BRAINS, BOOKS AND BURDEN

By BROOKE HARTLEY

Around this time of the year, students all over the world begin to notice a change in their demeanor as the levels of stress and anxiety skyrocket across the border.  The cause:   homework.  The pressure of trying to manage time between school, extra-curricular activities, family life and even jobs is often times an unbearable burden that students should not have to face.

Recent studies have shown that 56 percent of students listed homework as the number one cause of the stress in their lives.  And it's no wonder. During the transition from kindergarten to the final years of high school students see an increase of reading for ten minutes a night to completing hours upon hours of  homework.  

BROOKE HARTLEY FOR THE WIZARD WEEKLY

Madison Garcia, a junior involved in three advanced classes, feels an overwhelming amount of stress in her studies. Madison expresses, “I do feel stressed because I have to study on top of my homework to get the grades I want but it takes away from living life and having fun."  Since the start of the school year, Madison felt the need to drop an advanced history class because she already had enough stress with her other advanced courses. 

While trying to balance her education and social life, Madison finds it difficult to be able to  juggle both.  When it comes to homework, Madison expressed, “Per night I’d say I’d have to spend over and hour and a half, usually for AP Biology, about an hour for Pre-Calc, and with the time I have afterwards, I eat and shower and then I spend time studying for English and History."  Before all of this homework is completed, Madison stays after school for the clubs she is involved in for community service and athletics. 

As anyone can see, homework is affecting the lives of a tremendous amount of WHS students. Even though homework is a necessity to refresh the mind and review skills and lessons being covered in class, teachers should really consider the implications the workload may have on their students.  As the amounts of homework evolve and seem to grow over the years, it is becoming the main concern of students, resulting in their forgetting what is truly important in life. 

On the contrary, there are a small percentage of students that noted homework isn’t a concern whatsoever. Hannah Alpert, a senior involved in the Cosmetology Program at Orange County BOCES, expressed the relief of stress she has had after joining the program. Hannah shared that “since it’s a field the student is most likely interested in, the work is more fun than it is a chore."   It appears that Hannah used to dread the piles of homework she received every night. Now that the homework she is assigned is something she is interested in, she does not mind it a bit. 

Stress is a serious issue that goes on in high schools all over the world, and much of this stems from schoolwork outside of the classroom.  Of course, it is good to have a little bit of a refresher outside of the class, but kids can be overwhelmed with the amount of work given, and end up not doing any of it.  Hopefully a compromise can be made to help alleviate some of the stress students are feeling!