LET’S DE-STRESS

Stress plays a huge part in everyone’s lives. Teenagers deal with so much stress on a daily basis. Students have a life outside of school: working, having time for oneself, spending time with friends and family, and even taking some time to play a video game or watch a good movie. 

When in high school, sometimes it is hard to balance school and a social life; therefore, it causes students to stress. When stressed, those students will start having a hard time with maintaining good grades, which causes even more stress. 

Emma Kennington, a senior, states, “School work tends to become an extreme amount of stress to me. I tend to procrastinate and isolate myself from others.”

Balance is crucial in our lives, and there are various ways that teenagers can cope with the daily stress.

As October is Mental Health Awareness Month, the Prowler Staff asked various students and staff around the school how they deal with stress. We received different answers, such as listening to music, doing self care things, or even just hanging out with a person who brings them comfort.  

Jibran Jan, a junior, states, “My coping mechanism is listening to music. As soon as I feel stressed, I lay down and I listen to Rod Wave.”

I personally cope with stress by working out, doing things for myself, such as watching the sunrise or the sunset and hanging out with those who bring me happiness. As stress is something that may overwhelm people, I believe that everyone deals with stress, and it is nothing that one should be ashamed of. Also, no one should be looked at or treated differently because of the way that they cope with stress or the simple fact that they are stressed.

Thanks for our Carolina Forest High School Counseling Department, CFHS was recently recognized as a Mental Health Matters School during our varsity football game on October 7.

Pamela Brown, a guidance counselor at Carolina Forest, states, “It is important to talk and highlight the importance of mental health in the lives of teenagers because good mental health builds strong relationships, increases our ability to adapt to change and enhances our capability of dealing with life’s challenges.”

It is important to talk about mental health and normalize the mixed emotions that come with it. No one should ever feel like they are alone. You matter! Your feelings are valid. Take care of yourself.