What Are the Causes of Stress in High School?

High school is a time of change, excitement and physical, intellectual and emotional growth, and these factors contribute to a great deal of stress. High school can be an emotional roller coaster with wonderful highs and dramatic lows. Recognizing the causes of high school stress can help students learn to manage symptoms and minimize the roller coaster effect. In addition, learning to manage stress in adolescence might benefit high school students into adulthood.

Dating and Relationships

• Dating is a major part of high school life for many students. Dating and being in a relationship can mean feeling an emotional bond with someone, receiving and giving affection and attending social events. However, relationships also are a major cause of stress for adolescents. Sexual relationships can become even more stressful because of the increased emotional bond, pressure to do something an adolescent is uncomfortable with, concerns regarding pregnancy or sexual transmitted diseases and infidelity within the relationship.

Peer Pressure & Bullying

• High school students are significantly susceptible to peer pressure and bullying. Adolescents might be pressured to have sex, drink or use drugs, give less importance to studies or myriad other inappropriate or dangerous activities. This can be conflicting for students who know right from wrong and might not choose inappropriate behavior without feeling pressured. Students also might be victims of bullying by insulting, teasing, playing pranks or threatening other students. Perpetrators of bullying also experience stress as they might be pressured into bullying themselves or experiencing emotional problems that lead to the bullying behavior.

Social Networking/Texting

• Many high school students seem to be physically attached to their mobile phones and devices. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy found that 39 percent of teens had sent sexually suggestive text messages, and 48 percent had received them. In addition, 40 percent of teens reported having a sexually suggestive message shown to them, and 20 percent showed such messages to someone else. This leads to stress from the embarrassment about personal information or sexually suggestive pictures being spread to others. The constant use of technology could also be stressful because of the constant use of these tools.

Grades

• Students might feel stress because of the pressure to keep grades high or to raise low grades. Under-performing students might struggle to pass or to raise their grade-point average to be accepted into college, remain on or qualify for an athletic team or meet their parents' expectations. Higher-achieving students might feel stress to maintain a high GPA or receive college scholarships.

Worries About the Future

• High school is a time of transition. High school students are encouraged to choose a career goal, choose academic tracts that correlate to their academic goals for college or trade school, as well as choosing which college or trade school they plan to attend. Students might feel pressured to choose careers or colleges that their parents have suggested or to be close to their friends. There are financial concerns as well. College scholarships are competitive, and prices for secondary education continue to rise faster than the rate of inflation.

Self-Esteem

• Self-esteem is a source of stress for many adolescents. Teens often worry about what clothes to wear, how to wear their hair and in which activities to participate. This is a time of development when adolescents are struggling to find out who they are as a person, and they often look to their peers and the media to help shape their personal appearance, interests and activities. Body image is a significant source of stress. Child.net states that teens often feel pressured to be skinny so they can fit in.