“Stress isn't inherently bad. It causes you to respond to events, to rise to the challenge, and to better yourself. But too much stress can be catastrophic” (Caruso 2007). By catastrophic the author is referring to stress leading to suicide. “The second-leading cause of death in college students is suicide, leading many to believe that high stress levels and anxiety cause students to attempt suicide” (Engar 2004). Some people do contest this as directly being related to stress caused by school especially since more school-aged young adults who are not in school commit suicide than those who are in school, but the reason the number is lower is that school offers a support system for students who are in trouble and can go to seek help. Another negative way to handle stress in recent years has been school violence. These tragic massacres most are prone to point out were just evil acts by evil people and had nothing to do with the stress they were under (Shapiro 2007). While others point out that if someone would have just taken the time to see the stress these students were under something more could have been done to avoid them (Yang 2007). On the other hand people, such as me, believe it is something more in the middle that causes this, while yes these students were under great stress, is it really enough to cause such a tragic event. After such a tragedy as suicide or violence at a school, the post traumatic stress it causes is just more a student as to worry about.
Since no student is effect by stress the same way another student may be it is hard to tell what each person may do under the pressures of school. If students and their teachers learn to recognize the signs of someone under stress these tragedies could be avoided in the future. Things students should look for in their own live are headaches, feeling over anxious or having problems sleeping. Also things you can look for in others are they being bullied at school and look like they are taking it personally. Do they appear to be alone a lot or looking like they may be lonely (Yang 2007)? In conclusion if students and teachers alike learn to look for these warning signs or others tragedies like this can be avoided in the future.
Caruso, K. (2007). Suicide and stress. Suicide.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007, from <http://www.suicide.org/suicide-and-stress.html>.
Engar, A. (March 26, 2004). Non-Student suicide rates higher than those in college. The Daily Utah Cronicle. Retrieved July 14, 2007, from <http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2004/03/26/News/NonStudent.Suicide.Rates.Higher.Than.Those.In.College-642737.shtml>.
Shapiro, B. (April 25, 2007). Virginia Tech was an act of evil not a “tragedy”. Townhall.com. Retrieved July 23, 2007, from <http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BenShapiro/2007/04/25/virginia_tech_was_an_act_of_evil,_not_a_tragedy>.
Yang, B. (2007). A solution for someone like Cho Seung-Hui at Virginia Tech massacre. Health Articles Directory. Retrieved July 15, 2007, from <http://www.know-your-health.com/general-health/a-solution-for-someone-like-cho-seung-hui-at-virginia-tech-massacre.html>.
I had already included in text citations so I went back and corrected them to apa style.
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