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Danielle Woodall

Crandall

AP Language- 2nd

22 November 2019

High School is Greatly Affecting Students Mental Health

Introduction

Imagine being a current-day high schooler in the year 2019. You wake up at 6 am to get

ready for high school which you dread. You head off to school and are forced to actively learn

for 8 hours straight with no break. You have to deal with petty high school drama and being put

under the pressure to please the standards of your peers, teachers, and parents. 3:30 hits and you

get to finally head home. Some teenagers juggle a job on top of the already stressful high school

life. You have to do 3+ hours of homework and studying in an attempt to get the scores and

grades, others expect of you. Finally, after the exhausting day you get to go to bed but within 5,

maybe 6 hours you have to repeat it all over again. It is not a healthy lifestyle. High school is

driving its students over the edge. Students feel incapable, overwhelmed, and ultimately develop

serious mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression. The stress to receive top-notch

scores, follow the rules and standards set by society, and to please your parents, teachers, and

family is not a healthy lifestyle. It’s showing effects on students.

Many adults assume that school is just difficult but we will all manage and push through

as they did. The school environment and responsibilities that students have to partake in now

have become extremely more difficult and harsh. Mental health has become a significant issue.

Mental health is the state of someone who is "functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and

behavioral adjustment”. Schools are the blame for serious mental health problems that students
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are being forced to deal with. We cannot have our future suffer now and hold us back from

achieving our dreams. The intense workloads and extreme demands, students are expected to

meet, in high school, have serious and alarming mental health effects.

Literature Review

The recent growth in mental health problems has raised alarming concerns in today's

society. There are many different types of mental illnesses, but some common disorders consist

of ADHD, Depression, Autism, substance abuse, and Tourette’s. Peter Tait, currently a trustee of

a multi-academy trust and governor at two independent schools, and Peter Gray, a research

professor of psychology at Boston College, believe that schools are the blame for student's

mental health problems. Teenagers that undergo the struggle with mental health have been

affected negatively and both believe that the source is school, “Even a quick glance at the graph

made it obvious that every year, the number of visits dropped in the summer and rose again in

the school year” (Gray 1). Both have stated concerning data. Tait uses the credible source,

Young Minds, to provide alarming statistics on the admissions of young people who have

struggled with self-harm and mental health issues. He provides frightening information to call

attention to the mental health problems that are occurring due to school, “They need for more

urgent and concerted action can no longer be ignored” (Tait 3). It has affected many people and

made them feel like there was no escape. Both Tait and Gray state the cause is the education

system and the number of teenagers that are being forced to suffer the effects is unbelievable.

Mental health is often set aside and not a high priority. Kevin Mahnkan, a Staff Reporter

of The 74 that writes about education and school discipline, and Evie Blad, staff writer for

Education Week, claims that the resources to help mental health issues are scarce and it is
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becoming a serious problem. One out of five teenagers have a diagnosable mental health disorder

and only 50% receive help or treatment. Of the total health care budget, only 4 percent is spent

on mental health. They discussed the significance and dangerous topic to help increase

awareness of the needed resources for desperate students struggling with mental health. Blad

blames the issue on the “unaware” school staff and scarce resources. According to the article,

The Hidden Mental Health Crisis in America's schools: Millions of Kids not Receiving Services

They Need, Kevin Mahnken states, “20 percent of Americans under the age of 18 suffer from

mental, behavioral, or emotional disorders (That translates to approximately 15 million children

across the country)”(Mahnken 1). Many high schoolers are suffering from mental disorders.

Many suffer and do not seek help because they know it is unavailable. They suffer alone and do

not reach out to receive help. Even if they did, they would most likely not obtain the help they

need. Not addressing the problems as an adolescent has resulted in many adults having mental

disorders too. Symptoms were present in teenage years but were not dealt with, which have

caused them to suffer as an adult with mental disorders. The abundance of resources for mental

health issues for high schoolers is affecting them negatively now in the present and the future.

Argument

The high standards and extreme workloads are pressuring students, causing them to

develop mental illnesses and disorders. High school is the leading cause of the recent rise in

mental health problems in students. The staggering statistics show the recent increase in mental

health disorders found in high school students.

