Anyone who is in college, has been through college or knows someone in college can vouch for the insane workload that professors are typically happy to throw on students. For example, I take 17-18 credit hours typically in one semester. In my schedule, that looks something like four or five 50-75 minute classes and one three hour lab. It doesn’t sound like too bad of a schedule until I factor in the 2-4, give or take, hours of homework and studying to accompany each class. Sounds pretty brutal, right? When I see people’s horrified expression when I talk about my classes, I usually blame it on my major, but the thing is, it isn’t just me, or my major. Most of my peers take similar hours, with similar amounts of homework, even those in the so-called “easy” majors.

However, college is not where the problem lies. It begins before college, in high school. I can say with confidence that the thing that surprised me the most about going to college was not the workload, but how well I had been conditioned to handle it. I never knew this going in, but I had been prepared for the college workload throughout my junior and senior year of high school. In high school, I spent even more time in class in high school with relatively the same amount of homework as I do in college as do many other students across America, along with sports, clubs and jobs.

To get into most reputable colleges today, your resume has to show proof of good grades (obviously), a rigorous course load (dual-credit classes at a local college, AP courses, Honors courses) and evidence of extracurricular activities (a sport, a job or a club). This translates into being in school or doing school work for 14 or so hours, possibly working a 5-6 hour shift at, say, a restaurant job and also finding time to shower, eat and maybe squeeze in a little free time. All of this responsibility starts around the tender age of 16.

Working all day, everyday, in high school, college or the workplace is unhealthy for the mind and body. The “it is what it is in this society” argument is overused and has to stop being used as an excuse when so many in our country suffer from acute anxiety. Anxiety is the most commonly diagnosed mental health problem among college students, and mental health is quickly becoming a widely-discussed problem as the number of students seeking help is rapidly increasing. These shocking numbers can even be seen in high school students, with 20% of teenagers reporting anxiety symptoms. With so many students reaching out to campus health centers for help, the question remains: how can we solve this problem? Does the answer lie in decreasing the workload, or offering better coping mechanisms? Considering most of these problems don’t start until the workload starts getting piled on, around mid-high school, there’s a good chance there could be a correlation.

It’s time for America to step up and show how much they care about their students, starting at the high school level. No sixteen-year-old should consider 14+ hours of work a normal day, regardless of how hardworking the society they grow up in is. If our end goal is to stop crippling levels of stress in adults, we must start by eliminating anxiety among teens.