What Causes So Much Stress During the Teen Years?

The teen years are full of angst. Teens have many stresses in their lives, and they tend to alienate parents and others around them by exhibiting surly personalities, rude behavior, and by challenging authority. It's a time of growing and changing, of facing an uncertain future, dealing with the stresses of school and peers, holding down their first jobs, having their first meaningful relationships, and generally leading an unsettling life. Teens are forced to cope with these stressful situations while being a burgeoning cauldron of hormones and new emotions. It's no wonder that they behave the way they do.

Pressures to do well in school are at the top of the list of stresses for most teens. It's likely that ever since they entered pre-k they've been told, "If you don't do well in school you'll never get into a good college." Parents usually have high expectations for their offspring, and sometimes they expect too much. Constant pressure on their teen to do his or her best, to get top grades, to excel in sports, to have the right friends, to get a part time job, and on and on can be more than a teen can deal with. Actually, it would be more than an adult could deal with given the same situation. Realistic expectations can help relieve some of the pressure on your teen.

During the teen years peer pressure becomes exceptionally important. The need to be accepted and even popular beats at every teen on a daily basis. To be an outcast means constant teasing and belittlement while the endeavor to maintain popularity can mean stepping out of their comfort zone and compromising their values just to fit in. There's always the worry that the right people won't accept you, that people are going to decide you're a nerd or a geek and make fun of you, the push to find the perfect boy or girlfriend. Girls are pressured to follow the styles, the make-up trends, and the standard set by peer leaders while boys are challenged to always be cool, strong, and athletic. Bullying has become a very real threat in many teen worlds.

Many teens are not only faced with the pressures of outside interests, but if they also go home to face an insecure, even harmful, home life, it may be more than they can bear. A boy named John was a bright, handsome, athletic teen who went home at night to face the terrors of nothing to eat, beatings, neglect, mental abuse, and the fear of being thrown out yet again. He had been in and out of placements since he was two, and no one ever seemed to want him. Instead of be a star basketball player, a top student, and working towards college, all of which he was capable of, he was in special education classes and had few friends. How can you concentrate on school work or popularity when you're always worrying about whether you're going to eat tonight, be beaten, or have no place to sleep?

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/6270178

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