Not Enough Time To Do Everything

Do you never have enough time to do everything that you want?

This is especially a problem for high school students.

The life of a high school student is jam packed with so much more than people realize. It can be summed up in one common phrase: "I don’t have the time." There really is no time in this day and age to do anything but school. Granted there are those students who could care less about school and simply party all the time, but for the majority of students, school takes precedent over everything else in life. There are not enough hours in a day for a high school student to accomplish everything that he/she needs, let alone wants.

Image by Hatice EROL

Let's walk through the average day of a high school student. A student usually wakes up around 6:30 (on average) in the morning to get ready for school. Obviously, some students wake up earlier and some later, though not much later. Why so early? -Because most high schools start before 8am every morning. Many local schools in my area start classes at 7:45. Teens are obviously slow in the morning due to staying up so late the night before, so they need more time to prepare for school. For those who drive themselves to school, they need to leave even earlier than others because finding parking could sometimes take a long time. (not to mention having to walk from the car to school) This could easily add 15 to 25 additional minutes that a student needs to get to school. That is 15 to 25 minutes less of sleep in the morning. Somehow, they manage to get to school on time, many by skipping breakfast, driving unsafely (usually speeding), or a variety of other hazardous (sleep induced) actions.

So a student arrives at school to be met with an average 7 hour day. Unfortunately, students know that school is rarely just a 7 hour day. So students go through a full day of classes and receive homework for EVERY class. The bell rings around 3 many people have the impression that students just go home, finish their minimal homework, and have fun for the rest of the evening. This is COMPLETELY FALSE. For starters, a very large number of students do not leave school at 3, but stay for extra curricular activities or sports, which run at least until 5 or 5:30. These are usually the students who have the most school work already, and realize the importance of extra curriculars in their college applications. So by the time that these students get home it is somewhere between 6 and 6:30, sometimes even later. The 7 hour school day just turned into a 12 hour school day: from 6:30 in the morning until 6:30 at night.

Now at long last, the students can finally start their homework. However, before this, they must first eat dinner, and many need some time to collect their thoughts and relax after the grueling day they just had. Homework usually starts around 7ish. Fortunately for these students, there is only 3 hours of homework tonight, it could have been much worse. Especially if we are dealing with AP Students, then 3 hours is nothing. Quite frequently, reading for AP History could take 3 hours alone! By the time that students finish all of their homework, it is between 10 and 11 pm. So much for enjoying the rest of the evening! ... These students finally go to sleep around 11, or 11:30pm. On average, these students get 6 and 1/2 hours of sleep a night, which is 1 and 1/2 less than recommended by almost all doctors. (8 hours minimum to life a healthy life)

So this is the average day of a high school student who does more than just go to school: a constant cycle of sleep deprivation. Add to this additional activities, either for fun or school, there just is not enough time. Many students take SAT prep classes over the weekends, which require them to wake up early and study for 3 to 7 hours on Saturday and Sunday. Some students manage to take these classes during the week! (I have no idea how they survive) People, especially teachers, always think that high school students have all the time in the world but this is not the case. Students wish that they just had more time to sleep, not to mention have fun. There just is not enough time in the day.

Other articles that you might enjoy:
The AP Student
Activities Outside of School

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