OPINION

Looking back at the lovely days of online learning, we experienced the good and not-so-good things distance learning provided us. The district thought it would be beneficial to make Wednesdays a “work day” to check in with your teachers and catch up on whatever work you personally need to get done. Ruben Sanchez claims, “Work days gave me a chance to catch up on my work while I got sick quite a few times. I needed time and this day relieved some stress off my shoulders.” As we know, we are back at school and teachers have been less lenient regarding assignments and tests. Just the 2023 class has yet to have a full normal school year, so you can imagine the change in pace our bodies are experiencing.

This includes students with all AP classes, band students, athletes, students with jobs, those who need to take care of their siblings, and not to mention the new schedule! We as students appreciate the 7th period to prepare for sports, but that doesn’t relieve any stress of homework in the back of our heads. Augie Manzano states, “I usually think about homework the majority of the time and sometimes when I am done with homework I stress how well I performed it or if I am forgetting about another assignment.”

Doing research on a Finland education website I found out that “The truth is that there is nearly no homework in the country with one of the top education systems in the world. Finnish people believe that besides homework, there are many more things that can improve a child’s performance in school, such as having dinner with their families, exercising or getting a good night’s sleep.” With this longer school schedule, our students absolutely deserve a day out of the week when no homework is assigned. Considering a work/life balance, our country has little to none. Work and school are what our days consist of, preparing us for an 8-5 job lifestyle.

Mental health, life experience, and memories should be a top priority, and asking for a Wednesday with no homework shouldn’t be an inappropriate ask. One of my fellow peers Emma Zulawski informed me that she gets assigned at least 2 time-consuming assignments, along with sports. This leads to her eating dinner while doing her homework and having little to no time for herself, going to bed late as I’m sure the majority of our students are. The importance of work during the day is beneficial, don’t get me wrong. It is vital for students to know the responsibility of work and learning, but in order to portray their best work, they need to focus on that one assignment and take it home only if they’re not taking responsibility and they didn’t take the initiative to get it done during school. This shows them that you have consequences for not getting the work done during school, therefore it takes away your personal time. Giving multiple assignments for work and home does not provide a good example of balance when it comes to working. 56% of students reported that homework was the main stressor in their life, CNN reported.

Many adults shame kids for “being attached to the phone” while the computer is all we’re working on, so what good example does that set? We need to recognize that students being overworked will ultimately hurt this and upcoming generations, and a good start to creating a work-life balance can be starting a no homework day, to give students a chance to catch up or maybe even go on a walk, spend time with their grandparents, eat dinner without taking notes, and go to bed at a decent time.