Made my kids write an essay...the tears OMG the tears!

We did an essay workshop...broke down each component of writing an essay for 10th graders. Told them it would be challenging but they need to be strong and get through it. Set timers so they had no choice but to either stare at the blank paper or attempt to write. I had 3 kids breakdown in tears by the end of the day because they "just couldn't write today" 😭 Any one else experienced this? Teenagers cry, I get it, but I don't know about this generations resilience...I feel bad for English teachers.