A number of surveys of adolescent students have cited academics as a top cause for stress. Juggling deadlines, parental expectations and expectations of teachers can be overwhelming for many students. Furthermore, some students may not be aware of their own academic potential, whether due to a history of poor decisions or to scarce opportunities related to living in a low-income environment. In the absence of parental support, these pressures may serve to negatively influence a teen's future.
Adolescent years are a time when many students begin to develop their first romantic relationships. Due to inexperience, these relationships are often short-lived and sometimes superficial in nature. In order to feel a sense of belonging, many students enter into cliques or social groups where individuals are able to be recognized as valuable members regardless of the quality of their school work. Members of cliques often become subject to peer pressure, which may strain their relationships with teachers or parents. As teens develop social skills, they may experiment with antisocial tendencies in order to gain an improved understanding of social concepts.
Extracurricular activities not only provide teens with a way to fill time and make new friends, but they also allow students to undergo important rites of passage. When competing to be included on a football or cheerleading team, many teens begin to realize their own physical limitations. For example, not every jock is poised to excel in a club occupied by science geeks, and vice versa. Weightlifting or dieting may assume more importance in the life of a teen than reading or writing an essay.
As early as primary school, students are routinely administered a battery of standardized tests. These tests may determine whether or not a student may progress to the next grade level. By the time a student has arrived in high school, she may be exhausted with standardized tests. As she nears graduation, she must prepare to perform adequately on an SAT test. At the same time, she is also responsible for submitting an array of college applications. While students are encouraged to prepare for standardized tests, they receive mixed signals from teachers and administrators. In addition to preparing, they are told to just be themselves and not to worry too much about how they will score on these tests.
Social inequalities are often poorly understood by teachers or parents, but they play an important part of a teen's experience in school. Whether these inequalities be economically based, rooted in racism, or in expressions of gender bias, many teens are unaware of healthy ways to repair such inequalities. Some teens simply respond by developing a sense of inadequacy. Others try to compensate by means of aggressive behavior or violent outbursts. One thing that is certain is that if a teen is not taught to express his own potential in spite of glaring and unjust inequalities, he is bound to experience stress even into his adult years.