High Schoolers More Drained Than Ever

Megan Lovett

According to an article written by Greg Toppo on USAtoday.com, high schoolers are often describing themselves as feeling “tired, stressed, and bored” during school.

Megan Lovett, Editor
December 8, 2022

There’s probably never been a time in history where everyone enjoyed school. It’s just not possible. Some people thrive in school and they’ve always loved it, but there’s also many people that just can’t stand it. Whatever their reason may be, it’s a common feeling that most people have felt at least once in their life. Personally, whenever I’m at school I feel drained except for when I’m interacting with friends of mine. Then, as soon as I get home from school it’s like I’m another person. I have so much energy whenever I get home. “I feel the same way,” said Brooklyn Yates, a Junior here at CHS, “like when I’m at school I feel like I’m about to fall asleep all day, but at home I feel like I have the energy to run a mile. To me it feels like the schools atmosphere is just empty. There isn’t anything that makes me go “yeah school” other than seeing friends. However we can text and see friends outside of school so that doesn’t really aid in the excitement of school.” Another Student at CHS named (Ky) said, “I couldn’t agree more. I used to think it was just me being comfy in my safe space, but school just seems more draining by the years.” Many would argue that it’s normal to be exhausted at this time of our lives. While that’s true to a point, why is it happening to this level of intensity for some students? It doesn’t matter what school you go to, most of them have at least a handful of drained and exhausted students.

According to an article written by Greg Toppo on USAtoday.com, high schoolers are often describing themselves as feeling “tired, stressed, and bored” during school. The article mentions that a sample was done on 22,000 high school students across the USA and that “the message is clear: Our highschoolers are none too happy.” Now, all of this evidence that High School students are drained is clear and obvious, but how we deal with that is a whole different question to answer.

The University of the People has a very helpful article written out about how to prevent “academic burnout.” One of the first things uopeople.edu suggests to do is figure out if you are experiencing the symptoms and which ones you are feeling. The symptoms they list are as follows:

Feeling exhausted no matter how much sleep you get, resulting in fatigue and insomnia
Lacking motivation to attend classes or start assignments
Lashing out at others and increased irritability due to frustration
Lacking inspiration and creativity to bring to projects and class discussions
Loss of confidence in academic abilities
Incapability to meet important deadlines
Increased pain and tension in your body, which can be manifested as headaches, sore muscle aches, or jaw tension
Higher frequency of illness due to stress and exhaustion
Increase in bad habits such as overeating, staying up too late, nail biting, or any other habit you tend to acquire when you are stressed or not taking care of yourself
Inability to concentrate on school work or lectures
Feeling bored or uninterested in aspects of school or areas of leisure that you used to enjoy
Feelings of anxiety or depression