Too Much Homework!

YES! I definitely feel overwhelmed with homework. This is senior year, and school isn’t the only thing students are worried about. Most of us have jobs. Many of us have activities as well. And let us not forget that college is next year. Between jobs, activities, and getting ready for college, most seniors don’t have time to breathe. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard, “There’s so much on my plate right now. I can’t really chat.”

I hear all of the time from teachers, “This is what college is like.” Such is not the case. My cousin is in college and I hear her talk about it frequently. In college, you usually have one, two, or maybe three or four classes per week. You might have a heavier workload, but you have more time to do it. In High School, that is not true.

Here, in high school, we’re in school for 6 hours, 5 days a week and have 6 classes per day, and in my case, I have a job 4 days of the week, usually taking 2-3 hours a day. Throw in dinner and a shower and I usually have about 3 hours a day to do a college load of homework for 6 classes. I mean, I could stay up late, but that’s not cool when I’m waking up at 5:00 every day. By Wednesday, I’m ready to pass out.  Once you add clubs and sports to the mix, we’re talking about some seriously lethargic students.

I have talked to my mom about how it was when she went to school. Back in the 80s when she was in High School, she had two jobs, several clubs and activities, and all honors classes and managed to get straight A’s with some difficulty. I have one job, only 4 days of the week, a couple of activities every other week, and all honors classes, and I have an equal, if not larger amount of trouble to get the same straight A’s. Is there anything wrong with this picture? How is it that my mom had more things to do than me, but had an easier time in school than me? Students have too much homework, and that’s that.

 

I must admit that I do procrastinate, but only because I have so much other homework. Most of the time, I don’t have time to do big stuff. There is just so much to be doing. I haven’t had time for chores, fun, or anything besides homework lately. When you add a project to the mix, it gets that much more overwhelming. I usually end up pulling an all-nighter to get projects done, and last minute. It’s just too much. If I have two projects at once, forget it.

Teachers give way too much homework nowadays. It consumes our whole lives, and it’s almost as if we never stop moving. They need to reevaluate the fact that we have more on our plates than school. They forget that students are people, not machines. They also need to remember that we have jobs, to help our families in these rough times. School isn’t the whole world, and homework never teaches us things anyway. The “repetition is key” thing is outdated. It’s just one more thing to make us stressed.