By Krystal Yang
As the festive season draws closer, and eventually closes up for 2016, schools all over the world are letting students off for holiday break. In the wake of the holiday spirit, and celebrating the halfway point through the school year, students finally get to take their minds off books, find time to hang out with friends, reunite with family, and go on vacation. However, this is not the reality for many students. Instead of two weeks of holiday festivities and relaxation, students find themselves being overwhelmed with papers, projects, and final exams.
In public schools, there are no laws or regulations that limit the amount of homework that a teacher can assign, especially over break. In addition, the increasing trend of competition and decreasing trend of teacher competence has just led to more homework over holiday break. Because teachers struggle with keeping on schedule, they throw packets of work at students to accomplish on their own. This requires students to learn and review material on their own, while the teacher just gets a free pass. Unfortunately, many students face this reality every year. Instead of enjoying free time with friends and families, students are forced to have prolonged study sessions, as if they were still in school. This contributes to a constant feeling of school-related stress, even when students are supposed be taking a “break” from books.
Schools need to start respecting and actually start giving students a break, whether this be through stricter curriculum or teacher regulations. Students are not receiving the proper relaxation time that they deserve, and I am sure anyone reading this article can vouch for that.
