OPINION
BY CARTER PARKER, Freshman
BLYTHEWOOD-- NPR reporter Patti Neighmond says most students are pressured by mountains of schoolwork assigned to them, which leads to becoming overly stressed.
While some students have recently proposed the idea of reducing homework and schoolwork, nobody has gone through with it yet.
Schools should reduce homework and school work to lower the stress of the students.
Blythewood High School Nurse, Connie Taylor, stated “If a student comes in here in regards to feeling overly stressed we would ask them if they would like to stay in our ‘quiet room’ and the assistant would speak to them and process what they’re stressed about.”
Most students have extracurricular activities outside of school or fairly busy home lives. Which requires time for those extracurricular activities and other things such as, socializing, baby-sitting, work, and family interacting.
According to the new NPR poll, 40 percent of parents say their high-schoolers are experiencing stress. The poll indicates the stress was mostly from school work and not social issues or personal problems.
Homework, one of the leading causes of stress, has 24 percent of parents saying that it’s a big problem.
A survey taken by the American Psychological Association found that 45 percent of teenagers said they were stressed by the amount of schoolwork they have received.
According to Amanda Enayati from CNN many students complain about doing hours of homework a night, a study shows most students spend over three hours on homework.
These hours of home and schoolwork could take away from many after school activities they have planned. They could have problems in the family and giving them homework just doesn’t help out on the stress.
Teachers should look for signs that their students are stressed .
“Feeling nervous or powerless. A sense of impending danger or panic. Increase heart rate, breathing, sweating, and trembling, Feeling weak or tired or you may have trouble concentrating are the signs of stress, “ Taylor said.
Many parents also push their children into doing more than their bodies can handle or their brain can comprehend at one time.
Also, students undergo bullying and heartbreak which can be emotional stress or the stress can lead to breakdowns. Adding additional stress can be very hard on them emotionally and physically.
Schools should reduce homework and school work to a minimum because it stresses many students out and most students are already going through a tough time personally. Adding school stress makes them feel worse or as if they cannot complete tasks they receive.
