How does school affect students’ health? You may ask, since students haven’t yet achieved adulthood where most of the stress becomes a harsh reality, you may think that they “have it easy” or how most millennials or parents of this current generation would say. Sure, it may be true that students do not have much on their plate like adults do, but does that mean being stressed is out of the question? I have even gone as far as asking a few of my friends what they feel like school truly is, and about 99% of them responded with “jail” or something negative. Mental health is extremely important during these high school years, since social media has been upgraded heavily, and most students have a very large feeling of exhaustion hence waking up early every day to go to “jail” as they put it.

 I’d say my view on school is that in order to help students’ mental exhaustion from school, we should at least have school start a bit later in the day, i’d say a lot of my fellow students agreed that if they had more time or sleep to get ready for school, it wouldn’t be so depressing for us all. According to a website named “ Pine Rest”, “Mental illness affects 19% of the adult population, 46% of teenagers, and 13% of children each year.. However only half of those affected receive treatment, often because of the stigma attached to mental health”(Holthaus). To also add on to this evidence, another website named “Mountain Heights Academy”, states “One of the biggest stressors for students is the pressure to excel academically. The weight of homework, exams, and grades can feel like a heavy load, triggering feelings of anxiety, depression, and burnout. It’s common for students to experience a constant pressure to perform at their best, which can foster perfectionism and a deep-seated fear of failure… This relentless pursuit of academic success can take a toll on mental health, leaving students feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Students or their parents or guardians need to recognize these pressures and seek support when needed to maintain their well-being amidst the academic challenges they face”(Mountain Heights Academy).

I feel these websites definitely have an idea of the toll school can have on students, to be specific I mean the second website,”Mountain Heights Academy”, this website more or so cracks down upon the issue with mental health inside of school and how we can confront this issue so other future students won’t have to go through that. Speaking from my own experience with mental health, my own Mother even questions if I am struggling mentally, but because our mindsets are different, she thinks that because I am not yet an adult, I don’t struggle with anything. So we often get into small disputes, and other simple misunderstandings, but I know that the way people grow up are different, she had to basically grow up on her own, so she had to put her feelings aside to allow herself to be strong. Since I did not struggle on my own, we think differently, and I know a few of my friends that I have spoken to say that they have a similar problem with their parents. I should add to this how someone’s at home experiences can affect their mental health as well. With this, I conclude that we all should work together to make a better lifestyle for future generations, and hopefully change the school environment for the better.