How Stress Affects Learning in Middle School Research Paper

Introduction

Stress is one of the impeding factors in learning among middle school students. It comes at a time when this group of learners is experiencing a myriad of changes in their lives ranging from physical to psychological. In most cases, learners at this stage get stressed up from the immediate factors surrounding them like family members, peer groups, and dynamic lifestyles. It is therefore important to consider how these factors can affect learning and therefore devise ways and means of averting them.

How learning is affected by stress

Several changes are prevalent among students during their middle school age. This is at a time when they are approaching puberty and some of them are already adolescents. The social and physical factors can all contribute to stress at different levels (Gurian, p. 174). For instance, as they undergo the real physical changes, it actually interferes with their concentration in class because the developmental changes themselves slowly graduate into stress. This is inevitable owing to the fact they are not used to such changes.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that the main change is usually brought about by the graduating of these students to the middle school level whereby the amount of academic work to be done increases substantially. When the workload is overwhelming, students in middle school again find it challenging to merge the rapid change from piecemeal academic assignments they were used to while in the junior classes. Such rapid academic demands contribute to another level of stress. As a result, some students may withdraw from active class participation in the learning process due to academic difficulty (Gurian, p. 221).

It is also imperative to consider how familial factors can contribute to stress and therefore impede learning. In cases where the family unit is torn apart due to divorce or separation of parents, a vacuum is created in which some instrumental parental role will not be met due to the absence of one of the parents. Research studies have indicated that children who are brought up in single-parent families have a higher probability of encountering additional stress-related difficulties as they grow up. Family disintegrations account for a significant percentage of stress among middle school students today. Usually, when these learners can no longer cope due to the absence of parental support, they easily resort to drug and substance abuse. This is a critical part of stress development because once drug abuse sets in learning is adversely affected. In most cases, school dropouts and juvenile delinquency are directly attributed to drug and substance abuse.

Moreover, there is the case of students with natural learning difficulties. This may be as a result of mental retardation which makes them perform dismally throughout their academic life. Indeed, such students usually have a record of poor performance from previous grades and they are wholly presumed to be academically disabled (Kaye, p. 178). These learning problems are even aggravated when they graduate to middle school due to the complexity of the academic work to be done. The learning environment becomes even tighter as they have to absorb more details every day, learn better organisational skills like time management as well as integrate the new social environment into their daily programs. This rapid academic and social transition culminates into both physical and psychological stress which culminates into withdrawal effect and subsequent poor performance. Additionally, the fact that this category of learners know quite well that they have been labeled dismal academic performers may in itself be a source of secondary stress due to the preconceived pessimism and the thinking that they cannot do well like the rest (Brigman and Goodman, p. 59).

Nevertheless, although the learning difficulties experienced by these students at the middle school level are not a new phenomenon, it is worth noting the fact that the pessimistic attitude they develop eventually draws them to seek alternative sources of identity and a sense of belonging. This further pulls them away from academic matters which they feel are duly responsible for their predicament.

The concern here is not entirely on students with learning problems but also on the learners with normal learning abilities. It is however imperative to establish whether those with learning problems experience more stress levels than those without similar difficulties (Kaye, p. 122).

On a general platform, it has also been found that the social support derived from acquaintances outside family boundaries determines the ability of learners in middle school in dealing with stress. The worst part of this support is when it compounds the already existing learning intrigues. One such instance is when students at this level are wrongly influenced by their peers. It is in very rare cases when they will receive positive support from their peer groups (Brigman and Goodman, p. 132). Chances are that when they are overwhelmed by stress in the due process of learning, the influence of peer groups will definitely drive them away from concentrating on their academic work. In the end, stress will have contributed to poor academic performance, a scenario that would have been avoided through essential family and social support.

Conclusion

In summing up this paper, it is worth noting that stress among middle school students can adversely affect learning mainly due to withdrawal from the much demanding academic work coupled with the changing physical and environmental factors. Learners who no longer find meaning in pursuing academic work due to stress factors can seriously make reckless decisions which may culminate into school dropouts, drug, and substance abuse as well as juvenile delinquency. All the aforementioned factors are products of stress and contribute heavily to weak academic performance.

Works Cited

1. Brigman Greg and Goodman Barbara Earley. Group counselling for school counsellors: a practical guide (2^nd ed.). Maine: Walch Publishing, 2001.Print.
2. Gurian Michael. Boys and Girls Learn Differently: a guide for teachers and parents. New York: Wiley & Sons, 2001. Print.
3. Kaye Cathryn Berger. The complete guide to service learning. Minnesota: Free Spirit Publishing Inc, 2004.Print.