By: Kevin Mosqueda, Yasmin Perez and Magdalena Montero

When was the last time you were stressed out? What was the cause of that stress and how did it begin? Students at APB constantly report feelings of stress over about workload of school. In addition, what  can this amount of stress do to a person.         

Sophomore Kimberly Garcia states that she is stressed because she is constantly trying to keep her grades up. Subjects she felt brought the most stress to her were: Biology and English. In order to relieve herself from the stress of those classes she listens to music. She acknowledges, “the school should have few programs that teach us how to manage stress.” Another student discusses that she too, has been feeling pressure now as a junior.

Junior Erika Aguilar states, “Now that I’m preparing for senior year, figuring out classes have been difficult. Specifically, AP classes such as AP Chemistry, AP Government, etc. As to the most current classes that are most stressful are, AP Language and Honors Pre- Calculus which have been the most difficult. ” She continues, “Family definitely can be a hassle because they don’t ask me about how is school or how I am doing with my friends. To destress myself, I listen to music, text my friends, draw or write. In order to feel less strain, I could procrastinate less. As opposed to the school, I understand why they give us homework and classwork but, it gets to the point where it is over the top and exceeds our limit. We still need college and are worn out at this point.”

Feeling so much stress causes students to “burn out by the time they get to college, or to feel the psychological and physical effects of stress for much of their adult lives” says Marya Gwadz, a senior research scientist at the New York University College of Nursing. To add on, “A recent Stanford University study found that high school students had, on average, more than three hours of homework a night. Yet research shows that excessive amounts of homework have little or limited learning value.” Although many may say that “a little stress and in moderation can be helpful to high schoolers in so many ways. It motivates them to study, to do better. It helps push them,” says Mary Alvord, a psychologist specializing in teens based in Maryland.

An anonymous senior discussed that they definitely feels stressed and that it is only resulting in problems for them. They state, “Homework, waking up early, and uniforms all stress me out. AP Government, Anatomy, and Guidance are subjects at school that have stressed me out this year.” They continue, “School should cut back the amount of work given in order to improve the well being of students. We tend to be so focused on grades, that even one simple absence in school can impact our grades which leads to lack of sleep or having to resort to cheating in order to be equivalent with the daily homework and classwork.”This anonymous senior is not the only one feeling this way for the past months in addition to having concerns regarding the amount of work given and requirements that are expected to be met in school.

Another senior, Yamileth Osorio commented on the stress she also feels in her classes. She stated, “Anatomy is the most stressful class I have. The work given exceeds that of an AP class yet it is only a normal class”. She continues, “ I believe the school should take action in the amount of stress that is in the way. They should be more comprehensive that we are dealing with college but also trying to trying to manage our classes.”

When thinking about what changes the school can make to reduce the amount of stress to students, Freshmen, Rut Jimenez, added, “The school should give students one free period where they can catch up doing work they are behind on or study for tests they have, just like how some other schools offer that.”

Such concerns have led to a meeting with the principal. Many senior students talked about their concerns over Anatomy. They discussed to Mr. Reed about the excessive amount of work given daily. Students are given packets that must be completed in a limited time while still given classwork that don’t correlate to one another.  

For the most part, most students at APB are stressed out about the amount of work given, but the question remains: Will the school take action in order to lower the amount of stress in students?