Social Pressures in School

Society influences students a significant amount, and many times can go unseen. Students are meant to interact with each other and collaborate for a multitude of reasons.

It is only natural for humans to learn from each other, and consume how someone in the same age group presents themselves or communicates.

Many peers offer positive influences, serving as role models for someone of the same age to strive to be like them. There are also many negative influences society gives that can be detrimental to students mind’s and behaviors.

“Fitting-in” at school is a concept many students value and make an effort to prove to their peers they have accomplished. The idea of fitting in plays a major role in the social pressures students feel within the school.

There is a lot of fear associated with not fitting in because many students worry they will be bullied or picked on for not fitting into the social standard they all have set.

In school many students are worried about social standards such as: academic pressure, expectations from parents and teachers, competition among peers, social exclusion, body image, social media, and so much more. These are all factors that play an immense role in what students feel within the bounds of their school.

When asked about how social media affects mental health and increases social pressures, senior Briana Knudson says, “Sometimes I see, like videos of people living these happy, what seems like, perfect lives and then I look at my life and I’m like, oh my God, it’s horrible. Like, I wish I was them so it just really causes a lot of comparison.”

Social pressures can have extreme negative outcomes within the students, such as mental health implications (anxiety and depression), stress and burnout, loss of friendship, and comparison.

These outcomes can result in serious and dangerous situations that can leave students with permanent circumstances.

Social standards make it hard for students to stay motivated in class, which ultimately impacts not only the student, but the teacher as well. This impacts the teachers as the students start performing negatively in their academics, and have a loss of motivation for overall participation in class.

An upstanding solution to the mental exhaustion that students feel within social pressures at school, is learning coping skills. Coping skills include deep breaths, positive affirmations, journaling, and relaxation techniques.

Learning coping strategies is very important for students, as stress and anxiety will always be a given in a social situation. It is important to figure out what works, and what does not, and focus on how you can use coping skills before the problem escalates.

According to a survey administered by Common Sense Media, The Center for Digital Thriving at Harvard Graduate School of Education and Indiana University, they stated that 81% of American teens reported feeling negative pressures.

This same study also proved eight in ten teens reported social media increased the pressure to look their best and present themselves in a certain way.

Social media has expanded the need for teens to be accepted by others which is overall increasing feelings of inadequacy, creating a negative, self-perpetuating cycle.

In most cases, this increases the social pressures teens feel at school. They may see their peers posting materialistic, expensive items which can capitalize on their insecurities of not fitting in or having the same luxuries other’s their age might have.

When asked about the impacts of social media, Knudson says, “I mean, I probably spend more time on TikTok than I do studying, and that definitely takes a toll, not just taking up my time, but also making me more stressed out.”

It is important for teens to be able to manage their stress and pressures within their lives so they can grow to be functional adults in the workplace.

Just about everyone will experience these pressures, so it is important to be patient with people and to have respect for others. You never know what someone could be going through, or the insecurities they may have.

To ensure everyone is comfortable and calm, it is important to remember that academics should take first priority in school. The idea of “fitting-in” will not even matter ten years from now, when a student is graduated and working in their hard-earned career. So it is in best recommendation to ignore as much as possible when it comes to seeking validation on social media, or keeping up with materialistic trends.

In the end, the only thing that should matter is that you, as a student, are content and proud of yourself and the decisions you make.