Girls reported higher levels of stress than boys, a trend that continues into adulthood. February/March 2015 63 shutterstock Pratt says. “Early signs of anxiety are often viewed as strengths, particularly in girls. They may take their work seriously, be conscientious and polite. By the time it becomes a problem, there’s been years of reinforcement. We have a real bias toward perfectionism. “Anxiety tends to precipitate depression; the two are closely related,” adds Pratt. “And there’s no upside to depression.” Unhealthy levels of stress threaten physical and mental well-being, and more kids are showing signs of distress, according to a Harris Poll conducted last year for the American Psychological Association (APA). In fact, teen stress levels topped those of adults. A third of the teens reported feeling overwhelmed or depressed due to stress. One in 10 experienced stress at extreme levels during the summer, which jumped to more than a quarter during the school year. A quarter of the teens reported stressrelated physical symptoms such as headaches, sleeplessness and stomachaches. Girls reported higher levels of stress than boys (and unhealthier relationships with food), a trend that continues into adulthood. In its accompanying report, the APA warns that stress can “weaken immune systems and exhaust the body.” In 2013, Stanford University’s Challenge Success published a survey of approximately 4,300 high school students from affluent California schools. It found that homework loads averaged 3.1 hours each night despite research that suggests that high school homework benefits plateau at two hours. Three-quarters of the teens reported being often or always stressed about homework, and nearly half reported three or more physical symptoms in the past month. Students averaged 6.8 hours of sleep a night, below the recommended 8.5-plus hours. In a previous Challenge Success study, 9 percent of Bay Area high school students reported using illegal prescription drugs to stay awake, with an additional 25 percent using legal stimulants. A Partnership for a Drug-Free America study found that 73 percent of youngsters listed academic stress as their No. 1 reason for using drugs. In the worst-case scenario, high anxiety can result in suicide but more frequently manifests in self-harm coping mechanisms such as cutting, anorexia and hair pulling. Numbers are difficult to come by on the rate of these problems, since there are no standard reporting mechanisms or definitions. But experts acknowledge seeing these physical manifestations with greater frequency. “These are mainstream girls that are cutting, who from the outside show no sign of stress and anxiety,” says Lisa O’Hearn- Keck, Palo Alto Prep dean of students. “Cutting used to be on the wrists and seemed kind of punky and edgy. Now girls are cutting on their thighs, where they can hide it. Kids are silently screaming.” The college trap Patrick Taylor has been associated with San Jose’s Bellarmine College Preparatory for 41 years and currently serves as director of personal counseling. Founded in 1851, Bellarmine is an all-boys Jesuit high school. While kids have always had their anxious moments, Taylor is most struck by the change in adults. “I think parents’ stress is up; that’s a crucial distinction,” he says. “There’s a lot of fear, for lack of a better word.” Rabbi Michelle Greenberg, dean of students at Kehillah Jewish High School in Palo Alto, turns to the same word. “That college admissions fear starts first quarter, ninth grade, and it’s not just on the part of the kids but on the part of parents,” she says. Fusion Academy Silicon Valley Head of School Christiana Martinez sums it up this way: “The standards for kids are higher, the expectations are greater and the way society is changing what our kids have to live up to—especially for 16- and 17-year olds—is putting a tremendous amount of pressure on them.” Fear feeds upon itself, and nowhere is this more apparent than with college admissions. Stories of students applying to
South Bay Accent - Feb/Mar 2015
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