Stress Levels Increase with Increasingly Rigorous Classes

Stress Levels Increase with Increasingly Rigorous Classes By: Paige Turner

Savannah arrives home from school only to see a mountain of homework staring her down from her desk. Unbeknownst to her, a panic attack was about to consume her. She allowed it to consume her whole being and curled up in the fetal position in her chair, You know what? I don’t have time for this. With that she continues working on the unrealistic amounts of homework the school believes she is capable of finishing in one night. While Dexter High School has high ratings in the state of Michigan for test scores so do the student’s stress levels. One full IB Diploma student was asked what his average stress level was for one week (not including after school activities). “7/10”. Upon further questioning it became apparent that something must have impacted his stress levels: tests, quizzes, projects.

“I usually have one per class per week, sometimes more,” Rishabh Kothari said. “That’s what makes [my stress level] a 7.”

From a student’s perspective harder classes are very stressful just ask Savannah Norush. Her normal stress level out of 10 on a normal night is a staggering 8.5. She has 4-5 tests, quizzes, or projects every single week in school. After asking if these impacted stress she gave a very real answer.

“Hell yeah it does!” Norush said.

Hearing from students alone was enough to convince anyone that the harder the class the more stress a student is likely to have. All parents have different relationships with their kids, so it’s no surprise that some parents notice more. One parent, Sheetal Kothari, was willing to answer a few questions pertaining her son’s stress levels.

“If he was taking normal classes he would be even more stressed because he would be bored, he has figured it out for time management” she said.

Rishabh was confused since to him that statement seemed very contradictory and believes the opposite. Some teachers are tentative when it comes to students behavior, especially DHS math teacher Lisa Bauer who notices when someone is feeling ill. She was asked about her regular classes versus her IB classes regarding the students stress levels.

“Not personally,” she said. “In the kids who have 4+ IB classes, more stress is noticed especially now with projects and exams coming up. Kids taking 4+ IB/AP classes are gods because most of them are athletes or have part time jobs.”

She even mentioned that she checked on all of her IB Diploma students in her second hour to make sure they were okay. A lot of the stress that students have goes unnoticed by family, friends, teachers, and administrators. While others don’t realize it students are stressed, they are sick, they are human. Everybody gets stressed, highschool students in rigorous classes especially due to towering amounts of homework, upcoming tests, and major projects. Most of which has to be done alone or with very limited amounts of help. Most parents are unable to help. What they learned at the same age as their children is vastly different.

Appreciate