As a teenager and high school student, people expect that you get all of the privileges and none of the responsibilities, but that is sadly not true. Oftentimes, teachers assign homework without thinking of the impacts on their students. In my personal experience, my teachers assign homework on the daily and that proves difficult because I have 7 class periods. Managing schoolwork from 7 different subjects while also not having “student” as my only role in life is extremely stressful. 

Some students are athletes throughout the school year and most have practices or games that go well into the evening hours. This leaves little time for homework to be completed. When I have brought up this issue to some of my teachers, their response is usually along the lines of, “well I only care about my class/subject and how well you perform in my class.” This shows that some teachers are aware of this issue and are doing little to none to alleviate the stress their students are feeling. 

According to The Princeton Review’s survey on Student Life in America, 25% of students feel that homework is their largest source of stress. Also, teens are spending approximately one-third of their time studying feeling “worried, stressed, or stuck.” Although, this survey was conducted in 2015 and these statistics could have changed since. They probably have based on my experience and that of my peers. I spoke with John Adams junior, Seamus O’Brien about what the issue is and he stated that “it can be a problem that teachers don’t always account for our personal lives.” What goes on in our personal lives could include extracurricular activities, jobs, relationships or just everyday life. Due to students having things other than school being a priority in their life, stress continues to be added on with homework. 

On another note, I spoke with AP World History and IB History of the Americas teacher, Mr. Plasschaert about what tactics he recommends on how to better deal with workload stress. He recommended “getting involved in something that you enjoy so that you can still be active and engaged in the John Adams community but you also have sort of a stress reliever at the same time…you want to be able to give yourself some brain breaks that you enjoy.” This is great advice for students of any difficulty level class. By incorporating brain breaks and things that fulfill you into your school-year-life, you can be aptly prepared for the amount of stress that comes with the American school system.