Stressed, tired, and yearning for support

The voices of high school students show how unhealthy stress, sleep deprivation, and lack of belonging are threatening their well-being. How can educators help?

At a Glance (click to reveal)

• Challenge Success has surveyed more than 270,000 high school students from public, private, and charter schools across the U.S. over 10 years.
• Student responses show that adolescents today struggle with high levels of unhealthy stress and academic worry, inadequate sleep, and a lack of belonging.
• To address unhealthy stress, adults can reset their expectations, adjust the school day, and teach students healthy coping skills.
• To improve student sleep, schools can change their schedules to allow for more sleep time and teach sleep hygiene.
• To create a sense of belonging, schools can give students space to build positive relationships with teachers and peers, involve students in making policy decisions, and celebrate students’ identities in the curriculum.

To better understand today’s students, we must explore the extent to which they feel a sense of well-being and belonging at school. While we often rely on grades and test scores to measure students’ academic progress, we frequently overlook other critical dimensions of their experience that are inextricably linked to success in school. We must also consider questions such as:

• Which conditions within their learning environments contribute to (or detract from) their sense of belonging and overall wellness?
• What are their sources of stress, and can we do anything to mitigate them?
• What fundamental needs are not being met? How does that impact students’ well-being and, ultimately, their ability to engage academically?

Well-being in students encompasses various aspects, including physical health, emotional wellness, and a sense of purpose and autonomy. Research consistently shows that students with higher levels of well-being are more likely to achieve academic success, maintain better relationships, and manage school-related stress more effectively (Pascoe, Hedrick, & Parker, 2019).

Data from the Challenge Success Student Voice Report (2024), which includes survey responses from more than 270,000 high school students from public, private, and charter schools across the U.S., demonstrates that many students struggle with high levels of stress and academic worry, inadequate sleep, and a feeling that they don’t belong. Students are yearning to release the pressure valve and feel better.

Student voices (click to reveal)

This is a representative sample of what students have told us they wish the adults in their lives understood. All quotations are from Challenge Success qualitative research, 2010-2024.

• I thought stress was normal in high school, and it is, but not to the point where I can’t breathe at night, and I have been there. I know I am not the only one either, so whatever I can do to help, I will do it.
• I wish my teachers knew I want to enjoy my life at school, but I’m just too stressed.
• I wish my parents knew that they don’t need to make me feel bad about my test scores, that I already feel bad enough already.
• I wish my parents knew that because of one B this term, I have anxiety and sad thoughts that [this] B will prevent me from getting into a good college. I am very worried about it, and when left alone to my own thoughts, I constantly regret getting a B.
• I wish my teachers knew that my grades determine how my parents treat me.
• I wish my teachers knew that we need more time in between classes.
• I wish the adults in my life understood how hard I’m trying to get up and go to school every day. I’m tired, and it’s hard to do my work, and I’m trying my best.
• I wish my parents knew that I feel super lonely at times.
• I wish my classmates knew that we’re all going through the same things, but sometimes I feel alone.
• I wish my classmates knew how I fight to keep a smile on my face every day, just so they don’t look at me differently.

See more student (and parent and teacher) wishes in these videos:

• Vista del Lago High School
• Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Well-being concern No. 1: Unhealthy stress

The predominant concern we hear from students is that the pressure from academic workloads and expectations significantly contributes to their overall stress. In both our quantitative and qualitative research, students consistently report overall workload, homework, tests/quizzes, finals, and assessments as their top sources of stress. These numbers are even higher for students from traditionally marginalized groups, such as Black students, students who identify as girls/women, or those who identify as gender diverse.

Comments like this are typical of the responses we’ve received:

I think homework causes me the most stress and the most relief. For example, whenever I finish all my homework, I will feel good. But if I can’t finish it, I spend all night in my bed thinking about the convos I will have, the awkwardness I will experience, and much more.

A second source of stress for adolescents is the feeling of pressure from parents and caregivers to do well in school. In our qualitative data, students expressed a desire for parents to understand the demands of modern school life. In addition to personal struggles common among teens of all generations, current teens’ lives are rife with new stressors and sources of worry (Damour, 2023). High schoolers in 2025 have lived through a pandemic during formative developmental years (Mohan, 2024), seen increased school violence, and witnessed growing concerns about climate change. Teens also face intense pressure and comparison on social media. Acknowledging the unique circumstances teens currently face can help parents and educators offer authentic support, so teens know they are not navigating this complexity alone.

