The top tips for students to handle the pressure and navigate burnout
With 81% of teens experiencing social pressure that leaves them feeling bad, it’s clear that students today are caught in the crossfire of stress, deadlines, and FOMO. Burnout, once reserved for the working world, has become an all-too-familiar term in students’ vocabulary, with almost 1 in 3 teens reporting feeling burnt out.
As educators, understanding and addressing burnout and student stress is invaluable, as our students’ well-being directly impacts their ability to learn and thrive. With exam and college acceptance season upon us, educators can recognize the signs and foster a supportive environment, empowering students with the tools to succeed.
Let’s dive in.
Burnout’s impact on students
To empower our students to navigate stress and burnout, we must first understand what burnout looks like for students.
According to Psychology Today, burnout is “a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress.” In a hyper-connected world, where social media, academic pressures, and the constant pursuit of perfection intertwine, students often find themselves stretched thin.
The impact of burnout extends beyond the student, creating a ripple effect in classrooms and school communities. Some signs of burnout include physical exhaustion, loss of motivation, procrastination, changes in appetite, and withdrawal. Recognizing these symptoms is the first step for educators in providing support to their students.
An educator’s role in supporting students
Students can’t be what they can’t see, so educators play a pivotal role in helping students navigate burnout by fostering a culture that prioritizes well-being over the pressure to be perfect. Encouraging open communication, normalizing failure as part of the learning process, and providing tools for stress management are essential components of this strategy.
By creating an environment that values balance and resilience, educators can empower students to handle the pressures of their daily lives. Educators can do this by sharing the following strategies with students:
- Prioritize Self-Care: Encourage students to prioritize self-care and recognize the importance of regular breaks. Simple practices like deep breathing, mindfulness, and physical activity can significantly reduce stress.
- Set Realistic Goals: Guide students in setting achievable goals rather than the pressure of setting unrealistic expectations.
- Foster a Growth Mindset: Emphasize the value of learning from setbacks and embracing challenges as opportunities for growth. Shifting the focus from perfection to progress can alleviate the fear of failure.
- Establish Boundaries: Help students establish healthy boundaries with technology and social media.
- Seek Support: Encourage students to reach out for support when needed, whether from peers, family, or mental health professionals.
Navigating burnout requires a proactive and supportive approach from educators and students alike. By fostering a culture that prioritizes well-being, we equip students with the tools to handle the pressure and create an environment where learning and personal growth can excel. Recognizing that test-taking is one of the main sources of students’ stress, educators can nurture student well-being as they navigate the challenges and anxieties around taking tests with the strategies in our School Playbook: How to help students handle the pressure of taking tests.
Always stay up-to-date with the latest and greatest trends online by subscribing to our newsletter where we talk about trending tech and social media news weekly! In the meantime, check out our Instagram and TikTok @thesocialinst for tips, trends, and highlights when it comes to social media.
The Social Institute (TSI) is the leader in equipping students, families, and educators with modern life skills to impact learning, well-being, and students’ futures. Through #WinAtSocial, our interactive, peer-to-peer learning platform, we integrate teacher PD, family resources, student voice insights, and more to empower entire school communities to make positive choices online and offline. #WinAtSocial Lessons teach essential skills while capturing student voice and actionable insights for educators. These insights help educators maintain a healthy school culture, foster high-impact teaching, and build meaningful relationships with families. Our unique, student-respected approach empowers and equips students authentically, enabling our solution to increase classroom participation and improve student-teacher relationships. Through our one-of-a-kind lesson development process, we create lessons for a variety of core and elective classes, incorporating timely topics such as social media, A.I., screen time, misinformation, and current events to help schools stay proactive in supporting student health, happiness, and academic success.