Stress About Stress

After a week of reading articles and watching videos about academic stress in teens, a few main things stick out in my mind. The top thing that keeps being emphasized in nearly every article I read is that the high level of stress in students is only common in middle and upper-middle class areas with top tier schools. There is a common fallacy that stress is an epidemic plaguing the entire country, but in reality it only effects the 10% of students who have aspirations of being admitted to an elite college. Another recurring idea I have noticed is that the amount of stress and pressure has gotten progressively larger over the past few decades. Though there are not any commonly accepted reasons for this, one popular hypothesis says that pressure on students has increased over time because acceptance to college has become more difficult. Instead of just applying to 2 or 3 colleges like our parents did, it is common for students to now apply to as many as 15 or 16 schools. This new born game of getting into college has encouraged students to take as many Advanced-Placement and honors courses as possible, fill their resume with sports and volunteer activities, and give up their much-needed sleep to instead stay up all night studying. All of these practices are rightfully thought to be at fault for the recent spike in stress among young students in wealthy areas.

All of my research has lead me to finally create my "why?" question that I will try to answer through my research for my Junior theme: Why has stress among students in affluent communities increased in recent years?