Dear teachers, administrators and staff of BPS,
Let me preface this letter by stating how appreciative the students who chose to return to school are for the immense work you’ve all put into our reopening. However, it seems that the perspective of the students has been forgotten and quite frankly overlooked.
Connecticut alone has reopened over 250 schools all over the state along with their respective clubs and sports. As a state guideline, students are expected to attend virtual or in-person class as well as complete the classes’ assignments and homework. With estimated 75 minute classes, 4 periods a day, that is roughly 300 minutes in front of a computer screen. That isn’t even accounting for the on average hour of homework per class. By the end of the week, students are facing at least 2500 minutes in front of a screen to complete school work.
Business Insider recommended back in 2018 to “aim for no more than two hours a day on digital media…” BHS students are averaging around 7.3 hours a day. Is this mentally and physically healthy? No, it is not.
In fact, it’s slowly deteriorating our brains and creating health problems such as headaches, blurred vision, eye strains and trouble sleeping. Aside from the detrimental physical problems, students’ mental health is severely taking a toll.
One word, stress. The amount of stress that this new schedule has brought forth is surprising. For seniors especially, we are balancing the college admissions process (which has significantly changed this year), managing varsity sports and leadership positions in organizations, working one to two jobs and family/personal issues at home.
On top of all of our responsibilities, we are studying for our standardized tests such as the SAT or the ACT which continue to be cancelled or delayed. This ultimately means we either don’t receive a score and risk seeming less competitive than someone who does have one. Or traveling hours away to find a school that is providing one. Yet that equates to sacrificing time for homework or missing a mandatory practice.
While conducting a survey of my friends and others on Instagram, I spoke to several students about the stress we are feeling as students. One student, Madeline Brissette, an AP and Honors student, said “It’s been too much and in some classes it’s very hard to balance my work with college applications due soon”. Others like junior Tyler Jarvis claimed it was “awful with teachers assigning extra work causing a lot of stress.”
Last year, Branford High School students weren’t expected to meet on a Google meet for a 75+ minute class, to complete the classwork AND finish the following homework. Now don’t get me wrong, I am the biggest advocate for homework and studying to improve one’s knowledge and grades. However, it is becoming quite aggressive and overstimulating.
I completely understand the expectations of AP and honors classes. I am taking several myself as a high school senior. In fact, I asked a college student how their schedule compared. Rachel Urg from Miami University who belongs to their honors program states she is simply responsible for a maximum of 8 hours of homework per week and 45 minute classes if there even is class that day.
Recently I experienced a devastating loss within my family, where I was challenged with witnessing the actual death first hand. I missed one day of school and went back to classes, explaining my case to my teachers. They all kindly expressed their condolences, but as soon as I returned showing my face on the Google Meet it was as if my problems magically disappeared. In reality, I wasn’t mentally prepared to return and had to immediately leave one of my classes due to my instability. However, this personal issue didn’t halt my classwork assignments and homework due dates, I was still expected to complete them. That is the root problem. I am not the only student experiencing this.
Don’t forget the reason for online school and quarantine. We are in a global pandemic. Students’ family members and friends are contracting the virus and ending up on ventilators and could unfortunately witness a loss. Some families can’t even afford the hospital and medical bills coming their way, adding more stress. Parents as well as students themselves are losing their jobs increasing financial burdens, distress within households and potential abuse or harm.
School is indeed a priority, but mental health and stability is even more important. There is nothing wrong with laying back on a little of the work placed on students. It doesn’t make a teacher better or worse than another and it certainly doesn’t ensure their students to suddenly become better at the subject. Students are facing waves of anxiety, depression and panic attacks. How feasible is it really to ask students to do even more work in the same environment, especially for kids who live in environments not conducive to studying?
Teachers and academic scientists nationwide are taking to social media and the internet to declare their opinions in regards to the workload and homework gap. Valerie Strauss wrote in her Washington Post article, “Researchers have long found that there is less to homework than many might think; they have found that it has little to no effect on test scores in elementary school”. She also mentioned that results from a study conducted by a Stanford University professor were rather concerning.
After being asked what is causing the most stress within their lives at the moment (September 2020), students answered “homework”. Not staying safe from a deadly virus, maintaining their mental health or ensuring families are healthy. The top priority was homework grades and completion. What does that say about the American education system? What does this mean for Branford moving forward?
The saddening part of that study was realizing Branford High School students answered the same way in my Instagram post. Teachers seem to be solely focusing on how to catch up and advance forward with their agendas, forgetting that students are not machines. We sit in front of a computer screen for hours doing work and at times don’t even have time to go outside. We are not capable of completing the hours of homework, our jobs and our personal lives amidst a pandemic without suffering mentally and physically.
Students like myself are more than willing to negotiate with teachers and administrators to fix this issue. Students matter too and we want our opinions to be heard. We love our teachers and we love learning. We also know that teachers have deadlines and outside pressures too.
All we are asking is to take our positions into consideration and examine your own agendas and due dates. We respect and appreciate your empathy when reminding us that “we’re all going through tough times.”
But, we want sincere follow through because we are really trying to keep up.
Sincerely,
Bo Yun V. Brainerd on behalf of the students of Branford High School and BPS.
Editor's note: Bo Yun V. Brainerd ('21) is an editor of The Buzz. The views expressed in this letter are her own.
