There are many difficulties students face in their high school years. The most difficult part of high school I would say is the pressure to join the military after high school. With all the recruiters at your high school trying to get you to “Be all you can be.” I mean for some kids that’s a great idea but for others they just don’t want to. All the pressure can really get to the kids.
There are some kids in high school who come from a long line of military oriented family members. They are the kids who have the most pressure to follow in their parent’s footsteps. Many times the kids want to do something else but get pressured into joining the military. The kids are also bombarded by the recruiters at the school were they should be safe from these pressures. Then if the students don’t follow the footsteps of their past family members they feel like they have failed their family and often cut off all contact with their family. If they do join the military then they go to basic and get shipped off and very often have emotional break downs and do something wrong that ends up getting them killed.
Then there are the few students who want to join the military. And they are the students that you see walking the halls with shaved heads and in camouflage. They are also the students that you see standing with the military recruiters trying to get other kids to join. They are the kids we will all learn to respect in the near future. The stress they will face is far greater than any stress we can even imagine.
Finally there are the kids who are totally against the military and everything it stands for.
They are the kids that you see standing at the peace rallies throwing stuff at the men and women who have dedicated their lives to make sure they can keep their freedom. These people have generally had a bad family experience with the military. Well that is why I believe that the pressure to join the military is the greatest stress a kid can have.