but might still get beat by another team that really should not have won the game. Or, a player on any team might practice very hard but when game time comes around the coach might not put him in. The athlete may feel really down on him/her self and may just quit the team even though they want to play.

Stress in cross-country and other more individual sports can also be powerful. First, the runner has to be in shape to handle three point one miles. Just thinking about it is stressful, but when the meets do occur and the runners think they are ready, they may not be ready. After all the preparation, injuries are frequent. That's when the stress comes in for the runners because they may be hurt badly and may want to leave the race, but they stay in the race for their team mates and because they don't want to waste the time they have invested preparing for the meet.

Academic stress is the worst of all because it feeds off of all the other problems in life. Having a part-time job in addition to school work can be very stressful. Just by being with a boyfriend or girlfriend may cause the student to stop attending school or to not focus on studying. This can hurt the student's grades. Eventually, academic and personal stress can cause a student to drop out of school.


Academic stress is
the worst of all because
it feeds off of all the
other problems in life.
Having a part-time job
... can be very stressful.


Everything falls under life's stress. Life's stress is the everyday experience of a problem that can not be solved. The only way to deal with stress is to work on one problem at a time and try to take small steps in overcoming large problems. As the years go by, the stress will still be there if it has not been solved . When you become older, the stress from the past will still be there. Stress will continue to follow the student or the young adult into life for as long as it takes to get the problems solved.

There are steps you can take in order to deal with stress. Most people find it helpful to talk to friends about problems, or to have private space for himself or herself. Going out to the movies or doing something fun is also a great stress reliever . Finally, visiting sick children may be one of the best stress relievers of all. Anytime you help someone else, your own stress tends to go down.

Teens and Stress
By Maleakah Briggs

Teens are the most stressed people in the world. They have a lot to think about and many decisions to make. Stress and teens are everywhere. It doesn't matter what race or environment that you live in, all teens are almost the same. Most of us have similar reasons for stress and common problems. Some use different strategies to reduce their stress levels.

Teenagers from West Philadelphia were interviewed about what they thought about teens and stress. All of the students were asked the same questions and nearly all of them gave the same answers. The students who were interviewed ranged from the 9th to the 12th grade.

Teen stress is one of the reasons for the violence commited by teens in America. They have a lot on their minds so they take it out on anyone who is in their way. Some are just confused or afraid to talk to someone who is willing to help them, so they join gangs to get support or to feel loved.

Parents of teens should talk to their children in order to know what is on their minds. Open relationships between parents and teens are very important. Teens need someone in their lives who they can talk to about anything. We want people in our lives who will care and be there for almost anything.



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Updated on May 8, 1998