In high school, teen girls face social and academic pressures that shape their lives both positively and negatively due to high society standards.

Junior Sofia Marti said academic pressure affects her willingness to speak in class.

“If I didn’t have the pressure of saying the wrong thing in class and being judged for it, it would be a lot easier speaking up in class,” said Marti.

Not only do students in high school face pressures of taking advanced classes, but their voices get hidden behind the possible embarrassment of saying the wrong thing. Academic pressures in school are very prominent, but is the more important topic social pressures?

High school is also the time for making friends and creating new memories. But it can be difficult for students to have fun while respecting their own morals.

“Even if no one is talking about social pressures, you go to a party where everyone is smoking and drinking and even if no one asks you why you’re not participating, you still wonder ‘is it weird that I’m not?”’ says sophomore, Amie Weber.

The judging in high school comes through more internally when teenage girls are faced with social and academic pressures. Judgment from yourself can be worse than judgement from others. Social and academic pressures affect an individual’s freedom to express themselves due to the judgment that others give them.