Suggestions for reducing unhealthy stress

To alleviate some of the unhealthy stress students are experiencing, adults and students can work together to proactively create conditions where students can learn positive coping skills and find a sense of balance (Pacheco, 2024).

Every school community is unique, so we recommend creating opportunities to hear from students and parents/caregivers about their needs and ideas for solutions.

 

Resetting family expectations

Parents and caregivers play a crucial role in setting the tone around expectations and achievement. There are several ways families can approach this:

• Start with respect and offer support: Acknowledge the complexities of navigating school in today’s world. Offer compassion and a willingness to solve problems together.
• Redefine success: Minimize high-stakes conversations about grades, standardized test scores, and college. Instead, focus on the enjoyment of learning and the purpose of school as a lever for growth and maturation. Consider multiple postsecondary paths that honor each student’s individual needs and desires.

 

Adapting the school day

Though schools have limited influence over what happens at home, they do have control over students’ schedules, workloads, and the use of time during the school day. Every school community is unique, so we recommend creating opportunities to hear from students and parents/caregivers about their needs and ideas for solutions. (The Challenge Success dialogue night protocol can provide a format for productive conversations between students and adults.)

• Use of time: Building a schedule with fewer classes each day and longer lunch and recess breaks can reduce student stress and allow for more focused learning (Miles et al, 2022). Two to four subjects per day, for example, provide opportunities for deeper engagement and fewer homework assignments to manage.
• Flexible policies: Students have expressed a need for a reasonable approach to school policies, for instance, offering greater flexibility and accommodation with deadlines and revision opportunities.
• Revamped homework assignments: Students can have a rigorous academic experience without being overloaded. For example, when considering homework policies, schools can prioritize engaging, high-quality assignments and reduce the overall quantity of work sent home.

Experiencing stress is a normal part of growing and developing, but students need to learn how best to respond.

Resources (click to reveal)

The following resources from Challenge Success can help schools promote student well-being:

• Dialogue Night Protocol
• Homework Guide
• Time Management Tool
• Student Voices Video
• Student Voice Survey

Building students’ healthy coping skills

While we aim to reduce the amount of unhealthy stress students experience, we can also help them build their social-emotional agility, resilience, and perseverance — skills that are as important as students’ academic skills. Experiencing stress is a normal part of growing and developing, but students need to learn how best to respond. Schools equip students with healthy coping strategies and stress-management skills by acknowledging students’ feelings, teaching students how to make mistakes and recover, and by modeling how to respond to challenges in positive ways. They also do so by creating opportunities for students to practice different strategies for students to use when facing various stressors.

These are some effective ways we have seen schools integrate this type of social-emotional learning:

• Intentional support: Allocate time for advisory or tutorial sessions where students receive dedicated support to learn healthy ways to respond to stress, including time management and effective study skills. (The Challenge Success time management worksheet can guide students in planning healthier course loads and extracurricular schedules.)
• Stress-reduction tools: Find moments to incorporate breathwork, meditation, mindfulness, or yoga into the school day. Even small, occasional breaks can help reset a student’s response to stress.
• Wellness centers: Provide a dedicated space where students can drop in for immediate support from a trained peer who can identify students in need of additional support and bring them to the school counselor. These centers offer safe spaces for students to meet and can reduce the stigma often associated with seeking mental health help.

 

Well-being concern No. 2: Sleep deprivation

In addition to high stress levels, students consistently report insufficient sleep, with minimal improvement from 2010 to 2023. On average, high school students report getting 6.6 hours of sleep per night, significantly less than the recommended eight to 10 hours for this age group (Paruthi et al., 2016). As students get more hours of sleep per night, they report a greater ability to cope with stress. Additionally, students who identify as boys/men report a higher ability to cope with stress, on average, than students who identify as girls/women and those who identify as transgender/gender-nonconforming.

Several barriers prevent students from getting the sleep they need — beyond their natural tendencies to stay up late and sleep in. Research indicates that screen time can impact sleep routines and quality (Lewis, 2022). However, we know that electronic devices serve as a source of social connection for teens, so we must balance these needs.

