The expectations placed on high school students are too much. It is simply impossible to take Honors and AP classes and do the homework associated with them, be involved with clubs, play a sport, volunteer, have a job and remain mentally and physically healthy. That is not including family pressures and struggles, personal trials, and having a social life. Where does the madness end?
The pressures of college is ever looming, even as a freshman. The phrase “Oh, it looks good on college applications” is the reason that any high school student does anything and is repeated over and over. Students of all grades spend many nights staying up til midnight or later just doing homework. There’s no time for pleasure. There’s no balance anymore. There’s no denying it’s hard. This has gotten out of control.
What is there to do for a young high school student to do? Drop out of school and screw over their futures? Don’t get a job and pay student debts for the rest of their life? Fail and not get into college? Have a mental breakdown every other day? Quit their sport? Let their bodies and stress eat because of all the other things going on in their life?
We’re teenageers. We should be having fun and enjoying these last years of our childhood and freedom of responsibility. We shouldn’t have to worry about all of these things that adults have to deal with. We should be given responsibility but we shouldn’t have to deal with adult things if we’re not actually adults yet.