BY ASHLYN COHEN
As winter break came to an end, students at CCHS have had complaints about the amount of homework they have been given. Students may use winter break to ease themselves from the stressful experiences after midterms. However, a lot of students find themselves coming back to school without any room to settle back into the “learning environment.’
Assigned homework and tests tend to clash together causing even more stress for students. In many cases when so much homework and tests are given with such little time to complete the assignments and study for the test. These situations have been occurring a lot more for students after break since teachers are rushing to complete the set amount of modules to teach before finals, EOC’s (end of year course exam) and AP tests.
“My core classes end up aligning with tests,” sophomore Brooke Sauvé said. “I normally get math homework every night and whenever I don’t understand it, it takes longer than normal to complete it, so when I have a test it becomes really stressful when I have to study.”
Homework and tests can become really crowding for the mind when they pile up on one another. Most students pick one to complete over the other, resulting in a poor grade from rushed work.
School work can become an overwhelming aspect of our lives especially for those who do extracurriculars for school or sports.
Extracurriculars can take up an enormous amount of time daily between clubs, volunteer hours, sports and training. Learning to efficiently and successfully manage time can help reduce the stress and workload a student can encounter. When coming back from break and starting 2022 on a fresh note, many students start new goals that may help to relieve the anxiety that comes along with returning to school.
“After coming back from break I find myself struggling to balance my school work with football,” sophomore Jaden Sheridan said. “I didn’t have a lot of time to adjust coming back to school, but thanks to my fresh mindset coming into 2022, I feel confident that I will be able to achieve good time management throughout the rest of the school year.”
Many students that take rigorous courses during the school year may have more of a strenuous time adapting to the workload after school. Winter break is time used to unwind from the never-ending stress, anxiety and restless nights that school work gives students. However, many students are stressed during winter break from knowing the hassle that will erupt when coming back. Many students are left with tests to study for during winter break and “winter break work.”
When students are left with no time to settle down from school and sports, it’s very common for them to be burnt out and exhausted mentally.
“The findings were troubling: Research showed that excessive homework is associated with high stress levels, physical health problems and lack of balance in children’s lives,” Academic Director Dr. Joseph Latan said. “56% of the students in the study cited homework as a primary stressor in their lives.”
This can have negative outcomes when returning to school. For example, bad grades, poor attitudes and depressive thoughts.
“As a student-athlete, the workload never really ends,” freshman Amanda Will said. “It’s a lot for me, and at times it’s mentally exhausting, but teachers just give out more and more work without putting into consideration that we were just gone for two weeks. I have a lot to do as is and the abnormal workload isn’t helping.”
The third quarter is known to be the hardest for students as the school curriculum is being rushed and the second semester begins. Teachers can help relieve students by being flexible on assignments and slowly adjusting the students back to the academic environment.
