The Halcyon Girl

That being said, school is not always very flexible for people with outside circumstances causing stress, anxiety, or depression. In my experience with that kind of thing, I end up lacking almost any motivation for schoolwork or just general daily things, but I'll get pulled into some other project at the drop of a hat. Which of course leads to more stress.

If school is going to be the place where we must grow and be productive, you could make an argument for homeschooling in that it's good to have teachers and a learning setting that is linked with your life personally to allow for flexibility and better mental health.

At the same time, it is impossible for many families to be able to do that. Some families rely on school to be a place for their kids while the parents work. In my opinion, the best thing we can do for public schools is continue researching into the causes of stress and ways to change them, as well as ways to approach teen mental health in general. Of course, people are already doing that, but we really need to work on implementing it into schools.

I'll shy away from specific examples because I don't want to make myself out to be an expert. I think, though, that it really is going to take time to make those changes. For now, if you are struggling with those kinds of things, you should talk to a counselor if your school has one or a therapist if you think that could help.

Also, please tell me what you think of what I just said if you can. I know I probably said something stupid up there, so let me know.

Hello.

I'm late to the party.

I only have two finals because I go to a special Focus Program every day after the first two class periods of my normal high school.

At that Science Focus Program, we instead have "portfolios", which are big projects that show the accumulation of our knowledge over the class.

And these portfolios are due soon. And not all of them are done. And I have so much stuff to do and it's stressful and....

Yeah.

(Now, time to go read what everyone else has posted!)

I’m also late to the party. 
I am glad that we have education, but I think that in America especially, it just doesn’t fulfill its job. Language arts classes especially drive me crazy, though this might just be because I read too much. Still, I think that they shouldn’t be teaching high schoolers how to use a comma. All the freshmen are supposed to read Romeo and Juliet; instead, we watched the movies and compared them. 
They seem to cater to the needs of the students that aren’t willing to put in any work themselves. This might be harsh, but after having to sit through classes that repeat the same thing they do every year, I’m just a little bit bugged by it. They should keep students up to a certain level, yes, but they also need to let other students go faster. Otherwise, there’s no point in giving up so much of your time just to sit around wasting said time. 

Sorry, that was kind of harsh, and I am by no means an expert. This is just a subject that bothers me a lot. Contradict me as needed.