Although many parents still teach their children that peer pressure will be the biggest threat they face in high school,  times have changed. A new super-villain has appeared on the scene and he’s stomping on the idea of “carefree youth” as hard as possible. Stress is taking over – in fact students are

reporting higher stress levels than even working adults. So while parents see this:

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Students are in fact experiencing this:

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It doesn’t seem like students have much to stress about. In fact, there are entire movie franchises promoting the ideas that teenagers are superficial, shallow, and uninformed.

After all, don’t all students spend their days like this:

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It is undeniable that hormones sometimes cause some debatable behavior, but still:

Older generations have come to accept that the media’s representation of millennials is correct, and although in some instances it may be, teenagers deserve a bit more credit. After all, “teen spirit” in the 21st century smells like sweat, tears and depression. To the notion of a stress-free school day, teenagers say:

So where does this stress come from? Teenagers aren’t worrying about any of the numerous things previous ages have worried about – the Plague, the French Revolution, and Atomic bombs are all surely more worrisome than late homework.  So is this merely a case of teenage dramatics?

Studies say no. Even adults are reporting higher stress levels and researchers are tracing it back to their adolescent years. By balancing school, work, extracurriculars, and family, most teenagers find themselves exhausted, stressed, and in the habit of forming unhealthy coping mechanisms.

So, while teachers think student are ignoring them or simply blowing of their class, students are simply struggling to find a way to do it all. And it’s not just students in advanced classes or those on the varsity sports team that suffer.

High school students are facing a true problem and they have no idea how to handle it. For most, this simply leads to an increase in unhealthy habits

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And although most teenagers are prone to melodramatics, it becomes clear that there is a problem when they are acting like this:

And although many parents don’t fully understand their angst-ridden teens, a family-support system is very important for adolescents. Parents may sometimes be driven up the walls, feeling like…

It helps to at least try to understand the struggle of being a teenagers in the 21st century. As for the near-panic attacked high schoolers, there is no reason to feel like this:

There are many ways that teenagers (and adults) can manage and control their stress. Amongst them:

• Meditation

• Breathing exercises

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• Positive “self talk”

• Exercise

• A regular sleep pattern  

and most importantly,

• Ask for help when you need it

So don’t despair – stress does not have total control over the lives of teenagers. There are ways to manage and control stress, especially as finals are approaching.