TORONTO – Toronto students worry about their future or are nervous or anxious at least some of the time, according to a new report by the Toronto District School Board.
The report released Tuesday is the result of a survey of 103,000 students from Grades 7 to 12.
The findings have prompted the board to commit to a mental health strategy for its nearly schools.
According to the survey, 73 per cent of high school students and nearly 60 per cent of students in Grades 7 and 8 are worried about their future.
Meanwhile, 66 per cent of high school students and 40 per cent of students in Grades 7 and 8 said they were under a lot of stress often or sometimes.
One in three high school students said they feel like crying.
Support services manager Dave Johnston said this is not simply teenage angst.
“I think the census reflects that we have some students who are very much impacted and others that carry around something every day that maybe we have to help them learn how to deal with.”
“We don’t want anybody to suffer in silence alone.”
Nearly 90 per cent of the student population took part in the survey.
Maria Yau, research co-ordinator at the board said the results should not be considered unique to Toronto.
“Personally, I won’t see it just as TDSB students. I think this is reflecting what youth in our urban centres are feeling.”
Director Donna Quan said the results will be used to drive programming.
“It pinpoints the areas of need for our students,” she said. “Resource allocation, program planning, intervention and the voices of students is key.”
The results will also help to develop a mental health strategy it that the board hopes to have in place by September.
This was the first time the board surveyed its students on mental health issues.
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I am a seventh grade student. I think that there isn’t much stress at all I find that it is easy. Most of the kids in my class including me aren’t stressed. We walk in without a care in the world. Most of us walk in and lay down on the desk and some sleep. So I don’t think there is much stress. And I think computers and games and stuff are distractions but seriously it doesn’t control you. You can do your homework if you really felt like it. And is there anything to be stressed about anyways tests are super easy they make it half a page sometimes for math so there isn’t much to stress about.
In my opinion is that kids and teenagers are stressed out because they are not used to work hard. Every other year I hear about how kids are stressed out by the curriculum, workload and so on. This leads to relaxing the requirements, which harms them when they become older. Elementary and Middle school curricula are laughable. Kids have too much free time, and the statement that computer and video games are stress relievers are myth. They are extremely taxing cognitively. Even simple reading is more relaxing, but most of kids hate reading anything beyond comic books. Sports are great for “relaxing” too. Staring into a screen – never. One more thing worth mentioning is that very few kids actually enjoy learning and have very vague idea why they need to learn all that stuff. There is no sense of achievement, not sense of satisfaction, rather an agony and exhaustion from doing something they hate. Add the fact that they start looking at how difficult it is to learn for living, and see the parents who only work because they have to, often doing the job they would rather not be doing, and there you have your result.
If students today would actually spend time working after school, weekends, Christmas holidays, March break, reading week and full-time during the summer, then they would not have financial worries. Also, if they actually spend real time study, doing homework, research etc., they would also have better grades and a whole lot less stress.
Todays students, that is teenagers and young adults are extremely selffish, extremely greedy and extremely lazy. They do not seem to have any work ethics at all. They actually seem to expect to have it all with little effort and expect their parents to pay for all their greed instead of working and earning to pay for their wants and greed. They are stressed because they spend too much time in shopping malls, on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, e-mails, video games etc., then working a job or study or doing homework.
Don’t be ridiculous. Smart phones and video games are excellent ways to relieve stress.
You shouldn’t belittle others problems just because you don’t understand them. It’s rude and impolite. You may have undergone different stresses in your life than students nowadays have in theirs, but different doesn’t always mean that one is worse than the other. Students nowadays have very different priorities and concerns than students in the past. NM described the problems well, so I wont repeat them here. Children in the war time had such a different type of stress that had almost nothing to do with education that you just can’t compare.
Just because you don’t understand or can’t sympathize with these students doesn’t mean you should make snide comments or threaten to take away the things they use to wind down after a long day. Please think before you post.
This is very good, but don’t forget our college and university students especially 1st year students.
Particular stress points occur at the beginnings and ends of academic years, especially at the start and towards the end of the academic year. These times of increased stress can represent a tipping point when coping resources can become overwhelmed – student SUICIDES OR HOPITALIZATION TO A MENTAL INSTITUTION more commonly occur at these times. Financial stress and increase workload as some of the main issues. Student also find it difficult with the transition from high school to post secondary education.
I hope something will be done soon.
How could we, the youth, not be stressed? I wouldn’t call it a mental health issue, but still, with limited job prospects, burgeoning competition, and insecurity about our competitiveness as a generation, how can we cope? Everyone seems to have a Bachelor’s Degree nowadays, and that extends our education another four years, even for people not prepared for university. Not to mention, the youth today face the same issues as always, whether it’s partly supporting the family, taking care of sick relatives, or unfortunately, in some areas, having to deal with crime, discrimination, and social pressures. Our generation is also “encouraged” (though rather by force) to help out the greater community and participate in extracurricular activities when we don’t even have our own lives in order! For children who are more fortunate, parents often pressure them into grueling programs that were once intended for highly intelligent students (IB, AP, etc.), but are now attended by regular students who are unprepared for the workload. These same students are then expected to perform at levels beyond their reach. I myself get a maximum of 5 hours of sleep a day, if I’m lucky. We were always taught that if we work hard, we’ll succeed. Maybe that’s the problem…
Well said. It’s not about smartphones or IPADs. Yes, kids have more distractions that may interfere with studying, but I think the expectations are running high. The competition for jobs is fierce and kids are told they have to excel. A Bachelor’s degree is now what what high school diploma was 20 years ago, and MA and MBAs are a dime a dozen. Add to that all of the after-school programs people put their kids through so that they are “off the streets”, many students I see don’t have time to be kids. The homework and tests my son goes through in his French immersion Grade 1 program is ridiculous. The spelling tests now include not only words, but sentences and he losses marks for improper punctuation. My wife and I spend about 1.0-1.5 hours doing homework with him 4 nights a week. He’s not even finished grade 1! I can’t wait for grade 2.
Oh, the poor fragile little darlings. Too bad they weren’t lucky enough to be born during a World War like their grand-parents so they’d have a clue what stress is really like. Perhaps we should take away their distractions like smartphones and video game boxes. they’re probably just adding to the stress.
You are right. “the poor little darlings” have no idea what it is like to grow up during a World War like their Grandparents. But please remember, those kids that did grow up during a World War were not subjected to the things that our kids see today on the news and through social media. Let’s face it, now these kids also have to deal with what seems to be a shooting a day in our wonderful city! There is not a day that goes by that I am speaking to one of our kids about safety (which they don’t feel…. and we live in a pretty nice neighborhood!) These times we are living in now are NOT anything like when I was young, and I’m only 42! Our children have two parents at home working very hard to ensure that they are safe and happy children….but they still have stress. There IS stress from elementary school to high school. I would like to know when the TDSB is going to start training the teachers on how to deal with the kids who are having issues. Our eldest daughter went through a horrible time at her awful middle school. She was experiencing panic attacks. We brought her to her Doctor, tried our best to help her through her difficult time. It is very difficult to see your child go through this. We found out later from a fellow classmate, that when she would ask to be excused from class and left the classroom while having a panic attack, her teacher would then turn around and say to the class “she’s doing this to get out of class….she’s fine”. Fortunately, this teacher has since retired. My point….we can do a lot at home to support our children, but what are they walking into every day for 6 1/2 hours a day. There is nothing in place with the TDSB and it’s about time that they do something about it!
We are grateful for the efforts of all of our Veterans, but look at what our victories has produced!