Imagine you are sitting in the back of your biology classroom. You are furiously taking notes and trying to understand cellular respiration, while your computer has seventeen tabs open for various college applications. The second you finish writing about glycolysis, you set your notebook aside and begin to write a college essay at top speed, all while pretending to be invested in your biology lesson. You have a test over cellular respiration tomorrow, and a college essay due in two days. You also have other homework, in addition to babysitting right after school. You begin to resign yourself to drinking three cups of coffee at 7 p.m. to make it through another stressful, sleepless night.   

 Does that sound overwhelming to you? The above situation is the reality for many high school seniors. We are trying to keep our heads above water and enjoy our last few months with our friends while also giving extra attention to our grades, applications and extracurriculars. We often must choose whether to finish a homework assignment or to sleep.  

 To all the students reading this piece, we empathize with you and hope you can give yourself a break. To the parents reading this article, thank you for having grace with your stressed-out children.  

 To the teachers reading this piece, we implore you to ease up on the homework you assign so your seniors can take better care of themselves.  

 We understand that a well-placed worksheet may help students understand a concept. But please do not add essays and additional packets that are all due by the end of the week. A large amount of work negatively impacts your students. It is too much pressure, and your students are starting to crack. Senior Grace Mabry said, “Homework takes a lot of time, so you don’t have a lot of time to sleep. This is bad for your physical and mental health.” 

 According to CNN, “the impact of excessive homework on high schoolers included high stress levels, a lack of balance in children’s lives and physical health problems such as ulcers, migraines, sleep deprivation and weight loss.” These negative impacts are worsened by the additional pressure of being a senior in high school. Seniors’ college applications are due in a few weeks. The pressure is on, and we are more stressed than ever. College applications will determine where we will spend the next four years of our lives, therefore impacting our development as adults. So, it is important that seniors have the time and energy to present ourselves well on our college applications.  

 Teachers, please hold the excessive homework for the next few weeks. Your seniors are incredibly tired and stressed. Please support us through the difficult college application process. We promise we will complete all the homework you would like once our applications have been submitted.