You may be wondering as you click on this article, “High schoolers are overworked?” Well, the answer would be yes. High schoolers are very overworked. Why? You might ask, well, there are lots of reasons for this a few examples for reasons on why high schoolers are overworked, some kids are all caught up with extracurriculars, part-time jobs, sports, or even family issues like watching younger siblings or even just taking care of a pet can be a lot of work for a teenager.
When you think of a student being overworked, you may think something along the lines of; “Well they should just do their homework” but sometimes it isn’t that simple. While each individual teacher just sees the homework they are assigning, students get home with seven different assignments. An article on the education website edweek.org reported that “High school teachers interviewed said they assign an average of 3.5 hours’ worth of homework a week.” Another article says that students should get about 10 minutes of homework per grade they are in, meaning that while 3rd graders can do 30 minutes of homework a night, 12th graders should be able to handle two hours every night. Some parents believe that school is the only thing a teenager has to deal with/take care of but in truth it just is not. Students are also expected to be involved in extracurricular activities, which often take the whole afternoon and evening. Where is that two hours supposed to come from? These are some of the reasons teenagers feel burnt out, overworked and just exhausted in general.
The culture of overworking teenagers has been so normalized in today’s society that we fail to see how harmful this can be. Students are trying to have a normal life with school, work, extracurriculars, and sleep, not to mention the expectations and pressure that teenagers have from themselves and others. In the KidsHealth.org article called, “How Much Sleep Do I Need?” it states, “Most teens need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night.” How many of us are actually getting that much sleep? I’d guess almost none. There is just too much to do. Parents expect their children to have zero missing assignments, perfect grades all while trying to take care of themselves and live normal lives. When would we find 10 hours for sleep?
In some cases, a teenager may not have the best life at home and may be having to figure out how to help out their parents or siblings. While kids should be able to be kids, many students at our school are having to function as parents, making sure that bills are paid, dishes are done, and food is in the house and prepared to eat. These grown-up responsibilities stack on top of the teen responsibilities of school, sports, extracurriculars, and friends. Many students are chronically sleep-deprived, which can cause mood fluctuation, behavioral issues, and their overall mental health. Teenagers are under so much pressure to be “perfect,” when in reality there is no such thing as perfect. Students have little to no time to just sit down and relax to collect their thoughts which also can cause mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, and even just burn-out.
Parents and teachers expect students to be able to balance healthy sleep, good grades, doing something outside of school and home when that just is not realistic. High schoolers are constantly working so hard to improve and meet the requirements for college applications, it’s just an endless cycle of school, work, eat, and sleep. There’s no such thing as relaxation in the world of being a high school student.
