Stress is at an all time high.  Students have always been put under intense levels of pressure, which can be beneficial in some instances. Now more than ever, however, they’re being forced to cope with the effects of continuous stress.

According to John Thomas, a health teacher at Granite Bay High School, stress can have positive impacts on a person if one thinks about stress as helpful. In fact, it can help a person work more determinedly and efficiently. 

Although this has proven to be truthful, it has still been a struggle for Thomas and several other teachers to cope with the difficulties of online learning. 

“Teachers feed off of response, and now that we don’t get that…it’s unsettling,” Thomas said. “I feel as if we can only control what the students are doing to a certain extent.”

He is a teacher who used to make copies for worksheets and made sure the students didn’t use their phones in class. All of the sudden, he had to switch to specifically online teaching, where he has been forced to blindly trust his students. 

Along with the teachers, anxiety and stress is something that almost everyone experiences in their lives.  Especially now, as people are stuck in their homes in the midst of COVID. 

Nobody fathomed that quarantine would last half a year or possibly longer. Students, teachers and parents have been affected emotionally and mentally from this pandemic.

When asked about her  stress levels during quarantine, Natalie Okon, a freshman at Granite Bay High School, describes her situation at home and the effect of not being able to socialize with others.  

 She has seen a dramatic stress increase since the beginning of quarantine.  

“I feel like I have created a hostile environment around myself in my own home,” Okon said, reflecting on her inability to socialize with peers as often. “I have stopped depending on socialization, because in these situations…you can’t.”