As a student in high school in 2023, I believe that school is more stressful than it’s ever been. With the rise of social media and the internet, there are more distractions for high schoolers today than at any other point in history. Though the internet can prove to be an invaluable resource, it also increases stress and affects the mental health of high schoolers today.
Constant exposure to distressing news and events on social media platforms can lead many high school students to feel hopeless about their future prospects; this sense of hopelessness hinders their motivation to excel academically. On these social media platforms, there is always someone seemingly better, stronger, smarter, or more attractive, fostering unrealistic expectations that weigh heavily on this generation’s shoulders. This perpetual comparison fuels stress and anxiety.
High school has also become less about learning valuable skills and knowledge, and more about getting the best grades and scores. However, this is bad for the mental health of students today because many will feel inadequate or lost when thrown into the “real world”, where test scores are not as important as other life skills, such as proper communication.
The coronavirus pandemic has also contributed to students feeling more unmotivated because they essentially didn’t go to school for nearly 2 years, which can cause it to be very difficult once they are thrown into high school, especially for the juniors and seniors of the 2023 school year.
It is a common belief amongst the older generations that the younger generation is “lazy” or “unmotivated” but they fail to consider the factors which have caused this, primarily being the rise of social media and the internet as well as the coronavirus pandemic. In the end, it is important to understand what high schoolers today are going through, and that it is something which hasn’t been experienced by any other generation except ours.