Stress, really? Yes.

Day after day, one of my eighth-graders walks into my room near tears.

“I can’t take it,” she’ll say. “I can’t do this anymore.”

What she is referring to is life–studying, playing sports, pleasing the parents, getting along with friends. You name it, there’s stress involved. Though I have noticed the change, I haven’t been able to determine the cause.

But Georgetown University, who is sponsoring sessions in meditating for its students, has a take on it:

“These students have been conditioned since kindergarten to evaluate their performance. Anything they do, they’re comparing to their friends and even competing with their friends,” Svoboda said. “When you come in here, you don’t have to do that.”