Imagine waking up every morning feeling exhausted, anxious, and very overwhelmed, but everyone expects you to act like everything is fine. Stress and mental health among teenagers are very serious problems that are rapidly growing. This directly impacts teenagers’ emotional well-being, academic performance, and long-term development, making early awareness and support critically important. The way the government could help solve the problem of teens’ mental health is by funding professionals and counselors whom students can trust and talk to about the issues affecting them.
Many teenagers go through mental health issues even if others cannot see it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that “many teens report feeling sad, stressed, or hopeless for long periods of time.” This shows the symptoms teenagers have experienced during mental health issues. Also, a national survey found that an estimated 42% of high school students stated they had felt very sad, hopeless, and that they had stopped doing their usual activities for a span of almost two weeks.
The government could help reduce these problems by increasing funding to schools for after-school programs and extracurricular programs. According to the American Psychological Association, students mainly seek help or speak up about their issues if help is available at school campus. Also, according to the U.S. Department of Education, students are most likely to participate in good after-school programs, which have also been shown to improve students’ school attendance and engagement. This stops the exhaustion of boring education at school and improves mental health problems in teens.
To conclude, stress and mental health among teenagers are very serious problems and are rapidly growing. This directly impacts teenagers’ emotional well-being, academic performance, and long-term development, making early awareness and support critically important.
