Factors Affecting Psychological Pressures on High School Students

The many pressures of high school can have various effects on students. Depending on the student and their lifestyle, the effects can be either positive or negative. There are many aspects that have an affect on a student†s performance in school. Some of the factors include home life, social life, academic life and after school life. The entirety of their time management and decisions has the most affect on their performance (Katz 11). At home, a student goes through many different circumstances that their peers and teachers may be unaware of. For example, if a student has divorced parents, this will play a key role in determining how they perform in school. Alcoholic and abusive parents are also sometimes a factor. Often, students with a rough home life will perform at a lower level in school due to the other things they are going through at home. On the other hand, often an abused teen will put more effort into their schoolwork in order to fulfill needs of self-satisfaction that are not being met at home (Pickett 14). Often teens with older siblings perform better in school. Studies show that the younger children do better in high school. This is most often attributed to the fact that they have seen what high school students go through and have learned from their siblings mistakes as well as achievements. Though the criteria for graduating high school and the individual courses are becoming more difficult each year, younger siblings seem to improve over their older brothers and sisters (Katz 11). The social life plays a big role in high school life. It is often difficult for a student to balance the many aspects of high school life and often they go overboard with either social or academic obligations (Childress 618). The friends that a teen keeps will play a major role in determining how the student will perform in school. Their friends will determine how much and what type of peer pressure the student is submitted to. There are two types of peer pressure. The first type, and most common is negative peer pressure. With this type of peer pressure, the teen will be pressured to participate in many negative acts. This may include, but not be limited to, drugs, alcohol, skipping school, cheating and putting down other students (Kate 11). The second type of peer pressure is positive peer pressure. With this type of peer pressure the teen is influenced to do things such as strive for good grades and participate in other positive activities (Katz 12). Parties are a common part of the teen life today. Often, teenage parties will include negative influences, however it is not difficult for a student to avoid such situations if they just have strong morals (Katz 11). A teen†s social life may also include a job. Working teens are becoming more and more common. The need to feel accepted by peers and have the â€Å"right† clothes and car are major influences in this. Teens may also elect to keep a job to help with family financial difficulties or just to keep them busy (Katz 12). Academic life is the most crucial part of the high school experience. How they perform in high school will dictate what kind of college they will attend. It is important for students to have a well-rounded social life while still performing well in their academics. The last two years of high school are the most important. This is when the teen should be preparing to enter college and take things more seriously. However, this is usually opposite of what happens (Childress 617). If a teen can balance a healthy social life while still performing well academically, they usually will be able to do the same in college and life. Extra-curricular activities occupy much of a teen†s life. What they do to participate in other school-sponsored activities will take up a lot of their time. This can be solved by only selecting activities that will add to their learning experience (Childress 616). The life a teen takes on after school each day is very important in understanding their life in general. They may participate in sports and clubs that will use up much of their time (Kruse 6). Football is a major sport that is taken very seriously in high school (Wahl 92). The competition in high school sports is enough to take some athlete†s minds off their schoolwork. Rival schools games against each other often will tear the entire school away from academics the week prior to the game (Guss 10). Clubs are also a big part of teen†s life. Often they participate for fun and other times just for looks of it on college applications. However, if a student overloads on clubs and other after school activities, their academics may suffer. In its entirety, a teenager†s life is very hectic. They have many stresses and pressures to deal with each day. It is in it†s own, a major accomplishment just to make it through high school and on to college. With the pressures being put on teens to succeed growing each day, each goal met in school, is a victory in itself. The different aspects of the teen†s life all have an effect on the outcome of their performance in school. To some, high school is like a big game. Each move made is a crucial decision towards the outcome of life. When one focuses on only one part of the teen†s life, it is impossible to make any conclusion about their lifestyle. In the game of a teen†s life, maybe Maurice Freeman put it best when saying, â€Å"We†ve got to win. † (Person 12)