If I had to sum up my high school experience in three words it would be: more time now. Not in the sentimental, I want to be in high school forever way but in the, I have 15 emails to respond to, two hours of reading to get done, two tests to study for, one essay to write, two hours of homework, one hour of band practice, one hour of chores, this Voices article to write, several college applications to complete, and oh yeah I’m also supposed to have fun and spend time with my family and friends and walk the dog and eat dinner and clean my room and send that email and text that person back and call my grandparents and…

It never ends. More time now would solve all of these problems. But unfortunately I don’t have a time machine and I haven’t figured out how to operate without sleep (yet). But even more unfortunately, these feelings are pervasive throughout our high school. Sometimes Winchester Thurston can feel like a pressure cooker of never ending stress. We all feel it, see it, and hear about it. 

This school year, especially amongst the senior class, I’ve noticed a real uptick in stress. Of course, fall of senior year is a stressful time, but these patterns of stress are not limited to this time period. Last year my class was suffocated by deadlines and expectations as well as the class above us. In fact, freshman year I started to notice that my hair was thinning due to the stress of being in school. These pressures we feel are not limited to one grade level or time of year. They are constant, and that is the true problem.

These stressors are everywhere and in almost everyone. I conducted a survey on the junior and senior classes regarding stress and the responses I received worried me. When asked, over half of students said they often or always feel stressed over school work. 

Only a quarter of students said sometimes, and a slim four percent said rarely, with zero percent saying never. Furthermore, when asked if students were properly taking care of themselves, over half said no or maybe. Most students were spending about 2-3 hours per night doing homework, while some students did as much as 5 hours depending on their course load and learning styles. And even worse, students reported spending on average about 4-6 hours on homework during the weekend with some students reporting 6+ hours or spending whole days. 

I also asked students to run through their typical schedule after school and most students reported a jam packed night. Students involved in sports had the most intense nights with most of them not going to sleep until after midnight. Many students had familial responsibilities as well as jobs that hindered their freetime. This is where the problem arises – we have absolutely no time to waste. 

Here is a graphic of my typical after school schedule which is very similar to the average WT upperclassmen:

Nearly every day, from 8-5 the only break I get is lunch. Community time has become filled with meetings or mandatory school events while h-block is equally full with electives and even more meetings. And then I don’t get a real break until dinner. On an average day, I really only get a break to eat and sleep. And this is pretty much the norm amongst students.

If a student is spending about 16 hours awake during the day with only a few of those hours to relax, burnout is inevitable. For the average adult, studies suggest that anywhere from 2-5 hours of relaxation per day is necessary for happiness and health. Most students’ schedules did not allow for this kind of idleness due to excessive amounts of work.

After a long day of school and sports and extracurricular activities we get home to do even more schoolwork. Many experts argue that high school students should be doing at most 2 hours of homework per night. Anything above that starts to create harm. But many WT students report doing more than 2 hours of homework per night. In fact, teachers are expected to give seniors around 45-60 minutes of homework each night per class. With three classes per day, that can add up to around 1.5-3 hours of homework per night. But many students take longer than this depending on their learning styles and differences. 

Beyond being expected to complete a large amount of homework per night, students are also expected to be well-rounded and involved. Part of being in high school is learning who you are and what interests you. In order to do this, you must be involved in activities such as clubs, sports, or working a job. These are the things that matter most to how you grow and are necessary things to be involved in. But with already so little free-time, balancing these essential activities with school is nearly impossible and many students find themselves struggling to do so. 

Some anonymous upperclassmen said on the survey, “My weekends are too busy to do anything but homework and work, and really I only have like 1-2 days where I can relax for at most hour or else I’ll fall behind in school,” “I’m tired”, “Too much work,” and “As the year progresses, I feel like upperclassmen are going to get more stressed about college…is there any way to ensure that we can stay awake in class in a way and make sure that we have enough time for everything?”

But I don’t need a survey to tell you that the student body is stressed. Students are constantly discussing their stress levels. Everywhere I look students are working in the hallways or on buses to sports games. There seems to be very little time for leisure.

And sure, we must be prepared for college and the unfortunate realities of working adulthood, but there must be better ways to do so. We are teenagers who should be having fun with our friends and family and exploring our interests in ways that let us fail. We shouldn’t be so wrapped up in our grades and work and emails and college. We shouldn’t be looking for ways to stay up all night and summarizing our high school experiences into “more time now.” 

I spend at least three hours a night on homework not including the time I spend on my activities and involvements. Every week I fall severely behind on sleep. I spend the weekends sleeping 12 hours a night to catch up. I rarely spend time with my family because I’m always doing work in my room. I rarely spend time with my friends unless we’re working together. And I rarely have time to take care of myself. This is a common story at our school. 

I have no time to waste. But I lament the “wasted” time I spend being productive. I lament the time I spend in my room when I could be with my brother and parents. I lament the time I could be playing music with my friends. The time I could simply be relaxing, and doing absolutely nothing (a necessity to happiness and health). 

We must recognize two things: 1. there is not enough time in the day to do all the work we are expected to do, and 2. living is more important than working. Some students suggested that Winchester Thurston navigate the stress of the student body by understanding the different amounts of times it might take students to complete homework, giving students time to do homework in advisory, reducing the amount of homework for seniors during college applications, increasing communication between teachers regarding how much homework is being given and when, increasing the mindfulness of students’ stress levels and outside of school commitments, making sure all assignments are posted to the portal, and that there is clear communication of deadlines to students.

But the biggest request of the student body, besides less homework, is simply, give us grace. I beg teachers and administrators to remember their days of teenagedom. Sometimes we forget things. Sometimes we just need a good cry. Sometimes we just need an adult to say to us, “This too shall pass.” Sometimes we just need a little extra help. And that time is right now.

SOURCES:

Alberhasky, Max, Ph.D. “How Much Free Time Do You Need to Be Happy?” Psychology Today, 13 Mar. 2023,

    www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psychology-money-and-happiness/202303/

    research-shows-how-much-free-time-you-need-to-be-happy. Accessed 29 Sept. 2024.

Cassada Lohmann, Rachel. “How Much Homework Is Too Much for Our Teens?” U.S. News and World Health

    Report, 20 Mar. 2018, health.usnews.com/wellness/for-parents/articles/2018-03-20/

    how-much-homework-is-too-much-for-our-teens. Accessed 29 Sept. 2024.