The stresses of Spring Time

The past two weeks have been good for students in Chesterfield county. Two straight 4 day weeks will make any student happy. You go to school one day and the next day is Wednesday. I know there are a lot of parents who wish they could say the same about their work week.

Unfortunately that comes to a halt after presidents day. There is a period of time between February and Spring Break that I affectionately refer to as "The Grind". This time is made worse in years where Easter comes late. There is little to no time off for students during this month long time span. For students, it's go to school, go home, do homework, go to sleep, go to school....etc. It is very monotonous and relentless.

To add to the monotony, this is the time that a lot of teachers assign major projects which tend to take up a lot of time outside of school. I remember, "the grind" being unbelievably stressful. I hated it every year. And then there was that one teacher who gave work over spring break....that teacher was just inviting a good toilet paper adventure.....don't get me started...

All that to say this. Over the next month or two our students very possibly could face situations that cause a lot of stress. In my years of ministry a lot of students have expressed that parents don't seem to understand the stress that they're under. I think that is a true statement. I think that teenagers (due to crazy hormones) tend to over exaggerate sometimes, but I think that for the most part teenagers struggle through this time.

I say this as a messenger. I want you to understand what your teenager is thinking. (because there is a likely chance that they won't tell you!) As you parent your teen, take this message into consideration. Come back for the next post which will have things that you can do to relieve stress in your teens life. See you then!

jon