The School Bell:   Zombies

By:  Natalie Ingalls, Falls Church High School

Zombies are real and they’re living in your home. Every morning, they wake up to the sound of their dreaded alarm clock, eat breakfast (or don’t), and make the journey to school. It’s not uncommon to see hordes of them lumbering down the halls as they stumble to their first class, devoid of life. Instead of craving brains, they clamor for caffeine. Zombies are real and they are your sleep deprived children. It has become the norm for teenagers to not get enough sleep, but it shouldn’t be. 

Much of the problem can be attributed to the amount of homework that high schoolers receive. When taking AP classes or other challenging courses, students can be faced with two hours of homework every night for a single subject. With four classes a day, this homework can quickly add up and become the focus of a student’s afternoon, evening, and night. 

But the issue is not as simple as it would appear. Dedication to school varies from student to student. Even if teachers were to assign a reasonable amount of homework, some students wouldn’t care enough to put in the effort. On the other hand, there are students who would like to do well, but simply can’t because they don’t have the motivation.

However, the problem is not just limited to schools; it’s found in the workplace as well. Employees have bosses who routinely expect them to work 40+ hours a week. Although they are being paid to do their jobs, is it their fault when they succumb to exhaustion from trying to complete their tasks? It’s not only students who are zombies; teens and adults alike are infected. 

We need to bring humanity back to our schools and our workplaces. Teachers and employers ought to be more responsive and aware that their students and employees’ have outside obligations and that life happens without warning. There will always be one more email to send or one more problem to solve, but there is always tomorrow. If we are more forgiving of one another, we might just solve the zombie apocalypse.

 

Falls Church High School
7521 Jaguar Trail
Falls Church, VA  22044
703-207-4000
www.fcps.edu/FallsChurchHS/

(Students who reside on the north side of Annandale attend Falls Church High School)