How Much Homework Do You Have?

The American education system is putting unnecessary amounts of academic stress on their youth. Students are developing anxiety as a result of the immense pressure to do well. The thought of student debt drives students to odd wishes, like hoping for a school bus to run them over to eliminate their student loans. Caffeine has become the best friend of too many students staying up late to finish their homework.

Such excessive stress levels could be the reason Gen Z shows more signs of anxiety at a young age compared to older generations. According to neuropsychologist, William Stixrud, adolescents in this generation are five to eight times more probable to communicate signs of anxiety and depression than young adults living during the peak of the Great Depression. While sleep and new technological advances play a part in this, a lot of the blame can also fall on the amount of homework children are faced with.

In addition, during a study conducted in Appleton, Wisconsin students were asked about their stress experiences during high school. One student, Rottier, replied, “Thinking about college debt makes my hair want to fall out... it's insane." Adding on, Rottier claims she has taken calls from her friends in the dead of the night because they were stressing over a test the next morning, or simply due to their extremely crowded academic schedules.

In my middle school experience I have been told the following; Make sure to get at least eight hours of sleep, complete homework and projects for all classes, help out at home, participate in extracurricular activities such as sports and plays, study the night before a test, maintain an average teenage social life, eat balanced meals, and do community service because it looks good on college applications. Let's see how this looks as a schedule-

6:00 AM: You wake up and get ready for school. Maybe you eat breakfast, as your teachers express are important.

6:45 AM: Arrive at school early for zero period, because all students should be learning another language.

3:10 PM: School is technically out, however depending on the day of the week, you have tutoring after school to improve your grade, you have rehearsals for the next production, or you need to do community service. Sometimes these dates overlap, and you just have to prioritize what is more important. Let's say you have rehearsals.

3:30 PM: You took 20 minutes to yourself to go to the bathroom (since you would rather not have a UTI caused by teachers not allowing you to go to the bathroom). You spend a few moments asking for clarification on an assignment as well.

5:45 PM: You get out of rehearsal, unless it is a dress rehearsal, in which you will stay at practice until 8:00 with only one 10 minute break. Now you will either wait to be picked up or wait outside of school. Of course, you are swamped with homework and are on the verge of tears because your parent said to walk home. Yet, you could be working on an assignment while waiting to be picked up. That way you don't waste any valuable time!

6:00 PM: Let's say you walked home and are just now setting your heavy backpack down.

7:30 PM: After working on homework for roughly an hour and a half, you take a break. You check your phone and eat dinner.

8:15 PM: You continue to work on homework that you don't quite understand, so you start using Google. You get frustrated, but you don't have time to cry or dwell on how much homework you have, so you bear through it.

11:00 PM: You've finally finished your homework! You tried studying for a test, but you've done so much you just want a break. After showering and packing up, you try to fall asleep.

After consulting a few friends about their middle school schedules, we determined this is roughly the average schedule we went by for two years. This seems a bit crowded for 12-14 year-olds.

Here is another example of students being overworked. Hannah O'Brien, from Acalanes High School in Lafayette, California states, "I personally have seen so many of my closest friends absolutely break -- emotionally, physically, mentally under stress, and I knew a lot of it was coming from school work." Miss O'Brien continues, explaining a few of her closest friends have actually stayed up multiple nights consecutively solely to complete school work.

The American Academy of Pediatrics had something to say about academic stress a couple of years back too. The AAP stated, "Colleges are seeing a generation of students who appear to be manifesting increased signs of depression, anxiety, perfectionism, and stress." This stress is coming from teachers caring more about what will look good on our college application than our emotional wellbeing. From teachers saying we can come to them with anything, yet harp at us when we say a topic is difficult and we need extra assistance.

Lastly, in 2017 16-year-old Davis Cripe passed away after going on a caffeine binge. He reportedly had a latte, a large Mountain Dew, and an energy drink moments before passing out in art class. Due to the short span in which he consumed all of the caffeine, he went into a caffeine-induced cardiac event. In the research I have done on this event, I don't see much information on why Davis Cripe may have overdosed on caffeine. He drank all of this knowing he had class. In fact, he drank the latte and soda, walked into class, and chugged the energy drink. I find it very possible the reason he consumed so much caffeine is to get through a stressful day, especially because all of this happened on the campus during class. Yet, nobody is talking about why he overdosed at school!

The amount of homework young students are given is irrational. The amount of academic stress school is dumping on students is far more than healthy. The American education system needs to change before more students' mental health is harmed.