Haddonfield Memorial High School should reconsider the amount of school work students are assigned over the summer. Summer should be the time where students can relax and take a break from the last 9 months of school. For the first time in several months, students are able to take a breath without the weight of deadlines pressing on their shoulders. Students can spend more time with their family and friends, travel and most importantly, rest. But for many of us, that freedom is short-lived after we look at the Summer Assignments document on the HMHS website for the first time. All the excitement about sleeping in, going to the beach, or just having a break disappears. All of a sudden, you’re hit with the reality of having to purchase multiple books to read, math packets to complete and essays to write by the end of the summer. How are you supposed to balance fun, family, sports, jobs, and now this work?
I interviewed an HMHS student, asking them how they feel about the amount of assigned summer work. They responded, “I think the amount teachers give us is definitely excessive.” They are not the only students who feel this way; several other students I interviewed feel the same. Later in the interview, I asked them how much time they think they spend doing their assignments over break, “I think I spent between five to seven hours per class… 30 hours total”.
This constant academic pressure leads to burnout, fatigue, stress, anxiety and growing resentment toward learning itself. Summer work deprives students of the chance to have a crucial mental reset, leading students returning to school not refreshed and in the right mindset to learn.
Not only does summer work increase students’ stress levels, reduce time to recharge, and disrupt personal interests, but it also can lead to poor quality work. From my personal experience and research, students who are forced to complete large assignments with a long-term deadline often procrastinate. Time goes by so fast during summer, especially during August when sports are starting and people are trying to get their last summer activities in. Students do not realize the amount of work they have to do until a few weeks before school starts. This can result in rushed, sloppy work done in a short amount of time, which could affect a student’s grade and is overall ineffective learning.
If HMHS wants students to return motivated and ready to learn, the answer is simple: no summer work. Giving students a real and deserved break allows them to rest, recharge, and come back to school with fresh energy and focus. Taking away summer assignments does not mean students stop learning, it means they get to learn in different and more natural ways. Like if students have the time to explore their interests, they develop life skills and creativity that schoolwork can’t always teach. Without the constant stress of deadlines and assignments hanging over their heads, students will come back to school in the fall less burned out and more excited to participate.
Over the summer, I never felt more overwhelmed. I had multiple books I had to read as well as assignments to go along with it that took up a lot of time. Something that added on to that stress was college applications. I spent so much of my time worrying about getting everything done on time, it was hard for me to manage my personal life. I had practice almost every week, I was working, and I was traveling back and forth a lot. I went into the first week of school very stressed and anxious, it was difficult to even be excited going back to school. If I did not have to do all those summer assignments, I definitely would have felt excited and happy to go back to school and learn.
Ultimately, summer should be a time for students to rest, grow, and rediscover their love for learning-not to continue the same cycle of stress and deadlines. If Haddonfield Memorial High School truly wants students to come back refreshed, focused, and ready to succeed, give the students a real break. Let summer be what it’s meant to be, a chance to recharge, spend time with loved ones, and return in September ready to learn with motivation and genuine excitement.
