Stress is a common experience for many teens. It’s the body’s natural response to challenges and changes in its environment, signaling the need for action or adjustment. While some stress is normal, teens must develop effective strategies for managing school-related pressure. Here are a few ways you can support your teen in cultivating the skills to handle stress, helping them thrive both academically and emotionally.

1. Understanding Your Teen’s Stress Response

A great way to support your teen in managing stress is to help them observe their own stress reactions. Do they get a headache? Feel tired? Experience a racing heart? Identifying these physical signs early on can help them address stress before it builds up. This practice also helps teens build self-awareness, a valuable skill that will serve them well in many areas of life. 

2. Building Healthy Habit

Encourage your teen to adopt healthy habits, which play a crucial role in stress management. Getting enough sleep, eating balanced meals, and taking regular breaks during study sessions can help reduce stress levels. Additionally, practices like deep breathing or mindfulness can provide a calming effect on the mind, helping your teen stay focused and grounded. Supporting your teen by checking in or tracking these habits can help reinforce self-awareness around their choices. By fostering these habits you’re giving your teen the tools they need to create a strong foundation for managing school stress.

3. Time Management

Helping your teen improve their time management skills can make a big difference in how they handle stress. Creating a schedule and previewing upcoming weeks using a calendar can help them anticipate busy periods, like exams or project deadlines. By identifying these busy times in advance, teens can avoid over-scheduling and carve out extra downtime to maintain balance. Previewing can also provide teens an opportunity to mentally prepare for busy weeks. Make time to talk with your teen ahead of time to plan for how you all want to approach busy periods. For example: maybe going to bed earlier, having a bigger lunch, or attending extra office hours for support. Prior planning can help prevent or at least manage future frustrations. 

4. School Supports

Help your teen identify the support systems their school offers. Drop-in counseling can be a great resource for students to talk to a trusted adult if they’re feeling overwhelmed. Teachers or advisors often provide personalized support during office hours or by scheduling one-on-one appointments to help students with assignments. Reaching out to a Strategies for Learning Clinician can also help your teen create a plan to manage their workload effectively.

5. Building a Support Network

Encourage your teen to identify adults and peers they trust and can turn to when they need guidance or someone to brainstorm with. Having a safe space to share feelings of overwhelm can help students better address the cause of the problem and collaboratively find an effective solution. Overall, having a support network in place can alleviate some of the pressure and help them navigate stressful situations more effectively. Reaching out to a Strategies for Learning Clinician can also help your teen create a plan to manage stress in collaboration with your teen’s existing network. 

By helping your teen identify their personal stress responses, adopt healthy habits, improve time management, utilize school resources, and build a solid support network, you’re giving them the tools to not only succeed in school but to thrive emotionally and mentally. Remember, it’s not about eliminating stress completely, but about teaching teens how to handle it effectively. With your guidance, they can learn to face challenges with confidence, balance, and a sense of control.

Written by Joi Ward, SfL Clinician, M.Ed, MA