Between heavy workloads, extracurriculars, and daily sports practices, breaks are a highly anticipated and savored period of relaxation for many PDS students. It is a time for recharging, spending time with family and friends, and further exploring interests that an upper schooler’s typical busy schedule doesn’t allow much time for. However, breaks also risk the chance for students to forget the material they learned earlier. Although this is most common during summer break, it presents more of an inconvenience during spring break, with AP exam season drawing nearer and nearer. Many teachers simply can’t afford to slow down or revisit previous topics. This presents a predicament: should classes assign homework over break to help students retain knowledge, or should they allow students to fully decompress and enjoy the time off?
To many students, the overwhelmingly obvious answer seems to be the latter. For one, family travel plans are quite common during breaks. Trying to spend quality family time and enjoy vacation activities while also stressing about completing homework assignments defeats the primary purpose of vacations: relaxation. Even for students who aren’t traveling, breaks are still an opportunity to step away from schoolwork, which is oftentimes demanding and mentally draining. Assigning copious amounts of additional work during off-time can take a large toll on students’ mental health, which increases the possibility of burnout and ultimately hurts them in the long run.
However, there may still be value in doing so. While resting may feel satisfying in the moment, it can also cause students to become rusty on important concepts and materials—thus causing additional stress upon stepping back into the classroom. AP classes in particular are impacted by this, with their intense workload and rigorous curriculum meant to prepare students for college-level exams. In order to help students succeed, homework is sometimes the only solution to keeping everyone on track and retaining foundational information.
Even though doing homework is no student’s idea of a perfect break, it is necessary in many AP classes to have a thorough understanding of the material before the exams. However, work should never dominate any person’s time during break; although doing a few occasional practice problems may be beneficial, the number one priority should always be student’s well-being and focus on recharging, exploring, and coming back feeling fully rested.
