I address you, the Members of Orono High School, as one of your own, at a moment unprecedented in the history of our institution. I use the word “unprecedented,” because at no previous time have Orono students been as overwhelmed as they are today. Let us say to our educators: “We Students are very confused. We are putting forth our best efforts, our best attitudes, our best selves, to give you what you want: an successful scholar. We are staying up to three in the morning to finish your papers, skipping family dinners to study for your tests, and missing out on life experiences to pass your class. Yet every night, you still pile on more tests, quizzes, projects, and homework. Why? Is it to make us cry? Is it to make us feel obliged to you?
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Today, only 8% of high school students get enough sleep on an average school night, as there are “not enough hours in the day” to be able to do homework and study, have time with friends and family, and participate in extracurricular activities (Duval). Teenagers also report stress levels that are higher than the majority of adults and 83% of them say that school is a significant source of that stress (Shapiro). The average student is already glued to a desk seven hours a day. Add two to five hours of homework every night (or even more depending on the rigorousness of the course load) and then students are working 45 to 60 hours a week! Both of these numbers come close to or extremely exceed the average 47 hour workweek of an average American adult. In addition, students are developing more school-related depression, sleep problems, stomachaches, and headaches than ever before. We Students must all prepare to make sacrifices to further enhance our education, but we also must prepare to make a distinction between what is helpful and harmful in doing so.
A free student has the right to have time for extracurricular activities, leisure, and social interactions. A free student has the right to stop at a point where their mental, or physical, health is in danger. A free student has the right to petition for change in their own learning environment and reap benefits.
In the future of Orono High School, I look forward to an institution founded upon four essential student freedoms.
The first is freedom of sleep and rest for every
Today, only 8% of high school students get enough sleep on an average school night, as there are “not enough hours in the day” to be able to do homework and study, have time with friends and family, and participate in extracurricular activities (Duval). Teenagers also report stress levels that are higher than the majority of adults and 83% of them say that school is a significant source of that stress (Shapiro). The average student is already glued to a desk seven hours a day. Add two to five hours of homework every night (or even more depending on the rigorousness of the course load) and then students are working 45 to 60 hours a week! Both of these numbers come close to or extremely exceed the average 47 hour workweek of an average American adult. In addition, students are developing more school-related depression, sleep problems, stomachaches, and headaches than ever before. We Students must all prepare to make sacrifices to further enhance our education, but we also must prepare to make a distinction between what is helpful and harmful in doing so.
A free student has the right to have time for extracurricular activities, leisure, and social interactions. A free student has the right to stop at a point where their mental, or physical, health is in danger. A free student has the right to petition for change in their own learning environment and reap benefits.
In the future of Orono High School, I look forward to an institution founded upon four essential student freedoms.
The first is freedom of sleep and rest for every