Overscheduling also significantly affects the amount of sleep teens get. In addition to full school days, many students have evening and weekend commitments, such as jobs, family responsibilities, sports, and other extracurricular activities.

Furthermore, the popularity of caffeinated drinks and supplements has exploded in recent years, disrupting healthy sleep patterns.

 

Suggestions for helping students sleep more

 

Adjusting school start times

One way to allow for more sleep is a later start to the school day. California has mandated an 8:30 a.m. or later start time for all public high schools to help students sleep more. This can be tricky to implement, as it may affect sports schedules, instructional time, and transportation to and from school. However, research has shown that a later start time aligns better with teens’ circadian rhythms and can have several positive effects on student learning (Lewis, 2022).

 

Teaching sleep hygiene

Just as schools teach topics like nutrition and exercise in health programs, they can educate students on sleep hygiene, including the importance of quality sleep and how to achieve it. Elements of sleep hygiene include:

• Keep a regular sleep routine.
• Turn off screens an hour before bedtime.
• Keep technology out of the bedroom.
• Reduce caffeine intake.
• Avoid over-scheduling.

 

Well-being concern No. 3: Isolation and lack of belonging

Belonging is defined as “an individual’s experience of feeling that they are, or are likely to be, accepted and respected as a valued contributor in a specific environment” (Healy & Stroman, 2021). Research shows that when students of all ages and stages feel like a part of their community, they are more likely to thrive (Furrer & Skinner, 2003; Gillen-O’Neel & Fuligni, 2014; Gray, Hope, & Matthews, 2018; Healey & Stroman, 2021; Osterman, 2000; Pope & Miles, 2022).

When students feel like they belong, they tend to perform better academically. Conversely, feeling isolated or unsafe may prevent academic engagement.

This means that when students feel like they belong, they tend to perform better academically. Conversely, feeling isolated or unsafe may prevent academic engagement. Belonging is context-specific — students may feel comfortable in some classrooms but isolated in others. In general, though, students desire more personal connections, including with teachers, which highlights the need for schools to foster climates of care, warmth, and approachability in educational settings.

We assess students’ sense of belonging through various measures in the Challenge Success survey. These include:

• The extent to which students feel supported and cared for by their teachers.
• Whether students have a trusted adult at school.
• How students respond to specific questions related to respect, inclusion, and belonging.

Unfortunately, we find that many students report not feeling supported or included at school. While most students (70%, on average) report having an adult at school they can confide in when facing personal problems, many still do not feel a sense of belonging at school (scale adapted from Goodenow, 1993). Additionally, students from historically marginalized groups — such as those who identify as gender diverse, as girls/women, or as Black — experience an even more acute lack of belonging. This shows that students from different backgrounds experience school climate and culture differently, underscoring the need for more inclusive school environments for all students.

Small moments throughout the day and year shape the extent to which students feel supported at school. Students are observant and sensitive to the signals they receive — even signals educators may not intend to send.

Suggestions for creating a supportive climate

Students report feeling more connected and engaged when they perceive their school environment as inclusive and supportive. Key factors contributing to a positive school culture include respectful and understanding relationships between staff and students, opportunities to connect with teachers and peers, policies that accommodate individual needs, and an overall atmosphere that promotes mutual respect and encouragement.

Many schools are already working on creating a climate of care and can build upon existing community structures to increase student belonging. We also encourage educators to consider what might inadvertently impede belonging or create barriers to connection. We have found the following strategies to be particularly effective.

Relationships with trusted adults

In addition to devoting advisory or tutorial times for small groups of students to work with a dedicated adult, we encourage carving out time for one-on-one conferences or office hours to provide open and confidential communication. Teachers can also build relationships in small but powerful ways through daily practices such as greeting students at the classroom door, providing positive feedback, using opening/closing circles, and taking time to learn about students’ interests and hobbies.

Time to build peer connections

In our post-pandemic world, students likely need even more support to rebuild friendships and practice face-to-face social skills. Students value opportunities to connect with one another, whether through quick icebreakers, “get to know you” activities at the start of class, or the option to choose their project partners. Many schools are also moving toward stricter cell phone policies to minimize distractions and promote in-person social connections.

