When most graduates are asked, “What was your hardest year of high school?”, most people will commonly say eleventh grade. As students in high school deal with multiple assignments, tasks, and responsibilities to get them prepped for college and adulthood, students are vulnerable to the pressures of this difficult path without managing their mental health, creating a vicious cycle of stress and mental fatigue.
John F. Kennedy High School realized that mental health is a factor for high school students, so faculty created a safe space for students, now called Kennedy Cares, which contains the subjects on how students can balance their personal life and school life, also consisting of the Calm Room, where students can take fifteen minutes to themselves with items and couches.
Kristopher Li, GLEAM US History teacher, reflected on mental health awareness for juniors. “Juniors have such a hard year because they have so much pressure on them,” said Li. “The weight of becoming an adult and applying to colleges or jobs start to weigh on the students.”
The juniors are in their third year of high school, which is the last year being on their college record. With senior year coming up fast, commonly, they choose to take AP or honors classes to increase their grade point average and to impress college administrators.
“I think that a lot of my juniors are picking up a lot of adult responsibilities at home. They are getting after school jobs, and learning to drive, and still managing school on top of that,” said Li, agreeing that it’s a lot to deal with.
Incorporating personal duties and responsibilities plays a big role in a teenager’s mental health. But also, students dealing with this stress find unhealthy and unbeneficial ways to cope with their tension
“I’ve had a few mental health battles that I’ve had to face because of school, and a big issue, for me, was the influence of others,” said Mya Rowan, Kennedy junior and member of the GLEAM magnet. “Others would convince each other to not do any work during class, to talk back to teachers, and much more. All because they did not have the time to do their work, and eventually gave up,” claimed Rowan.
Students find ways to cope with stress in harmful ways, which should be talked about. The Kennedy Cares office creates assemblies to talk to the students and to let them know that they are here for them in case they are dealing with a rough patch.
“Statistically, adolescents today are struggling with mental health more than they were 10-15 years ago,”said Li. “Schools and school districts could, as a whole, make more deliberate and systematic efforts to address the issue of mental health,” said Li.
The teachers have been asked to teach the topic of mental awareness, but it is hard for them to stay on top of their normal content and standards of the subject they have to teach.
“Ideally, students would have more time during the school day to get the mental health support they need without being pulled out of class. Additionally, students would have more time for fun school events that get them to see school as a positive aspect of their life instead of an additional stressor,” said Li.
Students get pulled out during class time, and they eventually get behind on work, which could add up onto their ongoing stress. “The thing that is most important is to take care of yourself, find time to do things that are fun and that get you out of the house.”
Students can have a hard time trying to find ways to manage their time and stress, but it can be the smallest things that make a big impact on your mental health. The University of Berkeley Health Services said, “Ideally, your body will return to a state of rest after a stressful event.”
Your body will naturally do things to itself after a hard time, and taking it into consideration can be very beneficial for young minds. “Taking care of yourself, lounging around and relaxing can be productive, and can re-charge you for the school week and for all the other responsibilities you have to do,” said Li, agreeing that taking a break is okay.
Ways that students can cope with personal stress can be accessible. Taking a shower, going on a walk, reading a book, talking to your family or friends can all be very helpful when it comes to the sensitive mental state of students who are in a hard time of their life.
