The reality of school is that most students start their first day already counting the days until Thanksgiving break, and when they reach that, the countdown begins for winter break. Students live for breaks because it’s a chance to get time for themselves back and relieve stress.

However, there is one dilemma students have been facing since the beginning: homework over break.

Although the district actually tells teachers that they should not be assigning an excessive amount of homework over break, it seems to always show up in students’ lives.

Students bring up interesting arguments about the homework they were assigned over their break.

“I didn’t receive anything huge, but what teachers don’t understand is that all those little assignments from each class add up to a lot of work,” says sophomore Pearl Burton.

One argument is that students have a week to complete all the homework so if they use their time wisely, the workload should not be an issue.

From a student’s standpoint however, they have a lot going on in their lives between jobs and sports teams. With those alone, there is not much time left to spend the holidays with family. Any additional school work takes away that time.

Upon talking to the teachers about this issue, it is clear that they may relate to their students more than we may think on this issue.

“I try to avoid giving my kids too much homework over break at all costs, but sometimes I will assign them a small reading if I think it’s important. I realize that students have a lot going on, so I try to be forgiving. However, I always wonder if the school is taking the right approach. If we avoid putting stress on students how will they learn to deal with it?” says Mr. Tim Hurrianko.

This brings up an interesting point: is RHS sheltering their students too much?

When talking to the teachers, it seems that most realize that students’ lives are stressful and try to stray away from adding additional pressure. However, the point was brought up that students may be adding to their own stress.

“I do not assign any homework, because I believe a break should be a break. However, what typically ends up happening in my class is that students will procrastinate and not turn in the work due before break. This creates work for them over the break,” says Mr. James Grace.

Mr. Grace then began to explain that if his students just kept on top of the work they were given than there would be nothing to worry about over their break.

Knowing that the teachers of RHS are understanding people should relieve a little stress from our lives. Many teachers are open to working with students in tough situations.

So just remember to stay focused so that when the next break rolls around, we will be ready to relax with no homework weighing on our shoulders.