As we grow up and move through high school, there is so much pressure put on us to be perfect and succeed in everything we do. We are so focused on living up to the expectations of adults around us, that we forget to live our lives and be kids. All the pressure we are feeling is putting too much stress on us and affecting our mental health. We feel we must grow up faster and faster, and no longer feel that we can just be kids.

  According to East Scroll, a Des Moines student publication, teens “may feel like they’re not living their life to the fullest and miss out on important experiences during their teenage years.”

  Pressure impacts kids’ overall self-concept, or their general beliefs about who they are or will be. With pressure to be perfect, kids connect their worth with what they achieve or succeed at. 

  According to Sharp.com, the website for a San Diego health care system, from 2016 to 2019, the rate of anxiety and depression grew by 27% among children and by 24% among teens. By 2020, 5.6 million kids had been diagnosed with anxiety problems and 2.4 million had been diagnosed with depression. 

  While I know school work and assignments are important and need to be a priority, students shouldn’t be going home over the weekend with a bunch of homework from that week. Weekends are supposed to be our time away from school and the chance to do things with our friends that we don’t get to do while we’re at school. 

  Getting good grades is a high priority for many students. This adds more stress on top of trying to get all our work done in a timely manner while also working and being involved in sports and other school clubs.