When a teen fails or does poorly in school, parents may react with understandable frustration and try all sorts of strategies, from bribery to punishment, to get their teen to turn things around. When all else fails, the tension rises and everyone gets exasperated and doesn’t know what is the cause and cure of the problems at school.
Depression, and not stubbornness or laziness. Approximately 4% to 12% of school-age children (depending on their age) meet the criteria for being depressed, and since depression isn’t just experienced at home, it likely affects the performance of a teenager at school. Adolescents who experience symptoms of depression often have difficulty completing school work and are at risk for failure and poor academic performance. Without early diagnosis and treatment, an adolescent is likely to have a negative cycle of depression > school failure > increased depression due to failure.
School failure has a negative impact on an adolescent’s self-esteem. A depressed teen may have a hard time working up to her intellectual and academic ability. He rarely completes his homework and his test scores are likely to drop because he is tired and has trouble concentrating. To complicate matters, your teachers may not recognize the symptoms of depression.
School can also be a source of stress for your teen. For a depressed adolescent, school can be the main situation where substantial demands are placed on him. Significant social stress can result if your teen is having a hard time adjusting to her peer group.
Depression is likely to affect your teen in the following areas at school: