Loredana Tirri Spano

Professor John Miller

Rhetoric and Argument

April 01, 2020

Should stress management be taught in secondary schools?

Facts:

 The high school curriculum includes subjects like math-4 years, English-4 years,
science-3 classes, history-3 classes, foreign languages-2 years, sometimes optional,
physical education-2 years, computers-2 classes, and health-1 class. (Education
Schools)
 Some schools have adopted the idea of offering stress relieve classes/clubs.
Jefferson Elementary School in Berwyn, Ill trains their students to relieve stress
using different methods, such as yoga and tai chi. (Ramirez, U.S. News)
 Everyone deals with stress daily, and everyone should learn about how to deal with
their stress. This website offers suggestions about how to manage stress.
(HelpGuide)
 “Stress symptoms can affect your body, your thoughts and feelings, and your
behavior.” “Stress that’s left unchecked can contribute to health problems, such as
high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.” (Mayo Clinic)
 “One-third of Americans are living with extreme stress and nearly half of
Americans (48%) believe that their stress has increased over the past five years.
(American Psychological Association)
 “35% of adults polled since 2007 reported feeling more stress [in 2013] compared
with [2012], and 53% said they received little or no support from their health care
providers in coping with that heightened stress.” (Time)
Definitions:

*Italicized words are being defined.

 In the United States, high school students, grades 9-12, range from the ages of 14 to
18 years old. (Wikipedia)
 “People” refers to “a particular group of men and women, and children.” (Free
Dictionary)
 “Stress is the feeling we have when under pressure.” Stress isn’t always a bad thing;
in some cases, we need stress to meet deadlines or react to situations. (Medical
News Today)
 We all have both good and bad stress in our lives. Good stress can motivate us to
focus or complete a task. Bad stress is stress that tends to stay for long periods of
time and “can weaken the immune system.” (ULifeline)
 Physical health “includes everything from physical fitness to overall
wellbeing.”(Cheshire East Council)
 “People who are emotionally healthy are in control of their emotions and their
behavior. They are able to handle life’s challenges, build strong relationships, and
recover from setbacks.” (HelpGuide)
 Mental health is “our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects
how we think, feel, and act.” (MentalHealth)
 Stress management is just that-managing your stress. Everyone has different sources
of stress and therefore everyone manages their stress differently-activities, hobbies,
relaxing, etc. (HelpGuide)
 Health problem is “a state in which you are unable to function normally and without
pain.” (Vocabulary.com)
 “A heart attack occurs when the blood flow that brings oxygen to the heart muscle
is severely reduced or cut off completely.” It can occur when the arteries leading to
your heart become narrow because of a buildup of plaque, fat, or cholesterol.
(American Heart Association)
 Diabetes is when a person has high blood sugar because their body cannot produce
enough insulin or none. (Medical News Today)
  High School Curriculum is the classes you are required to take in order to graduate.
 A symptom is a physical or mental feature experienced by a patient that is a “sign”
of a disorder or disease. (Free Dictionary)

Cause/Effect:

 Some causes/ effects of stress on the body include chronic painful conditions, panic
attacks, heart attacks, diabetes, and your “fight or flight” responses. (American
Psychological Association)
 You need to first identify what is causing your stress. From there you can limit and
eliminate certain things that contribute to your stress. It’s also important to build
strong relationships and rest your mind. These things can “protect your health long-
term.” (American Psychological Association)
 There is a theory by James Clear that stress is cumulative. Events that occur during
our lives add to our “bucket of stress,” so it is important to empty and refill your
“bucket” on a regular basis. (Clear)
 We need to remember that young children experience stress as well. Some steps for
reducing stress in a child’s life (speaking from a parent’s point of view) are to “stop
overscheduling, make time for play, make sleep a priority, teach your kids to listen
to their bodies, manage your own stress, make mornings calmer, and prepare your
kids to deal with mistakes.” (Tartakovsky)
 Some people put too much pressure on themselves with work, family, or things to
do and they can get overwhelmed.

