Student and Societal Pressures: Exploring Causes, Consequences and Potential Stress-Reduction Strategies

Abstract

This investigation aims to explore the causes and consequences of student stress in order to design practical strategies that parents, teachers, and schools can use to mitigate stress. In today’s society, many students face high societal pressures and expectations. The desire to meet these high expectations can often be extremely stressful, affecting a student’s mental health and well-being. Understanding and addressing this issue is essential to effectively create a supportive, stress-free environment where students can balance academic achievement and well-being. Some of the consequences of stress include poor academic performance, insufficient sleep, anxiety, depression, physical illness, irritability, and social withdrawal. The investigation results also identified five components that make up a stress-free environment. The components are positive parental involvement, a learning-based, non-competitive school environment, positive peer relationships, and teacher motivation and behavior. Additionally, the results suggest that implementing Social-Emotional Learning courses in schools is an excellent strategy to help students manage stress and foster positive peer relationships.