High school is supposed to be one of the greatest times of your life. It is a place where you are allowed to explore ideas and meet new people. We are also taught from a young age that we need to challenge ourselves, especially during high school. Students in advanced placement (AP) classes are glorified, and the kids who are in every club become role models to the incoming freshmen every year. However, students who try and take AP classes and be in a bazillion clubs like you are “supposed to” often find themselves struggling to keep up with the pace. Juggling school, work, sports, and clubs can be a full-time job for advanced placement students. They are being forced to grow up faster than ever before, and have to take time away from their family and friends just to get the seemingly endless work done. Essentially, students who choose to enroll in AP classes are being punished for challenging themselves.

High school students, especially those in harder classes, are given tons of homework; there is a never ending pile of worksheets, packets, and textbooks on the students' desks across the nation. As a student who had a schedule including accelerated, honors, and AP classes, I can assure you that the homework given to an AP student is much different than homework given to students in accelerated and honors classes. Many lower level classes are given "busy work" - worksheets reviewing topics that the teacher discussed in class that day. AP students are rarely given a written assignment, but often times are responsible for teaching themselves the material that the teacher does not have time to explain during class. If teachers tried to teach all of the material in class, they would run out of time, as they need to complete teaching the curriculum by the AP exam in May. They have less time to teach more material. This is what makes AP classes so difficult.

Reading and teaching yourself a chapter in a textbook takes much more time and effort than doing a worksheet. Even students who are good at managing their time get behind schedule, and it leaves them with a feeling of helplessness — like they are in a hole that they can never ever get out of. They spend at least five hours a night on homework and two to three hours in extracurricular activities. Most people that I know do not get to bed before 11:30 at night or later, and in some cases, kids never go to bed. Many high school students are sleep deprived, and everyone can see it during the morning hours at school. It is hard to ignore the silence in the hallways and classrooms caused by lack of sleep.

Not only do AP students work hard during the year, but they are expected to spend hours and hours completing assignments during the summer. However, I have noticed that most schools assign much more summer work for students taking harder classes. Summer reading is important; it keeps your brain sharp and helps students retain information they learned during the year. In that case, shouldn't everyone have to do work over the summer? Why is it zeroed in on kids who already challenge themselves all year long?

Teachers argue that students who sign up for advanced placement classes are enrolled in a college level course. Several teachers, such as David Andreoni (history department head of Medway High School), say that students know what they are getting themselves into when they decide to take advanced placement classes, and have to be prepared to take on the workload. It is said by teachers that students are the only ones to blame for their lack of sleep and stress. They say that students need to make choices in life, and they need to decide between higher-level classes or after school activities.

Yet this contradicts what we have been taught since day one. "Challenge yourself." "Get involved." "Work hard." Students are brainwashed (at a very young age) that people who are involved in lots of activities, and higher level classes, are the ones that will go to the best colleges and have the most success in the future. They are told to build up their résumé, and that the more clubs, activities, and harder classes they take, the more unique they will be. The more unique they are, the more likely they are to go to a better college. And if they are accepted to a better college, so we are told, they will have a better job than someone who did not get as involved or did not take higher level classes. If they have better jobs, they are more successful. Isn't that what we want at the end of all of this - success?

So what is the answer to this problem? Students, especially those in AP classes, are being slammed with tons of homework, and sleep deprivation and stress is consuming the lives of many high school students in AP classes. However, if AP teachers give less homework, then they will not finish all of the material that they need to cover by the day of the AP exam. Some think that a longer school day would be beneficial - students would spend more time in school and, as a result, would have less homework. However, that would interfere with after school activities, and then students would have an even harder time trying to fit extracurricular activities into their schedule than they do now. It seems to be a vicious, never-ending cycle, where either way, the students are forced to pay the price.