Opinion: Less homework equals less stress
The temporary adrenaline rush from procrastination mirrors the scariest roller coaster in Six-Flags. The gut-wrenching feeling of regret while looking down from the top of a roller coaster and the escalating anxiety when you look at the 20-page paper that needs to be completed in just a few hours leads to the same question: what did I get myself into? When you’re finally done, you feel so accomplished that you are willing to do it all over again. This endless cycle of self-inflicted suffering damages your cognitive abilities and physical well-being.
The American Psychological Association released a study in 2014, showing that teenagers reported their stress level was an average of 5.8 on a 10-point scale, compared to 5.1 of adults.
All of this stress came from school; schoolwork, sports, social life, or other activities were the main sources of stress that teens felt.
It says a lot when teenagers are more stressed out than adults, who work countless hours and have to balance their budget in order to pay bills and bring food on the table at the same time. But who can blame us?
Students have four periods on one day, and another set of four periods on the next. We have to manage our time, remember which class has which test or quiz, study for the tests and quizzes, remember what project is due for which class, remember which homework is due and how much homework we have to do for each class, all while handling personal life at home. It’s even worse for people who also play sports and have to do this all in one day.
Teachers have responsibilities, but so do students. Even if you have experiences with handling all of your school work, you eventually have so much work to do that you can’t even do the things a teenager should do–having fun, spending time with friends, and not having to be closed up in your room all day doing work. Yes, schoolwork is important, but so is our mental health.
We also get punished for forgetting our homework. We’re in school for eight hours, and if you’re like me, you take the bus or sometimes have to walk home, which gets you home later and gives you less time to work on things. This makes us stay up until midnight or later trying to get our work done.
Students want to succeed and be able to finish their education and move on to college, but teachers need to go easy on us with classwork, especially since we have other things to do besides that class. They should have reasonable due dates and be willing to work with students so they can still get their work done. Students cannot keep up with two packets of reviews, eight pages of notes, and a dozen of other pages for homework. It’s less stressful and gives us the opportunity to actually enjoy life as a teenager.
