Electronic forms of communication, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and email can promote stress in students.

“There is always stuff happening on Facebook and social media,” said junior Jacob Elias. “Just keeping up with it is overwhelming. Missing out on a minute of it could mean missing out on something huge.”

Social worker Patrick Wagner said some students have such a compelling need to stay in touch that they have a hard time sleeping because they are checking Facebook, Instagram and other sites. He said this behavior can have “addictive elements” and “can have an adverse effect on a person’s life.” Those affected can become sad, upset or depressed.

Junior Emma Kawasaki said she can spend up to three and a half or four hours each day communicating through social media and texts.

One form of stress comes from students’ ability to view their relative popularity online.

“Students’ self-esteem can suffer when they perceive they are less popular online than others,” Wagner said.

Wagner described one insecure student who frequently checked the Facebook pages of people the student thought were popular.

She also said students participate on Kairos and only miss one day of school before Thanksgiving break.

Kris Frandson, associate principal for curriculum, said if students are missing school because of the retreats, they have the responsibility of planning ahead.

“When kids decide to join Snowball or any kinds of activities when they know they could be missing classes, [students need to] be prepared for that absence, so that the goals they have within the classroom can still be achieved,” Frandson said.

Since Snowball also invites teachers to participate, Frandson said “advanced planning is really important” for teachers as well as students. She said teachers need to have a lesson plan ready for substitutes and get caught up on grading before and after they leave.

With out of school activities like Kairos, Frandson thinks it’s “a decision made by a family, like [going on a] vacation.” She said that students are still expected to be prepared so they don’t fall behind academically. Nevertheless, Nolan said that both are great retreats and she learned a lot from each one. She said that they offer the same messages to “love who you are” and “be you for you and not for someone else.”

Regardless of what retreat students choose to attend, Bruce believes you can have a “life changing” experience on both.

“[The retreats are] responding to teens really wanting a little more personal growth,” said Bruce. “Forget about the studies. Everybody is driven to death with studies, but it’s the personal growth teens experience [that] I’m very thankful for.”