The alarm goes off at 6 a.m., but for many of the students at Alton High, it feels like it just never stops ringing. Homework is unfinished, tired minds and eyes, and a full day of school, work and sports ahead. They’re struggling with advanced classes, sports, jobs, the pressure to succeed and friendships. The students are not just tired or exhausted, they’re burned out. For many students, high school isn’t feeling like a fun place to learn anymore, but it’s starting to become a place where they’re afraid to fall behind and fail in.
As more and more schools start to push their students to achieve and succeed at the top, the students are pushing themselves harder and longer. Burnout is slowly affecting the students grades, mental health and their overall well being. This is creating a worldwide situation that can no longer be ignored.
“As a junior in high school and a competitive dancer outside of school, my workload and the pressures of studying for tests, doing well on them, turning in assignments on time and trying to do well for colleges, can be a lot of stress and hard to balance with life outside of school. It can feel mentally and physically draining,” junior McKenna Fox said.
According to a study taken in 2025 at Harvard, 76.4% of high school students worldwide claim they struggle with student burnout daily. In the state of Illinois, 34% of high school students have reported struggling with burnout.
“I think we probably notice burnout in a couple different ways,” Principal Stacie Franke said. “I think we notice it when the admin team has relationships and connections with students and they’ll come in and talk to us. We have regular meetings with our guidance counselors and our social workers and we talk to students who may need extra support or we have data that shows that they may be struggling.”
Student burnout is not just a phase or something that students can simply just push through. Burnout is a serious issue that has been affecting academic performance, mental health, and the overall quality of life for years. While schools are working on being able to recognize and support struggling students, the real change that is needed is understanding and open conversations between students and staff. Until student well being is treated with the same importance as academic success, the alarm will keep ringing. For many students, the exhaustion will continue long after the school day ends.
Students who are struggling with burnout can find help at The Jed Foundation website.
This website provides easy access to resources that can help anyone struggling.
