There are many stereotypes revolving around teenagers. They are lazy, ungrateful, and spoiled. Teenagers get a bad reputation because they are constantly tired and stressed out. The truth is that they honestly are tired and stressed. Just because they aren't adults and don't have those responsibilities, doesn't mean they can't be troubled and just as stressed out as the adults in their lives. Teenagers, and especially students have many responsibilities that adults don't even take into consideration sometimes.
The obvious cause of stress for most teenagers is school. When students spend 8 hours a day inside a building doing work, only to be assigned hours of more work to complete outside of school, they can't help but be worried. Even with excellent time management and understanding of the material, homework piles on and takes a large chunk of time to complete. If students struggle with schoolwork it makes homework take longer, and piles on even more stress. But, contrary to popular opinions, school isn't the only thing our teens have to worry about.
Another reason lots of teenagers are their extracurricular involvement. From middle school teenagers are told that being involved is the way to succeed in life. Being as involved as they can in as many activities as they can. Sports, associations, organizations, volunteering, you name it and there are students involved. Adding on to resume's and college applications is a large priority for teenagers. Juggling so many responsibilities just with the activities can be a large burden on a teenager's mind.
Depending on where you live and the economic situation, a majority of could be working one if not more part time jobs on top of the other responsibilities. Parents might not know how much their financial burden can carry over to their kids. Teenagers know and feel the hardships that come with bad financial times. Teenagers can start to feel the responsibility to "pull their own weight" as some might say. Working after school and on the weekends makes a student's time that much more valuable, and they are stretched even thinner.
The last point for this purpose, but certainly not the least is social relationships. With all of these stress inducing responsibilities the last thing students can make room for is a social life. To their friends, these teenagers don't make their friendships a priority and this can cause drama within their relationships with others. While hanging out with friends and taking a break sometimes is necessary, when teenagers indulge themselves in these breaks they are seen as lazy and lacking by some. Spreading oneself too thin can lead to more hardships that one started with.
Hopefully, this helps give someone an insight as to why teenagers feel so stressed, and why they just need to take a break sometimes. Adults have numerous responsibilities and duties, but what some don't realize is that teenagers do too. They feel just as worried and stressed out about life as some adults. The next time a teenager in your life needs a break, take a look at everything on their plate and try to understand why they feel so stressed. And to the teenagers reading this, try and do the same vise-versa.
