gh school students.

So if we truly have a problem with stress at this early an age, why is it happening? And how? Well, to determine the cause of any problem, you must go to the root, and that root is the teacher. Perhaps the cause of this stress in high school is the sheer amount of work and time that is demanded from teachers, who must spend countless hours of even their own personal time marking assignments and prepping for the next class.

“It’s a fast paced profession, if we just came in and taught our subject and worked with the students that would be one thing, but there are always a million other things going on,” says a grade 12 English teacher. “I work every night pretty consistently until about midnight, marking and prepping.”

Perhaps stress is the inevitable challenge we all must face our entire lives, with no relative esc

Is that hefty essay you have been putting off due this week? Or maybe that next article for the local newspaper? It doesn’t matter who you are, or what job you are doing, that irksome little demon named stress will always be peeking around the corner, waiting for its next chance to get under your skin.

Stress is known to be that one negative aspect of every profession and activity that makes your job, well.. a job. If everyone spent their day fishing instead of reading corporate memos, perhaps life would be a lot different.

But what does stress mean to you? Is it that feeling you get when you know the only thing that keeps you alive and functional is a cup of coffee? Or is it that flicker of depression when you wake up in the morning, knowing that the next few weeks until a long weekend will seem like an eternity? Maybe you don’t even think about stress at all, most people just shrug it off as part of their ever busy lives.

Think stress is just some minor twinge of annoyance every once in a while? Think again, Statistics Canada says that employees experiencing stress on a regular basis can be as high as 47%. That’s almost half of every workplace. So next time you are sitting down having lunch with your coworkers, assume that half the table could be in a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense.

“Over time we have more students with anxiety than ever before, over the eight years that I have been here,” says a local school councillor about dealing with stress related cases. “I think it’s fast paced in the home life situation also, besides school”

However, the news isn’t all bad. Guess what’s just peeking over the horizon, that’s right, Spring break. What most people do not know however, is that spring break arose not from a frenzy of partying and drunken tradition, but from the need to reduce stress. The highest amount of suicides and severe mental incidents occurred during the time that is now spring break (which before was a long lapse between holidays.) Universities and workplaces then decided to officially support the period of relaxation, probably a good idea with half the workforce poised to jump out a ten story window.

Well, we know the history; we know generally how it affects employees and university students, but how early does stress become a factor in our lives? Remember that grade 12 year, the struggle of completing those exams haunting your every moment? Well if that isn’t stressful, nothing is. But how are students in this generation coping with an increasingly harder curriculum and challenging exams? Are we raising a new crowd of psychologically strained caffeine addicts?

“I can get really stressed with school, worrying about tests, and studying, and worrying if I have studied enough,” says Lauren, a local grad, about the difficulties of grade 12 classes. “That can be really stressful, just not knowing if I can get everything done”

Are we deliberately putting more and more stress on students at an earlier age? With classes getting more difficult in an apparent effort to cull the amount of students entering university, are we sacrificing the enjoyment of education for the prestige of a difficult entry into university?

“I’ve actually had to drop a class, because its just too much work, stress is good to a point, but once you’ve reached that, it becomes too much,” says Lauren, commenting on the workload expected of high school students.

So if we truly have a problem with stress at this early an age, why is it happening? And how? Well, to determine the cause of any problem, you must go to the root, and that root is the teacher. Perhaps the cause of this stress in high school is the sheer amount of work and time that is demanded from teachers, who must spend countless hours of even their own personal time marking assignments and prepping for the next class.

“It’s a fast paced profession, if we just came in and taught our subject and worked with the students that would be one thing, but there are always a million other things going on,” says a grade 12 English teacher. “I work every night pretty consistently until about midnight, marking and prepping.”

Perhaps stress is the inevitable challenge we all must face our entire lives, with no relative esca

k about stress at all, most people just shrug it off as part of their ever busy lives.

Think stress is just some minor twinge of annoyance every once in a while? Think again, Statistics Canada says that employees experiencing stress on a regular basis can be as high as 47%. That’s almost half of every workplace. So next time you are sitting down having lunch with your coworkers, assume that half the table could be in a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense.

“Over time we have more students with anxiety than ever before, over the eight years that I have been here,” says a local school councillor about dealing with stress related cases. “I think it’s fast paced in the home life situation also, besides school”

However, the news isn’t all bad. Guess what’s just peeking over the horizon, that’s right, Spring break. What most people do not know however, is that spring break arose not from a frenzy of partying and drunken tradition, but from the need to reduce stress. The highest amount of suicides and severe mental incidents occurred during the time that is now spring break (which before was a long lapse between holidays.) Universities and workplaces then decided to officially support the period of relaxation, probably a good idea with half the workforce poised to jump out a ten story window.

Well, we know the history; we know generally how it affects employees and university students, but how early does stress become a factor in our lives? Remember that grade 12 year, the struggle of completing those exams haunting your every moment? Well if that isn’t stressful, nothing is. But how are students in this generation coping with an increasingly harder curriculum and challenging exams? Are we raising a new crowd of psychologically strained caffeine addicts?

“I can get really stressed with school, worrying about tests, and studying, and worrying if I have studied enough,” says Lauren, a local grad, about the difficulties of grade 12 classes. “That can be really stressful, just not knowing if I can get everything done”

Are we deliberately putting more and more stress on students at an earlier age? With classes getting more difficult in an apparent effort to cull the amount of students entering university, are we sacrificing the enjoyment of education for the prestige of a difficult entry into university?

