“I’m so stressed out, I have three tests on Friday and so much homework” said Charlotte Graham, a sophomore at NAI,
But it’s not just her. So many students feel the exact same way and have a hard time balancing high school sports, homework, studying for tests, getting enough sleep, and while trying to find time to hang out with their friends and family. Many athletes can’t even eat dinner with their families with conflicting schedules.
Mental Health
Teenage mental health has been one of the biggest problems in our society these days. Almost 50 percent of adolescents have experienced mental health disorders some time in their life. Every year the statistics get higher, over the past ten years the percentage has gone up 13 percent.
A large portion of the cause of mental health is because of school, specifically high school students having too much work piled up onto them and not getting enough sleep. Even parents can be a cause of stress and anxiety for many students, although they may not realize and most of the time although it probably isn’t on purpose parents put lots of pressure on their children to do better and make sure that they are giving it their all.
Sleep deprivation
The average school day in America is 6 and a half hours, with most high schools starting at 7 in the morning causing students to have to wake up at around 5:30- 6;30 in the morning. At NAI most students go to sleep from 10 P.M. to 11 P.M. and wake up between 5:00 A.M. and 6:00 A.M. Getting from anywhere from 8 to 6 hours to sleep. Teenagers should be getting 9 hours of sleep at least but with hours of home and sports practices it seems almost impossible.
Even more of a reason is studies explain how sleep can impact how well teenagers do in school. It can lower their grades and overall focus during the day. As well as for students who can drive, not getting enough sleep increases the possibility of vehicle accidents.
“The other night I was up until 1 in the morning studying for my three tests I had the next day.” Olivia Gronsky a sophomore.
Homework
A big question throughout students minds and I’m sure teachers is, “Is homework necessary?” Sure it’s more points going towards your grade average and it may be studying for the final exam but that doesn’t always make it worth it.
With the amount that students get and the stress causes it seems like there definitely shouldn’t be as many assignments given. Students who take honors and AP classes just have even more, although when people sign up for those types of classes they understand that, the pressure can still be unimaginable. Many colleges even require students to take multiple AP classes just to even be considered.
How much homework is too much? When students can’t get to sleep at a reasonable time, when there’s barely any time for students to hang out with their family and friends, it gets to the point where mental health issues get involved due to high levels of stress.
Sophomore Sania Bedi, “ I have an assignment in each class almost every night and I think students should have only 1 assignment if any, plus if you have to study for tests also considering many students are athletes.”
An online study says that students should have 10 minutes of homework per night based on their grade, so for example if students are in 10th grade they will have 100 minutes of homework. But it seems like students still have even more than that which seems unnecessary.
Homework itself may not be the problem but what it is is the things that it leads to, many students have up to 3 hours of homework per night which can cause getting barely any sleep and therefore being stressed.
It all seems like an endless cycle that will never stop as long as students are in school, that is unless they can find a way to balance it.
Sports and Clubs
Student athletes at NAI usually have practices that range from 2-3 hours sometimes even more than 3 hours. Some even have multiple practices per day and even in the morning.
Sophomore Lorelai Quinet stated, “Somedays I leave my house at 4:50 A.M. and get home at 6:30 P.M. with having an hour and a half of swim practice in the morning and three hours after school.”
Hours of sports can be exhausting especially if it is something that they love to do and want to be the best, which most athletes do. But the fault doesn’t always fall onto hours of sports, instead the pressure from parents to be the best at what you do.
As well as if students pile a club onto their schedule, even though it may seem foolish to add on a club even if students know they don’t have time it seems necessary with the standards of getting into colleges. Many athletes barely have any time to hang out with their families considering conflicting schedules.
It is proven that playing sports can grow students’ brains and allow them to work better mentally and physically.
Quality time with friends and family
Of course every teenager also wants to be able to have time to spend with their loved ones, whether it is family or friends. It’s healthy to surround yourself with people.
Studies show that if people are around loved ones or even strangers they will have a reduced risk of health problems including depression and high blood sugar. The real question is though can students even make this time to spend with loved ones or is there too much pressure built up on academics and sports.
Sophomore Addyson Wolff, “I find that I have a lot of time to spend with my friends and family and that makes me a better person.”
How to balance it
Now overall this story has gone over what the main problems are and things that they lead to but this is how to actually maintain control over personal schedule and not let things overflow.
Many studies say that keeping yourself organized will reduce stress and even increase productivity. Everyone has their own way of doing so, whether it’s keeping track of it online or maybe having a physical planner to write things down. It doesn’t matter how someone may do it just as long as it works for them.