Imagine yourself as a student a week before exams. You have a test to study for, essays to complete, and a house to clean. Your hands are shaking. You start to get tired and forget things. The effect of stress on students is a pertinent issue that can affect our youth’s mental and physical health. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, stress is “a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation.” Stress on students has a big impact because it can cause students’ grades to drop, and sometimes, when teens, college students, and even middle schoolers have lots of stress, they turn to suicide. One solution to this problem would be for schools to hire more counselors. However, in order for them to do so, the local government needs to increase funding for schools.

Students’ stress from school can come from classwork, tests, and homework, and when they score low on tests, this can put more stress on them. Stress can affect students’ physical and mental health. Also, stress affects the way students learn and their ability to participate in everyday activities because stress can be extremely draining. Stress can impact individuals in an abundance of forms, such as mentally, physically, and emotionally.

There are many types of stress, but two main ones are physical and emotional stress. Physical stress means that when a person is stressed for an extended period of time, it can lead to headaches, muscle tension, and fatigue. Physical stress can affect scholars because it can cause them to endure headaches, making it harder for them to stay focused. The article “Stress Symptoms: Effects on Your Body Behavior” indicates, “You may blame sickness for that annoying headache, your sleeping troubles, feeling unwell or your lack of focus at work. But stress may really be the cause.” This evidence shows the negative physical impacts stress can have on people, and when people mistake stress for sickness, situations can become even worse. Another one is emotional stress. This affects your ability to do things you need, which is very unhealthy. The article “Emotional Stress: Warning Signs, Management, When to Get Help” states, “The stress that underlies these emotions interferes with your ability to do the things you want or need to do. This stress has become unhealthy.” This shows how emotional stress can become very unhealthy. Emotional stress can become unhealthy and affect people’s everyday routines. These forms of stress can affect students in many ways.

One of the many solutions is for the local government to increase school funding. With more funding, schools can hire more counselors, and more scholars will get the help they need. This can help them feel better, focus more on their work, and potentially learn more. According to the article “There’s Not Enough of Me to Go Around: Schools Need More Counselors” by the Education Association, “School counselors are struggling to serve students in an ongoing nationwide shortage of school counselors.” This indicates why local governments need to demand an increase in funding. When these problems are solved, students will be more stress-free and healthy.

It should be clear that stress is an enormous problem for students because it can affect their mental and physical health and their grades. If you don’t want younger people to suffer in this community, a solution to this problem would be to make an increase in funding for schools. Fixing this problem would help them with their academics and also help reduce their anxiety.

Written By:

Violet Hardy


Grade 5


Friendship Southeast Academy PCS


2024