School and Stress

With schools all across the country opening up for the 2022-2023 school year, school’s effect on children's mental health is a subject that is especially prevalent. School is no doubt an essential place for children and teenagers with most spending 7-8 hours each day in school. This is not including school sports or other extracurricular activities which could add more hours to this total. In addition students are expected to complete homework and study topics for exams which may take several hours varying from day to day. With such a large portion of time being focused on academics, questions have been posed on what effect this has on students' mental health and stress levels.

Mary Alvord, a clinical psychologist in Maryland and public education coordinator for the American Psychological Association feels as though the stress level that children are put under at school can be overwhelming and, in cases, even destructive. This is corroborated by a 2014 survey which found that 45% of students were overwhelmed due to school related stress. This stress not only affects the student but it also has a clear impact on the parents. The same study reports that 40% of parents have been affected as a result of what they believe to be stress related outbursts that result from school. The argument may be brought up that bullying and social stress could be contributing to this number, however, this study specifically asked about stress related to academic problems showing a connection to school and stress directly. Most students cite homework as a specific reason for their stress. 24% of the survey respondents specifically mentioned homeworks as their leading cause of stress, which poses the question as to whether the time constraint school puts on students is too much.