Policy making that includes student voices

In our research, students emphasized their desire to be more involved in creating equitable policies, rules, and community agreements at their schools. At the classroom level, many teachers use norm-setting activities at the beginning of the term to co-create classroom agreements. This approach can be more effective than imposing a list of rules. At the school level, including student representatives in committees alongside adults can also highlight the student perspective and build advocacy skills. These opportunities contribute to students’ feelings of autonomy, a crucial component of well-being.

Curriculum that celebrates a wide range of identities

Research highlights the significant impact of culturally responsive teaching on student outcomes (Hammond, 2014). Our data show that students are advocating for a supportive environment that respects their identities, autonomy, and personal challenges. One way to achieve this is by reviewing the curriculum to ensure diverse viewpoints are represented. In addition, encouraging students to share their stories and traditions — for example, “I am from” poems, personal narrative writing, or oral histories — can also help foster belonging. Regularly reviewing school policies, such as dress codes and discipline, alongside students can uncover and address unintended biases.

Schools often lack identity-conscious curricula and instruction that connect learning to students’ personal experiences and backgrounds. This not only may decrease students’ sense of belonging, but it also fails to engage them effectively. By adopting an asset-based mindset to build on students’ strengths and inherent value, we can motivate more students and make them excited to come to school. Once we’ve connected with them, we can seek opportunities to celebrate their unique assets and identities, ensuring students from all backgrounds feel included and valued.

Inviting student voice: A call to action

Student well-being is complex and nuanced. If we are truly aiming to understand the student experience, we must start by intentionally and authentically listening to what students have to say. We have seen schools employ various methods to achieve this, from adults shadowing students for a full school day to conducting focus groups and surveys. Too often, we assume we know what is best for students without considering that they can be the best, most important sources to consult — especially when it comes to their well-being.

References

Challenge Success. (2024, June). Student voice report.

Damour, L. (2023). The emotional lives of teenagers. Ballantine Books.

Furrer, C. & Skinner, E. (2003). Sense of relatedness as a factor in children’s academic engagement and performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 95, No. 1, 148-162.

Neel, C.G. and Fuligni, A.J. (2012). A longitudinal study of school belonging and academic motivation across high school. Child Development. 84 (2), 678-692.

Goodenow, C. (1993). The psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: Scale development and educational correlates. Psychology in the Schools, 30 (1), 79-90.

Gray, D.L., Hope, E.C., & Matthews, J.S. (2018). Black and belonging at school: A case for interpersonal, instructional, and institutional opportunity structures. Educational Psychologist, 53 (2), 97-113.

Hammond, Z. (2014). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Corwin Publishers.

Healey, K. & Stroman, C. (2021). Structures for belonging: A synthesis of research on belonging — Supportive learning environments. Student Experience Research Network.

Lewis, L. (2022). The sleep-deprived teen: Why our teenagers are so tired, and how parents and schools can help them thrive. Mango.

Miles, S., Pope, D., Villeneuve, J., & Selby, S. (2022). Making time for well-being. Educational Leadership, 79 (9), 60-65.

Mohan, A. (2024). The impact of distance learning on student belonging. Challenge Success Website.

Osterman, K.F. (2000). Students’ need for belonging in the school community. Review of Educational Research, 70 (3), 323-367.

Pacheco, M. (2024). What’s missing from the conversation on youth mental health. Challenge Success Website.

Pascoe, M.C., Hetrick, S.E., & Parker, A.G. (2019). The impact of stress on students in secondary school and higher education. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25 (1), 104-112.

Paruthi, S., Brooks, L.J., D’Ambrosio, C., Hall, W.A., Kotagal, S., Lloyd, R.M., Malow, B.A., Maski, K., Nichols, C., Quan, S.F., Rosen, C.L., Troester, M.M., & Wise, M.S. (2016). Recommended amount of sleep for pediatric populations: A consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 12 (6), 785-786.

Pope, D. & Miles, S. (2022). A caring climate that promotes belonging and engagement. Phi Delta Kappan, 103 (5), 9-12.

Note: All quotations in this article come from Challenge Success qualitative research, 2010-2024.

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This article appears in the Spring 2025 issue of Kappan, Vol. 106, No. 5-6, pp. 9-14.