Prince George, B.C. – How to relieve high school stress?

It’s an age old question, but Kyle Rowell, a member of School District 57’s student advisory council, thinks he and his colleagues may have the answer.

He shared his idea with the Prince George School Board this week.

“We talked about working in a tutorial club block, something that allows kids to either have some extra curricular time in school or get extra help from teachers, which I find especially as you get into the more senior years, is something that will be very beneficial for students.”

The Kelly Road high school student says they base their theory on information gathered from students at all five of Prince George’s high schools.

“We’ve actually done something very similar at Kelly Road. What we’ve done there is every Wednesday we end at 2pm and we have an hour,” says Rowell. “Kids who have nothing to do are welcome to leave school if they have a way to get home safely. But there’s also clubs and teachers willing to help students at that time.”

He notes that’s been an immense help to himself and others.

“It helps students catch up on work they’ve been falling behind in, they’ve been able to work with teachers to increase grades as well as just having a block to relax and not worry about things,” says Rowell, who notes the constant cycle of homework, classes, job and homework again can be very stressful.

“Especially when one is going into college or university, making those high grades to get into the program everyone wants, there’s big pressure to bring your grades up, as well as find time to do other things.”

He says Prince George Secondary School has a similar program as Kelly Road, but would like to see it stretched to all five high schools in the city.

“I’ve very hopeful the Board will take this seriously. I feel working in this extra block of time for students will be beneficial.”

Trustee Sharel Warrington, who is also the Board’s liaison to the district student advisory committee, is “excited” about the work the students have put in on the issue, but says it will be up to the individual schools to determine what to do with the recommendation.

“It will depend on every school, some schools already have an extra block that offers opportunities for students to either have mentoring sessions of do different activities. But it certainly has some exciting opportunities for schools if they choose to go there.”

She adds student stress is an issue the district takes seriously.

“Oh, absolutely, I’m a retired teacher of high school students and I’m very aware of it,” says Warrington. “It has become a responsibility of schools to help mitigate those (stresses) and help students to feel more involved and engaged in school.”