Changes needed to reduce stress

High school can be the best or worst years of lives. It is full of so many amazing opportunities, but stress and inconveniences can create stress.

No matter who you ask, they will say high school is not going to be easy. It can be extremely stressful at times for so many different reasons, and just changing a few minor things could make students’ high school experiences so much more enjoyable.

Homework– I have not had a night yet that I didn’t have homework. Giving students excessive amounts of homework does not only take up hours of free time after school, but it also stresses students out even more than the actual school day does on its own. I can’t tell you how frustrated my parents get with me on the daily due to how much time I spend doing homework instead of hanging out with them. The homework I get takes me all night from the time I get home until I go to bed because I want to make it a good final product and get the credit for it. This forces me to work into late hours of the night like midnight or even one o’clock in the morning, which leads into my next topic.

School hours– This is easily one of the most argued topics by students. I have so many friends who like myself genuinely enjoy school, but the thing that makes us not like it is the hour we have to wake up. We all stay awake for hours doing homework and then have to wake up at 6 a.m. the next morning to get to school on time. School would instantly become so much more enjoyable if we could go to school even just a few hours later and end the day a little later. This leaves time to sleep in the next day for a little and students won’t be so miserably tired.

More out of class breaks– Having more out of class breaks like assemblies, study halls, contests, etc. would be a benefit. Students get sick of sitting still in a desk for hours and hours a day, and giving them breaks throughout the day would ease their stress levels and give them a mental break which will increase concentration levels and help make school work not so miserable. I leave school most days with a pounding headache from the amount of work I’m expected to do and no breaks in between except sprinting down the hall to make it to my next class on time.

Focus on fewer tests and more on specific content. I don’t know about you, but tests seriously stress me out. I hate staying up all night studying for tests and then worrying about the point worth, and how it’s going to affect my grade if I don’t do well. Tests can be easily replaced by graded worksheets  the teacher looks at from individual students. This data would indicate what students need to focus more on and areas where students excel. This also would help students learn what they need to get help on, and they will want to get more help knowing the pace of the class is now slower, also making it easier to get the proper help they need.

Just adjusting a few things throughout the school day could ease so much stress from students’ shoulders and make school overall more enjoyable experience.