With exams and exam preparation, financial worries, global concerns, as well as our own individual stresses and pressures, April can be a very stressful month. Josh, member of the Somerset Youth Parliament Advisory Group has written about April’s stresses and Stress Awareness Month.
April is stress awareness month. It is particularly important to recognise that for many young people, the world can be a particularly stressful place at this time. Whether that’s through upcoming exams in education or families struggling financially. It is important to recognise that it is not only adults that can struggle with stress many children and young people do at the same time.
You might not see the effects of stress as visibly as you would in an adult or a young person because young people often don’t necessarily know how to express stress in a way that you would if you were older.
It can be very easy for young people to become stressed and overwhelmed by events that perhaps adults may not find stressful, such as falling out with a friend at school or not getting the test result that you wanted. It is important to recognise that people react to stress in different ways, and there are many ways to deal with it. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution for every young person. Every adult is going to have their own different ways of dealing with stress, and most importantly, it is about allowing young people to find their own way of dealing with the situation in a way that best suits them.
While it is great if parents and carers can offer guidance on what might help to resolve a situation, it is also important to understand the needs of young people and how they want to be able to deal with a situation. Again, every situation is different. Every situation is going to have a slightly different solution. It is about recognising that and best supporting young people to find a solution that they find most helpful.
Josh
Not just elected members
Did you know that Somerset Youth Parliament isn’t just it’s elected members? Any young person in Somerset aged 10-25 years can become a member of the Somerset Youth Parliament Advisory Group.
For more information about becoming a member of the Somerset Youth Parliament Advisory Group and to join, visit our Join Us page.
