LHS STUDENT AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FELLOW Brian Holihan (at far left) congratulates sophomores, second from left, Luke McQueen, Addie Connelly, Olivia Goguen, Casey Flynn, Sumeet Lampert, Grace D’Augusta and Keely Briggs for raising awareness about stresses impact on mental health as part of the group’s Civics Action Project. (Dan Tomasello Photo)

 

 

By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — A group of Lynnfield High School sophomores are looking to raise awareness about the demands placed on students and its impact on mental health.

Lynnfield High launched the Civics Action Project for the first time this year. The project was initiated after Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law “An Act to Promote and Enhance Civic Engagement” three years ago. The law requires public high schools and middle schools to offer a nonpartisan civics project to students.

Sophomores Keely Briggs, Addie Connelly, Grace D’Augusta, Casey Flynn, Olivia Goguen, Sumeet Lampert and Luke McQueen are enrolled in Jen Goguen’s U.S. History 1 Honors class.

“Our group is working on starting a discussion about the high expectations in Lynnfield and how the culture in the community can fuel these expectations on students and teachers,” said Lampert. “When we were doing our research, we realized that Lynnfield is a town full of success stories. A lot of people in town are very successful and when their kids come to school, students have high expectations from parents, teachers and administrators to succeed, get good grades and be a really good student and athlete.”

Lampert said the demands placed on LHS students are incredibly stressful.

“Students want to get into a good college and succeed like their parents,” said Lampert. “Parents are expecting students to get really good grades and participate in a number of clubs and sports. That can be incredibly stressful for students.”

McQueen said the sophomores created a survey that was emailed to students. He also said the group put QR codes around the high school to inform students about the survey.

“We made sure the questions were vague because we did not want to put too much pressure on anyone,” said McQueen.

McQueen said the survey asked students to answer questions on a 1-5 scale, with 1 being low and 5 being high. He said 40 percent of students reported valuing academic success.

“We found that 40 percent of students chose 4,” said McQueen.

McQueen said 80 percent of student responders attributed community culture as being a major contributor to the expectations placed on students.

“Eighty percent reported feeling that the community’s culture contributes to the stress they feel,” said McQueen.

Olivia Goguen agreed.

“We learned that a lot of students feel the same way as us,” said Goguen.

In addition to administering a student survey, Grace D’Augusta said the group also interviewed teachers from each department at the high school. She said educators also responded to a series of questions on a different survey that the group administered.

“From our interviews, most teachers at LHS expect their students to get grades in the lower ‘A’ to ‘B’ range,” said D’Augusta. “That requires a lot of work and creates a lot of stress.”

Lampert also noted that a number of educators reported feeling stress because of the community’s high expectations.

“There was one teacher we interviewed who felt as though the expectations placed on her were higher than students,” said Lampert.

Sophomore Addie Connelly concurred with Lampert’s point of view.

“Teachers have these high expectations that they have to live up to and they expect students to live up to similar expectations,” said Connelly.

Keely Briggs said the results from the surveys and interviews were informative.

“It really was an eye-opening experience because high expectations create an invisible pressure that a lot of people feel,” said Briggs. “The surveys and interviewing teachers helped us learn that it is not just an individual problem. It’s a community problem that we want to address. We want students to feel comfortable when they are having difficult conversations with parents, teachers and friends about the problems and stresses they are feeling.”

In order to help address the problem, Briggs said the group created a resource guide that provides different tips for students.

“It’s important for students to take productive breaks if they feel overwhelmed,” said Briggs. “It’s important for students to communicate with a trusted adult such as guidance counselors at the high school.”

Briggs also urged parents to conduct routine check-ins on their children.

“It’s important for students to communicate with their parents,” said Briggs. “Parents should check-in on their children to see how their day was and if they are feeling stressed. It’s important for parents to let their children know they are there to support them. Parents should also listen to what their children have to say.”

Casey Flynn noted that peer pressure from friends and classmates contributes to the academic and extra curricular stress that students reported experiencing.

“I was recently filling out my course selection form for next year, and I was leaning towards taking some Honors classes,” said Flynn. “My mom pointed out that one of the classes I was thinking about taking would have been too much since I play two sports. I realized that I wanted to take that class because a lot of my friends were going to take it. I felt like I was expected to take that class because I had friends who are going to take it.”

Connelly also noted that students can use the INTERFACE helpline if they need assistance.

“INTERFACE is a helpline that A Healthy Lynnfield is paying for,” said Connelly. “It helps people get in touch with a therapist or a counselor.”

INTERFACE’s phone number is 1-888-244-6843. The helpline’s staff is open Monday through Friday.

While Lampert said the high expectations placed on students are stressful, she acknowledged that there are benefits to having high expectations.

“High expectations push people to be the best version of themselves even though it stresses them out,” said Lampert. “It helps students be motivated to get good grades and be a well-rounded individual so they can do well in the future.”

Briggs recalled that a lot of families move to Lynnfield because of the school system.

“That is an important aspect in town,” said Briggs. “I have an older sister who is in college. She had an easier time adjusting to college life compared to students from other towns and different states. Even though the high expectations in Lynnfield are stressful, they are really important to prepare us for our future. Lynnfield does a really good job doing that.”

Goguen said the community’s high expectations have “instilled a strong work ethic into students.”

“That helps students get ready for the real world,” said Goguen.

Briggs said the Civics Project helped the group gain a better understanding of the community’s high expectations.

“I think the students at LHS definitely understand Lynnfield is a demanding town,” said Briggs. “The Civics Projects have served as an outlet that has allowed students to make their voices heard. That is our goal here. A majority of the students at LHS feel this way, and it’s a good way to promote discussions in the school and at home.”

U.S. History 1 Honors teacher Jen Goguen, who is also Olivia’s mom, said she was incredibly impressed by the group’s work on the project.

“What impressed me about this group is once they agreed on a topic, they did their research,” said Jen Goguen. “This group is taking a lot of Honors classes that have a lot of academic rigor. But when they did their survey, they collected information from kids who take all levels of academics and are involved in different types of activities. In addition, they went to every department and interviewed either a member of the department or the department head. I felt like their sampling of information was very high. My expectations were high and they met them.”