Anxiety 

Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, jumpiness, and a constant state of uncomfort. There is an overwhelming number of kids who are severely struggling with it on a daily basis. As a matter of fact it’s almost more common than uncommon to find someone who is struggling with anxiety. It’s estimated that up to 6.8 million adults have anxiety while approximately 1.9 million kids have been diagnosed with it. Now that students are coming back to the classrooms to do their studies, after haven’t been isolated from their homes during COVID 2020, the percentage of teenage anxiety has jumped extremely by 31.9%. This is a reality that’s not going away soon, we can’t kick the can down the road. It needs to be addressed now! Maintaining a balanced school culture is like an academic seesaw with students on one side and faculty on the other. The level of anxiety has an effect and interferes with what they teach. Addressing emotional well

ness has resulted in teachers having to reassess what the most important standards are to teach

in their classrooms. In a discussion with Mr. Perez stated ¨ As I talk to seniors they mention that they don’t feel ready for next year, like they are lacking knowledge and feel a fear of failure in the back of their mind¨. Last Year COVID changed the whole playing field education, students were used to sitting in the comfort of their own rooms. Teachers were teaching to cameras on zoom wondering how many students were really taking in the information that was being given to them therefore lessons were switched and learning styles were being affected as well. Now sitting at a desk for fifty-five minutes with their notebook

or computer out and having to readjust your learning style to what it was a year and a half ago has really surfaced anxiety for students. At Esperanza we have counselors, a wellness specialist, a school psychologist, and teachers willing to listen and comfort us with the best advice they can. However as teenagers we don’t always feel like we can perfectly connect with adults as much as we can our peers therefore it’s important to realize what friends or resources are available from our peers on campus to talk to or get our feelings out.. The bottom line is the only way to start addressing the elephant in the room being anxiety is communication without letting someone know that you´re struggling your going to continue feeling alone and the uncomfortable state of anxiety will grow and manifest itself into an uncontrollable monster so when you feel the need to talk to someone or it’s too much the first thing you need to do is reach out to someone willing to listen to get you the help you need, you are not alone in dealing with this.