Burnout in high school is one of the most common problems that students face, with studies showing that up to 70% of students deal with burnout in their high school years.
Wellness counselor Mrs. Landeros shared what she sees as the main source of student burnout. “the balance of meeting school expectations and personal life expectations.“
According to Science Insights, the main cause of burnout is academic pressure and workload. Students simply can´t keep up with the demands of curriculum and teachers.
Landeros offers a possible solution that may help teachers support their students. She said, “Teachers helping students learn organizational skills in the classroom makes a big difference.“
That may be a helpful strategy for teachers, considering one of the secondary sources of student burnout is poor time management. Perhaps practicing organizational skills would assist students with planning out their days.
Mental health days are a common tool that students use when they feel too overwhelmed at school. However, it is debatable whether they are more helpful or harmful.
Landeros stated her opinion on mental health days, and said, “They’re more helpful when properly organized, because you’re not going to perform well if you aren’t doing well mentally.¨
Paul Lindblom (12) explains his view on mental health days. “I take mental health days on the weekends because missing school only progresses the building up of assignments more.“
While it may feel right to take a random day off of school in that moment, it could be a setback in the future. However, sometimes those days are needed to regroup and calm down.
There are many different ways to cope with student burnout. Schools tend to offer some resources to students, as a way of helping prevent major burnout.
“I take advantage of pride time and counseling, because we literally have time carved out to maintain our academic achievements,“ Lindblom shared when asked if he uses school resources. “Counseling helps so much, especially academic counseling, because you can come up with a game plan to reach success.“
Clearly, for at least some students, the extra period of Pride Time is a helpful tool that allows time for making up work that there might not otherwise be time for.
Landeros offers a piece of advice for students that may be struggling with burnout, “Don’t give up working towards something if you fail. Failure is powerful, you gain the most growth when you fail at something.“
Burnout is such a common obstacle that many students face, but there are many options available to hopefully help them cope and make it through high school.
