by David Aaron White

Created on: March 28, 2009   Last Updated: November 09, 2009

Parents are good at putting the pressure on their kids. There's just something about them, whether it be their authority, intimidation, or reverse-psychology, that allows them to scare us kids into doing whatever they want, particularly when it comes to schoolwork. Unfortunately, pressure can build on us, and we buckle under the weight of it all. This could manifest itself in the form of insomnia, depression, intense mood swings, or other conditions, which could then lead to a loss of interest in other activities, a non-existent social life, or, believe it or not, a drop in grades. So how can we deal with this pressure:

One of the ways to avoid pressure is to just do exactly what your parents want you to do. Come home, do your homework each night, study, and then do whatever else that you want, such as talking to friends. If there's no reason for them to continuously put pressure on you, i.e. if you're cooperative, then you'll save yourself a great deal of trouble. As always, it's best to stop a problem before it becomes a problem, and seriously, being a diligent student will pay off in the future. If you don't give your parents any reason to apply pressure, then it simply won't happen.

If you have to deal with already-existing pressure, though, then you need to find a way to vent your feelings. One of these ways is punching your pillow. Think of this: if you have too many angry and unhappy feelings inside you, then they could interfere with your schoolwork, not to mention the rest of your life in general, because you'll spend all of your time trying to fight them. Instead, Go to your room, get on your bed, and beat the stuffing out of a pillow until you're too tired to move. You'll find that you feel much more relaxed, and probably happier, once you've vented a bit, and no one will get hurt by your actions.

Another way to vent pressure is through an already-existing medium. For example, I play tennis almost regularly during the spring, and whenever I'm having a tough time in my home or social life, I can channel that rage into my tennis game, and it usually pays off. In tennis, you want to hit the ball pretty hard while applying enough topspin to the ball, and when I'm mad I feel as if I can hit a complete and powerful shot, which is the most effective. Additionally, anger and pressure can increase your aggressiveness, so take a chance and go out for a run; imagine that you're running against a tough opponent, grit your teeth, and run as hard as you can against

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