Meredith sent us this NPR piece today on reducing stress and promoting sanity among high school students. She pointed out that the written summary focused on a balanced and sane academic schedule as a viable stress solution, while the audio portion emphasized better time management skills. But both are worth a read/listen.
I've always stressed that students should challenge themselves sanely. Part of being successful means being able to take on challenges and push yourself to work hard. But if you're consistently getting 4-5 hours of sleep every night, or even worse, if you're so stressed that you're physically ill, it's time to pull back a little.