By Carly Flahive

The numbers have risen. From 2010 to 2014 high school students who reported being very stressful in the past 30 days rose from 28.3% to 34.9%. Those same years, students experiencing depressive symptoms from the past 12 months increased from 19.1% to 22.2%. Among these students, self injury rose 1.2%, considered suicide increased 1.3%, and attempted suicide went up .5%. These numbers are according to the Adolescent Metrowest Health Survey taken every two years by WHS students.  But it’s  not about the numbers now. It’s about how they have risen. What has changed? Why?

With mental health issues on the rise for high schoolers, what messages are being sent to schools and administration? What about to the families and students who are experiencing the changes? What’s going to happen to future high schoolers? And at what point will something be done about these percentages?

Students take advantage of the public education that they are fortunate enough to receive. Although the importance of school has skyrocketed from when our parents were in our shoes, the mental health of the students has also raised concerns. Excitement for an after school game has dwindled as the thought of your grade on a math test weighs on your mind. Anxiety levels have risen as pop quizzes are placed in front of you when you are lost in the material you should know. Teachers continue to assign new work. Parents are by your side constantly reminding you to get your work done and do it right. Friends are changing their minds and experimenting with drugs and alcohol that you may not feel like partaking in.

With so much pressure coming from our surroundings, we often times fail to take a step back, look at ourselves, and simply push to do our best. Make the decisions that we feel comfortable making. Being satisfied with the person we have become. Instead of doing what we know we can do, we strive to accomplish what others expect of us, leading to minimal free time for ourselves, lack of concentration in our everyday lives, increased stress levels, and a growing rate in the population of students with depression and further mental health issues. Although some students are definitely affected by these stresses on a much greater scale, in some way or another, high school students can relate to the feeling of these weights on their back.

In just ninth grade, students are sitting in the college and career center of this high school, listening as guidance councilors question their future plans as they prepare to schedule the courses needed to graduate in the top of their class. Upon leaving these meetings, students return to class waiting for the final bell of the day to ring. From here, their day will continue into extracurricular activities whether it be clubs, music, or sports programs. Wishing they were finished for the day, they will return home to the excessive hours of homework that lay ahead of them. Where family is often times a positive influence in high schoolers lives, the lack of time available to spend with them does not help alleviate any of these stresses.

Every two  years, high school students participate in a statistical analysis regarding different aspects of their everyday health ranging from chemical health, sexual behavior, bullying, and mental health. Through the Metrowest Adolescent Health Survey, administration and other officials have been able to track the changes in students overall well-being. With information at the tips of our fingers to help track these changes, it is clear that stress, depression, hours of sleep, and more have not been improving for the better.

Could these alterations in the lives of adolescents potentially be due to the stresses of growing up in a society where the mind set is to be better than what we are capable of? With these negative changes that the health survey suggests, are teachers, staff, faculty, and parents willing or capable to make changes and help the students? If so, what will they be willing to do? Will they emphasise that saying “no” is not a bad thing? Will they teach students how to balance their schedules for their health instead of their resume? These are the questions that need to be running through our minds as we advance into the next chapter of our lives trying to enjoy what we have, instead of raise the needs to be cognisant of these mental health challenges.