Continuing Efforts to Reduce Teen Stress

The subject of teen stress has been one of much discussion and debate in recent years, as the pressures and expectations on teenagers mount with no quick fix in sight. Last year’s controversial film , shown at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School and many other schools around the country, explored the effects of such stress: a culture where teen sleep deprivation is the norm, cheating is increasingly common, and stress has become a form of status.

And while the root causes of such stress continue to plague many students, ABRHS Principal Alixe Callen said she intends to keep the issue at the forefront of her and other administrators’ agendas, with a number of new committees and initiatives under way to help teens cope with the pressures they face.

According to Callen, while the school’s original faculty stress management committee has disbanded, an advisory committee is currently forming with the ultimate goal of assigning each student a faculty member to “help (the student) navigate the pressures of high school.”

“When kids are engaged and feel cared about, their stress is reduced,” said Callen. “Having a faculty advisor is one way to help them maintain their academic experience, but in a way that every kid feels that engagement.”

Other efforts toward reducing stress include moving the course selection online as a way to allow students to discuss their selections with their parents, as opposed to previous years when students largely made course selections on their own.

“After a conversation with their teachers, students can now look at their (course) recommendations and discuss it with their parents,” said Callen, adding that another new resource, online time management sheets, can also "help make the scheduling process more thoughtful and forward-thinking" for students.

“It’s really helpful when parents can help their child choose a program that suits them. Taking five honors classes isn’t something they should necessarily be striving for,” she said. “Honors classes are for those subjects that kids have a real passion or aptitude for.”

Lack of sleep, too, is a significant contributor to teen stress, with many teens feeling their schedules make it impossible to attain the recommended eight to nine hours of sleep per night. To that end, Callen initiated flipping the schedule for three faculty days this year to allow students to attend school three hours late, instead of getting out of school early.

“Allowing (teens) some extra sleep when possible makes a big difference,” said Callen.

Related to efforts to reduce stress are those to provide safe alternatives for weekends. Following last year's  at ABRHS in which the teen panelists said providing more school- and community-based activities could help alleviate the temptation to experiment with alcohol, Callen said she, other administrators and PTSO members “immediately” began discussing ways to provide such opportunities to students.

“There is a tie-in to stress here too because many kids pick up the notion (from their parents) that having a few drinks is a way to de-stress,” said Callen. “So we wanted to help them develop ways for having fun without alcohol.”

Starting on Oct. 15, the school will offer a Saturday night basketball league and additional non-athletic activities for students, including a dance and trivia night, as well as incorporate some already-existing programs such as Cabaret Night into the initiative.

“It’s a pilot program for what we hope could really be like a teen center right here,” said Callen.

Students' reaction to ongoing efforts to reduce their stress varied from intrigued to skeptical. Peter Connell, one of the student participants at last year’s forum on teen drinking, said he sees the upcoming activities as a possible deterrent to risky behaviors as well as a safe way for kids to decompress.

“I believe these Saturday night activities will be a much needed outlet for students’ time, not only to deter possible unsafe behavior, but also to simply provide us with a fun alternative in a sometimes otherwise dull environment,” said Connell, a senior.

But Michelle Surdan, a junior, said what while administrators’ efforts to curb stress are worthwhile theoretically, such efforts don’t always address what she and many of her peers feel is the root cause of stress—their academic requirements.

“A lot of what we hear in terms of trying to de-stress are things like sleep more, exercise more, but there’s really no time to do that,” Surdan said. “It seems like no matter what else is going on, we have the same homework requirements. Having those adjusted sometimes or getting a homework pass to use once for every class, that’s what would really help.”