How is high school greenness related to students' restoration and health?

High school greenness can help students recover from stress

This study examined the association between perceived restorativeness of high school greenness and students’ perceived restoration. The study also examined the relationship between high school greenness and students’ stress, mental and physical health, and quality of life.

A restorative environment can be especially helpful for high school students as they deal with the stressors of adolescence, including the pressures of preparing for university entrance exams. Restorative environments — which assist in recovery from stress and fatigue — have four specific components: being away (physically or psychologically), fascination (cognitive or physical), compatibility (with purpose), and coherence or extent (scope and connectedness).

This study was conducted in Turkey with a total of 223 high school students (aged 12–20) participating. The high school selected for this study has a dormitory for boarding students and green space with trees, shrubs, and other types of vegetation. At the time of the study, the high school served 265 students: 198 boarders and 67 commuters. A survey was used to collect data on the four components of restorative environments as perceived by the students and indicators of student health. Naturalness of the school grounds was evaluated by two professional landscape architects.

Results indicated that greenness on the high school campus influenced students’ perceived restorativeness. Boys reported better restorativeness than girls; and younger students reported better health and quality of life than older students. Commuter students reported positive restorative benefits while boarders did not.

These findings suggest that restorativeness as perceived by students can be predicted by the level of greenness on the high school campus. These findings also suggest that greenness on the high school campus can contribute to students’ health, but that students’ preferences for certain qualities and features of green space in schools should be considered.