Students are struggling with their mental health due to the extreme workloads and

standards they are being held accountable to. Balancing the wants and needs of your peers, living
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to the high standards set in place, and taking care of yourself physically and emotionally can

affect a teenager’s mental health. It’s extremely stressful and has shown to cause mental health

disorders. The effects are dangerous and scary. My coworker, who wishes to remain anonymous,

has felt the stress and it has greatly impacted her life. She is a dual enrollment student, meaning

she is taking college courses while still in high school. She managed a demanding work schedule

and has big dreams of attending a competitive college. She is currently a junior in high school

and is 16 years old. Just last week, the overwhelming amount of stress due to essays, projects,

tests, and quizzes, has made her body began to shut down. She lost her appetite and received no

sleep in three days. She was unable to take care of herself and notice she needed help. Her

body’s lack of nutrients and sleep caused her to faint and forced her to be emitted into the

hospital. This was a traumatizing experience and scared herself and her family greatly. Her

family reports that she’s become less social and has been pushing those close to her away. She’s

felt overwhelmed with the stress of school and has shown signs of depression. I have also

experienced these symptoms but did not progress to the level of the extremity of hers. I have felt

overwhelmed and unable to complete the multiple assignments and standards that were put upon

me. It’s a scary feeling and I would never want anyone else to experience that. Unfortunately, the

number of students that also suffer from mental health is shocking, “Sixty-two percent of

students reported feeling ‘overwhelming anxiety’… Up from 50 percent just five years prior.

Hospitalizations for mood disorders among children the ages 17 and under leaped by 68 percent

between 1997 and 2011” (Mahnken 2). The intensity of standards students have been put through

has dramatically increased. It goes to show, the extreme workloads school has put on its student's

forces many to endure the serious effects of mental health problems.

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The pressure high students are enduring is worrisome. The pressure of constantly

learning, studying and testing new material in high school is too much for the underdeveloped

minds of students to partake in. Students are expected to push themselves to choose challenging

courses, receive the best grades, and to stand out from their peers. The stress of being compared

to others rather than having an education individualized on what they need causes problems.

Comparing students and the pressure to be the perfect student is overwhelming. Anna Ludvigsen,

the author of the article, Pressures of school can negatively affect mental health, has also

suffered the intensity of high school which caused her mental disorder. She revels upon entering

teenage years she developed extreme anxiety and ADHD. Her anxiety is “tied to the major stress

caused by the pressure of school”. She said balancing seven classes at a competitive school and

the constant comparison between students was too much. Ludvigsen is concerned that mental

health in students is being overlooked, “Because colleges have gotten more competitive and

difficult to get into, high schools are trying to keep us up and prepare students for the extreme

workload when they graduate. Is anyone considering the effect of this pressure on student’s

mental health?” (Ludvigsen 8). The stress many are going through is becoming too much and no

one is doing anything about it. The pressure high school students are going through has forced

many to struggle with mental health problems.

Conclusion

High schoolers are suffering. Mental health is being overlooked. They are not set as a

priority. The extreme workloads, stress, and pressure put on a high school students is damaging.

Adults do not understand the extremes teenagers are being forced to endure. Mental illnesses and
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disorders are ruining lives. Ultimately, high school students mental health is being pushed aside

and not taken seriously as millions are so silently struggling, urgently needing a change.
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Visual Rhetoric

The alarming statistics on mental health illness and problems that teenagers in high school suffer

are sickening.
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Work Cited

Blad, Evie.“Schools Grapple With Student Depression as Data Show Problem Worsening.”

Education Week, 14 Aug. 2019, www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019/03/14/schools-grapple-

with-student-depression-as-data.html.

Ludvigsen, Anna. “Pressures of School Can Negatively Affect Mental Health.” The Tower

Pulse, 1 Nov. 2018, thetowerpulse.net/29428/featured-content/my-view-pressures-of-school-

can-negatively-affect-mental-health/.

Mahnken, Kevin. “The Hidden Mental Health Crisis in America's Schools: Millions of Kids

Not Receiving Services They Need.” The 74 The Hidden Mental Health Crisis in

Americas Schools Millions of Kids Not Receiving Services They Need Comments,

www.the74million.org/the-hidden-mental-health-crisis-in-americas-schools-millions-of-

kids-not-receiving-services-they-need/.

MentalHealthFirstAid. “50% Of Students Age 14 and Older with a Mental Illness Drop out of High

School. Youth Mental Health First Aid Can Help You Start a Conversation That Could Curb

That Statistic -- and Potentially Save a Life. Get Trained Today. #BeTheDifference

Pic.twitter.com/Ly6LAk0CbE.” Twitter, Twitter, 13 Aug. 2018,

twitter.com/mhfirstaidusa/status/1029088126512320513.

“The Danger of Back to School.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 2014,

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201408/the-danger-back-school.

Tait, Peter. “'Causes of Growing Mental Health Problems Sit Largely within Schools'.”

The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 2 Dec. 2015,

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/12025711/Schools-largely-to-blame-for-

rising-mental-health-issues.html.