“I’ve actually had to drop a class, because its just too much work, stress is good to a point, but once you’ve reached that, it becomes too much,” says Lauren, commenting on the workload expected of high school students.

So if we truly have a problem with stress at this early an age, why is it happening? And how? Well, to determine the cause of any problem, you must go to the root, and that root is the teacher. Perhaps the cause of this stress in high school is the sheer amount of work and time that is demanded from teachers, who must spend countless hours of even their own personal time marking assignments and prepping for the next class.

“It’s a fast paced profession, if we just came in and taught our subject and worked with the students that would be one thing, but there are always a million other things going on,” says a grade 12 English teacher. “I work every night pretty consistently until about midnight, marking and prepping.”

Perhaps stress is the inevitable challenge we all must face our entire lives, with no relative esc

ople do not know however, is that spring break arose not from a frenzy of partying and drunken tradition, but from the need to reduce stress. The highest amount of suicides and severe mental incidents occurred during the time that is now spring break (which before was a long lapse between holidays.) Universities and workplaces then decided to officially support the period of relaxation, probably a good idea with half the workforce poised to jump out a ten story window.

Well, we know the history; we know generally how it affects employees and university students, but how early does stress become a factor in our lives? Remember that grade 12 year, the struggle of completing those exams haunting your every moment? Well if that isn’t stressful, nothing is. But how are students in this generation coping with an increasingly harder curriculum and challenging exams? Are we raising a new crowd of psychologically strained caffeine addicts?

“I can get really stressed with school, worrying about tests, and studying, and worrying if I have studied enough,” says Lauren, a local grad, about the difficulties of grade 12 classes. “That can be really stressful, just not knowing if I can get everything done”

Are we deliberately putting more and more stress on students at an earlier age? With classes getting more difficult in an apparent effort to cull the amount of students entering university, are we sacrificing the enjoyment of education for the prestige of a difficult entry into university?

“I’ve actually had to drop a class, because its just too much work, stress is good to a point, but once you’ve reached that, it becomes too much,” says Lauren, commenting on the workload expected of high school students.

So if we truly have a problem with stress at this early an age, why is it happening? And how? Well, to determine the cause of any problem, you must go to the root, and that root is the teacher. Perhaps the cause of this stress in high school is the sheer amount of work and time that is demanded from teachers, who must spend countless hours of even their own personal time marking assignments and prepping for the next class.

“It’s a fast paced profession, if we just came in and taught our subject and worked with the students that would be one thing, but there are always a million other things going on,” says a grade 12 English teacher. “I work every night pretty consistently until about midnight, marking and prepping.”

Perhaps stress is the inevitable challenge we all must face our entire lives, with no relative esc

lenging exams? Are we raising a new crowd of psychologically strained caffeine addicts?

“I can get really stressed with school, worrying about tests, and studying, and worrying if I have studied enough,” says Lauren, a local grad, about the difficulties of grade 12 classes. “That can be really stressful, just not knowing if I can get everything done”

Are we deliberately putting more and more stress on students at an earlier age? With classes getting more difficult in an apparent effort to cull the amount of students entering university, are we sacrificing the enjoyment of education for the prestige of a difficult entry into university?

“I’ve actually had to drop a class, because its just too much work, stress is good to a point, but once you’ve reached that, it becomes too much,” says Lauren, commenting on the workload expected of high school students.

So if we truly have a problem with stress at this early an age, why is it happening? And how? Well, to determine the cause of any problem, you must go to the root, and that root is the teacher. Perhaps the cause of this stress in high school is the sheer amount of work and time that is demanded from teachers, who must spend countless hours of even their own personal time marking assignments and prepping for the next class.

“It’s a fast paced profession, if we just came in and taught our subject and worked with the students that would be one thing, but there are always a million other things going on,” says a grade 12 English teacher. “I work every night pretty consistently until about midnight, marking and prepping.”

Perhaps stress is the inevitable challenge we all must face our entire lives, with no relative esc

gh school students.

So if we truly have a problem with stress at this early an age, why is it happening? And how? Well, to determine the cause of any problem, you must go to the root, and that root is the teacher. Perhaps the cause of this stress in high school is the sheer amount of work and time that is demanded from teachers, who must spend countless hours of even their own personal time marking assignments and prepping for the next class.

“It’s a fast paced profession, if we just came in and taught our subject and worked with the students that would be one thing, but there are always a million other things going on,” says a grade 12 English teacher. “I work every night pretty consistently until about midnight, marking and prepping.”

Perhaps stress is the inevitable challenge we all must face our entire lives, with no relative escape in sight. Is stress something we have simply created ourselves in a high octane working society? Most likely. Are we ready to actually address issues in the workplace and schools that put significant mental strain on children and adult alike? Probably not.

“You just have to make sure you keep your head, and not get too stressed, and if you are getting too stressed, you need to just think about what’s important and cut out the things you worry about,” says Lauren, offering a piece of advice for fellow students experiencing stress.

Is there any glimmer of hope left to the working world? Yes, spring break is just around the corner, the perfect chance to buy that ticket to Mexico and forget this article, and forget stress…

But only for two weeks.