When we are little, school was the most exciting part of the day. The thought of learning was what drove us to want to grow up, go to college and get the job of our dreams. But, once we grow up we realize school is not as fun as we or the people around us made it out to be. Students in high school, including myself, have at least five hours of homework every night. When the school system is making teenagers and young kids dread the thought of waking up, not because they’re lazy and don’t want to go to school, but because it causes serious stress and anxiety, there’s a problem.

The Guarding reported that our brains do not start working until 10AM or the after noon. Students end school at around three, some have extracurriculars until six, then they have to get home and do over five hours of homework to wake up at the crack of dawn and repeat the entire thing over! I know what you’re thinking, “You just need to manage your time! This is preparing you for the real world.” If the real world is constantly affecting my mental health, then no thank you.

So much homework for over 7 classes a day can overwork someone tremendously. It’s as if my chemistry teacher does not understand that I have two other tests to study for, soccer practice and I have to read five chapters of a book I didn’t buy because I was too busy competing in a debate tournament. In the past school year over 55% of students experienced extreme stress levels. A study came out this year stating that in the past year around 81% of students in the United States had one of these three disorders, anxiety, depression and stress. The stress level among females was the highest. It’s hard explaining to your teachers your personal excuses that matter way more than any other. I can’t necessarily tell my Geometry teacher, “So this is why I didn’t do my homework, I had two hours of soccer, two more hours of chemistry, one hour of world history and two more hours of  English right after I had three mental breakdowns. All of this because I was stressing over Angle Postulates.” I mean I could, but why would I when the only response back would be, “Manage your time, be responsible, that’s a personal issue.”

The amount of times I have had friends call me at three in the morning crying over World History are too many to count. Now, don’t be mistaken, us as students are not lazy, irresponsible or overdramatic (maybe some). We are simply tired, mentally and physically. Apart from that, grades have corrupted our brains. We think these numbers are what define us as people, 100? Wow she is so smart! 65? Wow she’s really not the brightest. But it doesn’t matter how tired or stressed you are because everyone’s response will be, “Just don’t stress!” Yay I’m cured.

Mental health is so important for everyone at every age. Education is important and learning is important. I want to finish high school, go to college and get good grades don’t get me wrong. But, taking care of myself will always come before studying for Spanish. When there are students dreading the thought of waking up to just simply go to school, there’s a definitely a problem.