Values:

 We should care about our loved ones’ and own personal health and wellness
 We can make a difference in other peoples’ lives by helping them manage and
reduce their stress
  Most people know they have stress, but some don’t know how to best deal with it.
We need to educate people about dealing with their stress.
 Some people are prideful and might think they don’t have stress or don’t need to
deal with it. A good amount of stress can help us be productive, but we don’t want it
to get out of control.
 Managing your stress can help you live a happier life.
 Everyone deals with stress daily. Relieving stress isn’t a one-time thing but
something we need to make a part of our lifestyle.
 Some people might not know what is stressful in their lives or how to deal with it.
 Some people value their families and friends and want them in their lives.
 Everyone’s priorities are different. One might put success above family/friends.

Policy Proposal:

Everyone experiences different kinds of stress daily whether it is meeting a

deadline, reacting to a given situation, or worrying over a loved one. All of these are
examples of stress which can be good, but to an extent. We all need a certain amount of
stress in our lives to keep us moving forward, but stress can have a tremendous effect on
our bodies. Many people believe that stress can just affect your emotional health, but in
reality stress can hurt you physically as well. Not properly dealing with stress can cause
you to have serious health issues such as anxiety, depression, asthma, diabetes, and heart
problems. One reason why the negative effects of stress is so prominent in peoples’ lives
could be because they don’t know. They don’t know what stress factors in their lives are
and they don’t know how to manage their stress. Stress can accumulate over time, and
because of this we should teach students about stress management in school. If students are
taught at a young age how to identify deal with stress in school, they will keep that with
them for the rest of their lives.

Audience:
 I am thinking of writing my essay to educators and parents. I think it is important
for stress management to be taught in schools and educators are the ones that would teach
it. Parents can also teach their kids at home about stress. I want them to know of the
importance of teaching students about stress and how big of an impact it can have on their
lives. I might possibly write my essay to the general public because I think everyone
deserves to know about stress and how they can deal with it effectively in their lives.
Everyone deals with stress and it’s important for everyone to know what kind of an effect it
can have on their physical and emotional health.
Works Cited

All Education Schools. ” High School Curriculum Information.” May 2015. 17 Mar 2016.
American Heart Association. “About Heart Attacks.” 10 Feb 2016. 23 Mar 2016.
American Psychological Association. “Stress a Major Health Problem in the U.S., Warns
APA.” 24 Oct 2007. 17 Mar 2016.
Clear, James. JamesClear. “The Theory of Cumulative Stress: How to Recover When
Stress Builds Up.” 17 Mar 2016.
The Free Dictionary. “People.” Collins English Dictionary-Complete and Unabridged, 12th
Edition 2014. 17 Mar 2016.
Digital Communications Division. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. “What is
Mental Health?” 4 Apr 2014. 17 Mar 2016.
Mayo Clinic Staff. Mayo Clinic. “Stress Symptoms: Effects on Your Body and Behavior.”
19 Jul 2013. 17 Mar 2016.
Nordqvist, Christian. MedicalNewsToday. “What is Stress? How to Deal with Stress.” 14
Dec 2015. 17 Mar 2016.
Pietrangelo, Ann. Healthline. “The Effects of Stress on the Body.” 25 Aug 2014. 17 Mar
2016.
Ramirez, Eddy. U.S. News & World Report. “Schools Battle Student Stress with Creative
Strategies.” 20 Mar 2009. 17 Mar 2016.
Sifferlin, Alexandra. Time. “The Most Stressed-Out Generation? Young Adults.” 07 Feb
2013. 17 Mar 2016.
Robinson, Lawrence. Segal, Robert. Segal, Jeanne. Smith, Melinda. HelpGuide.
“Relaxation Techniques for Stress Relief.” Mar 2016. 17 Mar 2016.
Tartakovsky, Margarita. PsychCentral. “7 Tips for Helping Your Child Manage Stress.”
2015. 17 Mar 2016.
ULifeline. “How Do You Tell the Difference Between Good Stress and Bad?” 17 Mar
2016.
Vocabulary.com “Health Problem.” Last updated 12 Jun 2013. 17 Mar 2016.
Wikipedia Contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. “Student.” 10 Mar 2016. 17
Mar 2016.