How Do High School Students Get Their Work Done?

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Andrew Gray, staff writer

Most high school students today participate in a sport, either in or outside of school. This makes it more difficult for students to get their homework done daily, especially if they have a game that runs late into the evening. Accordingly, Students must balance their workload with going to practice or a game.

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, high school sports participation increased for the 27th consecutive year in 2015-2016. There was an all-time high of 7,868,900 participants.  Locally, there are a wide range of sports teams available to high school students – from school teams to club teams – offering a huge variety of choices. To stay active, students are encouraged to participate.

It can be hard to fit in team sports with the demands of schoolwork. Balancing homework and sports can be particularly difficult for students to handle when they first start out in high school. According to James Rippatoe, a student at St. John’s College High School, it was hard for him to sort this out. James, who plays rugby and swims, says that it was difficult to figure out how to balance both but “as the seasons went on, I realized how much time I should put towards each.” Another student at St. Johns, Mikey Petrizzo, says that sport practices take up most of his homework and study time but when he doesn’t have practice, he “feels that he has too much time to do nothing because I like to be active.” Jonny, an SSFS student, says that you need to maximize all your time which means you have to sacrifice hanging out with friends on the weekend.

Figuring out a balance can sometimes mean tradeoffs. Students sometimes find they can’t do it all. For James and Mikey, they have sometimes skipped athletic practice to get their work done. But they have also found themselves feeling stretched because of their athletic commitments. Teachers at their school will not give extensions for late work. James feels this is okay and that it is important to figure out a balance. Mikey says he feels “that they should sometimes get excused depending on the time the practice or game ends.” Jonny feels school comes first but also feels teachers should allow extensions for work if there is a short time to get the work done.

High school students enjoy playing sports. But being committed to a team is hard work and requires a lot of time management. It could mean giving up time you might spend hanging out with friends and family, or sleeping.