Teen stress from a teen perspective | Michaela Horn | TEDxNaperville

A simple experiment to discover what stresses high school students leads to disturbing results that soon become a story on their own. Michaela Horn shares her journey, results, and the alarming turn of events that unfolded.

A junior at Wheaton North High School, Michaela Horn is a cultural and philanthropic powerhouse. She plays piano and violin and is a member of the Wheaton North Sinfonia Orchestra and Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra, having performed with her school at venues in Beijing and Shanghai. She’s a member of the Wheaton North speech team. She also writes for the school’s Falcon Flyer newspaper. She’s stood on five continents. She’s organized a book and donation drive, distributing more than 3,000 books to schools and orphanages in Ghana. She referees children’s soccer, was an assistant chess instructor for a grade school chess team, and sponsors a fellow student in Ghana, providing financial and personal support. She’s also a junior counselor at the Camp Invention summer education program. And that’s all before 18 years old.

Michaela was selected as a member of Oxford University summer educational program. She is looking forward to attending college after high school, possibly majoring in engineering. A junior at Wheaton North High School, Michaela Horn is a cultural and philanthropic powerhouse. She plays piano and violin and is a member of the Wheaton North Sinfonia Orchestra and Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra, having performed with her school at venues in Beijing and Shanghai. She’s a member of the Wheaton North speech team. She also writes for the school’s Falcon Flyer newspaper. She’s stood on five continents. She’s organized a book and donation drive, distributing more than 3,000 books to schools and orphanages in Ghana. She referees children’s soccer, was an assistant chess instructor for a grade school chess team, and sponsors a fellow student in Ghana, providing financial and personal support. She’s also a junior counselor at the Camp Invention summer education program. And that’s all before 18 years old.

[vaishnavijoshi]

What I learned in school:
1. Everyone hates themselves
2. Everyone hates each other
3. *The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell*

[jaydechampion]

i dont understand how school try to say “get 8 hours of sleep each day. always eat breakfast. blah blah” you drown me in homework and test and expect me to get 8 hours. i can barely get 3 hours.

[julia_chip]

You know what’s frustrating? When you tell somebody that you’re stressed and they respond with “Stressed? You don’t even KNOW what stress is”.

[Snekonysus]

Young people have been raised to believe their problems don't matter and aren't worth sharing with people.

[aidyn]

Parents: *judge kids and make them feel horrible about themselves at every turn*
Kids: *get depression*
Parents: •o•

[RobinAJs]

“Oh, maybe it’s your phone that’s giving you depression. Here, let me take it.” No. This will only make it worse @ parents

[viaf]

Me stressed about procrastinating cause I’m watching this instead of doing homework

[harleyp.]

What I learned in elementary school:
-How to read
-How to spell
-That no matter what I happens I will never do anything right and I will only get yelled at if I fail so there’s no point in trying
-The colours of the rainbow

[manijehbinesh]

Knowing someone is going to commit suicide is so freaking scary

[littlebabyowl]

I cried in four classes today at school due to stress. Only one teacher asked me if I was okay (and then the only thing she did was pat my shoulder), and only one friend comforted me. My own parents yelled at me after school, saying it was my fault that I was stressed about my four AP tests coming up and that it was my fault I don’t get enough sleep.

[Oreo-vhrk]

I do wish teenagers would be taken seriously when they speak about their problems without being called a 'special snowflake'.

[nihilira]

It's truly terrible how much stress there is
- homework
- sleep
- tests
- projects
+group projects specifically
- communication
- social
- friendship
- family
- mental
- health
- appearance
- trends
- sports
- financial
- work
I even would freak out about the little things, though it could have just been me but I had and still have serious social inabilities simply saying "here!" Every class would make my hands sweat, I understand it's petty and a little sad but I have just grown up that way.

[denialxproductions]

When I say I'm stressed my mother tells me that's only a thing adults experience. If only she knew.

[kenzbug]

A girl in my math class once had a mental breakdown while ranting to out teacher that he gives us too much work. He gives us 20 problems a night, and a quiz/test every week. This girl in particular started to tell us about how she is extremely busy after school. She goes to dance class for a few hours, practices for orchestra, and gets home at around 11pm, and still has to eat dinner and do homework. She has even said that she went to bed at 2 in the morning. That's about 4 hours of sleep. She does this and wakes up at 6 in the morning everyday and still comes to school and does her best. She is even the school councils president. Often she comes to school with bags under her eyes. I look up to her a lot. She hardly gets enough sleep and has so much responsibility and is always busy yet still puts a smile on her face, when deep inside she's struggling so much.

[kristenrasmussen]

I do mostly blame myself for my grades and lack of sleep... I mean, I am a procrastinating beast who goes to bed at midnight only to wake up at 5 in the morning to 6 alarms. But it's because I'm trying not to fall victim to the full student life, where I would have no goals or dreams or passions. I'm pushing school aside oftentimes just to keep my steadily decreasing playfulness from vanishing altogether just because I'm forced to do other things I often quite frankly render as useless.

[JesusChrist-fdsi]

What I learned in school:
- How to read
- The colors
- Basic Math
- THE MITOCHONDRIA IS THE POWERHOUSE OF THE CELL
- How to gain depression
- You can suffer a lot from "education"
- The system is absolute rubbish

Thank you.

[minellysrosario]

Sometimes it’s not even the parents, it’s literally the school, and the obsession of not wanting to let your parents down

[LK-xknh]

Adults have spent our entire lives telling us not to complain and that it gets worse when we grow up like that somehow negates from our current stress. They ignore our mental illnesses and freak out when we do something to ourselves, blaming us and saying that we overreacted. Then when we grow up and leave them behind and never talk to them, they wonder why we want to cut them off.

[soniamamour]

I have 5 homeworks due for tomorrow and it's midnight and I don't understand any of it and I'm crying

[skeletoncoolz]

I agree with everyone in the comments but WHY IS THE MIC QUALITY SO BAD. Every breath I can hear