Lila H.

9th Grade

Skyview High School

Billings, Mt

October 2016

Dear Mr./Mrs. President,

I would like to start by thanking you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to read this letter. The issue that I’m presenting to you today is one that I feel very strongly about, stress in teens.

Education has changed drastically since you, your spouse, your parents, or even your kids were in school. It has even changed since last year. Schooling has gotten more complex and teachers are expecting more out of students. Students are more stressed than ever before. I can’t recall the last time I had a homework free night or sat down and watched a full movie with my family (I am either doing homework or I fall asleep because I didn’t get enough sleep the night before due to homework). Most teachers that work in high schools realize that teens have jobs, families, friends, and other homework, but many do not understand that concept. I understand that when you reach high school you should have organization skills and should know how to cope with stress, but many students were not taught how to.

Teens report that their stress level during the school year far exceeds what they believe to be healthy, 5.8 for teens versus 5.1 for adults, on a ten point scale. These stress levels are before we are worrying about SATs, bills, etc..

I am not expressing the issue so that stress is completely eliminated, some stress at this age can be a good thing, I am doing this because I don’t feel confident that you know of this problem. This problem is not only the teachers, it is principals, deans, and other administrators, it is life at home, work, families, etc. I understand that you are not able to get rid of stress in teens by just a click of a button, but at the same time I know that you have power in this country and you can try to decrease this issue down to a minimum through nationwide projects or going through from an education perspective.

Again, I thank you for taking time to read this letter about my viewpoint on this subject. I hope that you take my opinion into consideration and potentially put it into action. I understand that you have bigger issues above mine, but I am expressing the fact that this isn’t only important to me, but thousands of teens around the country. Thank you again.

Sincerely, Lila H.

Source:

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/02/teen-stress.aspx

Please watch the video linked below that supports my claim.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqTTojTija8