Teenage Stresses at School
Today stress makes up an important part of our lives. A
lot of information about it is available. Moreover, every time stress is mentioned the
first thought that occurs in our minds is that stress is always something evil that does
harm to a person. And it certainly does at times.
The negative impact of stress might cause diseases such as nervous
breakdowns, migraines, eating disorders, asthma, hay fever, depression, heart disease,
eczema and many other medical and social problems. Nevertheless, at the same time it can
play a very important role in our lives making us stronger and helping us to overcome
numerous problems.
H. Selye, the author of stress theory first used the term “stress”
in 1936. This meant “unusual reaction to a special request”.
He described the positive and negative influence of stress and its
three main stages: “anxiety”, “resistance” and “exhaustion”. At the stage of
“anxiety” there is a sensation of excitement and increased mental concentration. The
person feels exhilarated. Sometimes during the first stage stress-related illnesses such
as migraines, hay fever and heart disease appear. The disease can return in the third
stage of stress, when it is quite serious and might threaten one’s health or even life.
In case the stressor is extremely strong, the second stage comes –
“the stage of resistance”. The person adapts to a stressful situation and changing
circumstances, however this causes exhaustion. One doesn’t feel as well as during the
1st stage. There is no excitement or increased mental concentration.
We all have to face the need to overcome these two stages quite often.
However, if a person is under stress for too long his psychological and physiological
defenses break down. He is extremely tired and has no energy. The person is not able to
cope with difficulties and solve problems. This can lead to a psychological disease or a
psychosomatic illness. That is why this stage is called “the stage of exhaustion”.
However, in spite of all the negative effects sometimes stress can be
positive. For example, it might aid people in getting to the top of their profession. In
the initial stages of stress, as mentioned above, there is a feeling of excitement and
increased mental concentration.
Nevertheless, too much stress is negative. It is harmful for an
individual, and especially for a child. We can’t suppose that only adults suffer from
stress. So what can be done in order to help children fight stress? Recognising the fact
that nowadays young people are under more pressure than ever before is the first step to
take. Usually they are subjected to stresses at school, at home and when having
complicated relationships with their friends. Also the peculiarities of the teenage
period, which is usually considered to be full of different conflicts, should be taken
into account. The next step is to determine the main reason for the stress.
In order to find out the most stressful situations for teenagers we
have done research, in which 112 teenagers took part. They were asked to describe their
emotions in 16 different situations, connected with their school life. Their answers were
divided into 3 groups: the negative emotions, which might cause stress; positive and
neutral.
According to the results the most stressful situation for teenagers are
the following: when the teacher shouts at them (85%) or if he/she is unfair (83%), when
they are not prepared for the lesson (70%), before a test (69%). Pupils’ positive
emotions and impressions are connected with the moment they come to school and meet with
their friends (28%) and when it is five minutes until the end of the lesson (62%).
There are a lot of situations when an attentive and experienced teacher
is able to reduce the harmful influence of stress on children or even to avoid its
negative consequences. However, according to the results of our research, the
relationships between teacher and pupils are still complicated and this problem demands
further investigation.
Ekaterina Smirnova,
School No. 964, Moscow
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