Liberty For the High School Student

Logan 1
Brooke Logan
AP Comp
Mrs. Storrer
12 December 2013
Liberty for the High School Student
Competition is becoming a key part of high school academics. It seems as if everyday it becomes harder to be accepted into the college of your dreams. This is causing high stress levels for teenagers. what with worrying about looking good, keeping friends, doing well in school, and the growing pressure to plan your life by the time you're 16, it's amazing that we all haven't gone crazy. Due to high stress caused by homework, and lack of sleep, high school students should receive lighter loads from schools.
The students of today are stressed, not from the assumed bullying or peer pressure, but from homework and tests. "most of the stress is from academics as opposed to the typical assumption of bullying or social issues." States an article from Mind Shift. Parents assume that things like that are the cause of the stress, but the real problem is homework. Then there is the case of Nora. A normal high school student, pressured with doing perfectly in school. When she received her grade card and saw that she did not have a perfect 4.0, she lost it. Her mother found her in tears, and realized that it was time to
Logan 2 intervene. Nora had been increasingly irritable and tired, and she also suffered from headaches. She is not the only one. Students everywhere, including myself and friends of mine, are tired, frustrated and sick. While stress can be healthy for our body, too much can severely harm us. According to an article on the website WebMd, reviewed by Doctor Joseph Goldberg, large amounts of stress cause headaches, higher blood pressure, heart and skin issues and conditions, and depression- the list goes on. These symptoms are not just found in adults, they are also found in teenagers. High stress levels early on in life will only lead to physical and mental problems in the future. The mental state of teenagers justifies that our load is too heavy.
It is not an unknown fact that students these days do not have a lot of free time. We wake up at six, go to school, spend all day working, have extra curriculars after school, and all in all, most students do not end up returning home until around seven o’clock at night. We are then expected to help with dinner, help clean up dinner, and take care of other chores before we spend two to three hours working on homework assigned during the day. At this rate, the typical high school student is not getting to bed until close to 11 o’clock. Thus, forcing them to cope with six hours of sleep per night; far from what is needed. Sleep is extremely important for teenagers. It affects our growth, our mental health, and our safety behind the wheel- it is food for our brain. The National Sleep Foundation suggests that teenagers sleep for about 9 ¼ hours per night; saying that 8 ¼ works for some. But in all reality, this is far from the amount of sleep teenagers are actually getting. The NSF found
Logan 3 that only %15 of teenagers are getting that 8 ¼ hours. So, how does this lack of sleep affect our behavior, and success in school? It is shown that lack of sleep causes aggressive behaviors and a reduced immune system. Therefore, we are sick more often causing us to miss school. It is also shown that it becomes harder to focus, and listen. therefore, we do not learn. How do teachers expect us to complete tasking assignments if we are unable to focus, learn, and listen? Our lack of sleep, and increasingly reduced amounts of free time indicates the need for less time-consuming work.
Parents and teachers, somehow, have come to believe that all of this is “shaping us for the real world”. Please explain to me how raising our stress levels and, ultimately, harming our physical and mental health is helping us? Today, we are expected to be able to manage an almost adult life by the time we are sixteen, but we need to spend more time learning and exploring all of our options. If it has become the norm to change majors three time before you graduate college, then something is severely wrong with current society.
Teenagers who are over loaded with after school work are becoming less and less mentally and physically stable. High schools can approach a new style of teaching, and issue curriculums that include less after school work. Issuing new types of curriculums including less after school work would most effectively help resolve the problems. I highly doubt that the cost of this solution would be very high at all. I believe that states could afford this. The general public will find the solution acceptable. When parents and teachers see how bad the situation is becoming, they will be able to convince policy makers to initiate
Logan 4 the change. The parents of the students are the ones who really need to change. They are responsible for realizing the severity of the situation. As the writer of this piece I hope to show the public that times are changing; and not necessarily for the better. It is my responsibility to show this.