This time of year is arguably one of the most stressful times for a student. Midterms count for a big percentage of an individual’s semester grade and can influence whether they pass or fail.

The holidays, too, are a stressful time. People drive like maniacs trying to get across town to the mall and buy every single person the perfect gift. Family members come to town and expect their loved ones to spend every moment with them. For high school students, it is more than just holiday stress. They have the horror of facing exams.

High school students on average get about five hours of sleep per night, with the average being around eight to 10 hours. Students normally start their days deprived of sleep, walking the halls bleary-eyed and stumbling into people, still half-dreaming. Come exam week, though,  conditions only worsen.

No longer are students just idly walking into pillars and profusely apologizing, they begin yelling out formulas in the hallways, trying to cram forgotten information into their heads. Some kids get maybe three hours of sleep total during this week or just skip sleep altogether, thinking that they can catch up the next night, which almost never happens.

The students who have straight As still may have test anxiety. Even if they know every single bit of information on the tests, they could completely blank and by question one, all their prior knowledge will have vanished from their heads. Some colleges realize that fact and have decided that their application process does not need to have tests such as ACT and SAT included in the application. If more and more colleges are picking up on that, why can’t high schools?

High school students spend eight hours a day going from class to class trying to learn as much information as they can. After school, some students spend up to five hours on homework nightly. For exams, a lot of students will do nothing but prepare and study for the tests. If high school is about preparing students for the real world, it is not doing a very good job. Spending that much time on one single thing is not normal. It is not realistic. Adults working in the real world do not have to deal with that, at least not to the extent that students do.

More people should realize that high schoolers are spreading themselves too thin and adding exams onto their already-demanding schedules is unjust and leads to some students being unhealthy. Exams aren’t wise to give students for the sake of their mental health.