The general argument made by author Vicki Abeles in her work, Students lack school-life balance, emphasizes the pressure that affects many students today physically and mentally. Abeles argues that the excessive amount of schoolwork and things to do result in children being depressed, anxious and causing troubles in their health.

She writes, “… I want school to be just one of the many forums in which [my son] can explore personal passions, participate in his wider community, and connect with friends.” In this passage, Abeles is suggesting that school isn’t just “a place full of learning” but also somewhere children can interact with others and discover newfound interests.

It shouldn’t be the community that shapes students into becoming more introverted and less compassionate people as they concentrate more on their overwhelming studies and other school-related activities. It shouldn’t be the place wherein children can develop “disruptions of brain development, higher rates of disease, and even altered epigenetics.” Abeles’ belief is schools should lower their standards into what students can take to prevent physical and mental health problems.

“Studies show that over the last 30 years, children have seen their free time evaporate. For example, young people today spend half as much time playing outdoors as they did in the 1980s,” she stated.

Sophomore Winston Jeffries feels that part of it is due to school, not all. He thinks that there are less and less things that we do outside the house.

“Homework can cause you to have a lot less free time especially when you have several teachers that give you lots of homework,” Jeffries said. “But it also might be because lots of hobbies and stuff that people like to do nowadays are much more online and computer related.”

Jeffries believes that phones in particular does distract kids from homework.

“It really is an addictive device that can cause people to lose focus on their work,” Jeffries said. “[But] I probably wouldn’t mind if I had an hour less of schoolwork every night.”

He maintains that school does take up quite a bit of time from his life. Jeffries tries to get all the non-related computer homework finished before dinner, so it’s “all out of the way”. And he is guaranteed to take a nap everyday once he gets home from school.

Freshman Lesly Joya wants to focus on studying and that it is more of a priority. She says social media leads to procrastination in her case. “You just want to be on Twitter, Facebook, even posting that you’re being distracted. That’s how bad it is.”

Besides social media, extracurricular activities are something that can take your attention away from academics too. Joya is part of JROTC, Young Life, and has soccer after school. “It’s hard to get homework in there. If I don’t do it in the afternoon, I do it in the mornings in the ROTC room,” Joya said.

She “wanted to cry” after seeing her schedule on the first day. “It’s so much. You have to find time and school always goes first. Your grades are what matters the most,” Joya said. “You don’t want to be left behind. Studying for hours is important now that we’re in high school especially since not everyone has the money for college, so you have to able to get those scholarships.”

Joya’s objective is to get good grades, so that she can take honors classes.

“I really do regret not taking them this year,” said Joya.

As for Jeffries, he wants to continue having an A/B average for his grades and keep up with an efficient work pace. Being a part of Forensics, his goal is to do well on competitions.

Overall, schools must find an equilibrium in the work they give. However, students must find that balance on school and life outside of it too.