No Finals This Year
No Finals This Year
To the Board of Education of HCPSS:
Students do not want finals this year because we are still in the pandemic and Peter Banyas implemented metal health tables for us. Also, we just got out of the virtual world last year. AP students who are taking the AP exams do not want extra stress to study for the finals. I talked to a few AP people who are taking the AP exam, they think that taking the finals with AP exams are annoying because they said "What is the point of taking finals if AP students are taking the AP exams and what do those tests measure without the statistics of the school?" The AP students that I talked to agree with me that we should not have finals this year with AP exams. In general, students get stressed out with classes especially with AP classes because they will study all night and they will mess up their sleep schedule to due studying for their classes to do well on the finals.
Mental Health
Over 47 million Americans have methal health. According to the CDC, mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices.1Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. More than 50% will be diagnosed with mental illness or disorder at some point in their lifetime. 1 in 5 Americans will experience a mental illness in a given year. 1 in 5 children, either currently or at some point during their life, have had a seriously debilitating mental illness. 1 in 25 Americans lives with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. There is no single cause of mental illness. A number of factors can contribute to risk for mental illness, such as:
- Early adverse life experiences, such as trauma or a history of abuse (for example, child abuse, sexual assault, witnessing violence, etc.)
- Experiences related to other ongoing (chronic) medical conditions, such as cancer or diabetes
- Biological factors or chemical imbalances in the brain
- Use of alcohol or drugs
- Having feelings of loneliness or isolation
COVID-19
Many people are facing challenges that can be stressful, overwhelming, and cause strong emotions in adults and children. According to the CDC, public health actions, as social distancing, are necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19, but they can make us feel isolated and lonely that can lead to increased stress in anxiety. According to the KFF, a survey from June 2020, 13% of adults reported new or increased substance use due to coronavirus-related stress, and 11% of adults reported thoughts of suicide in the past 30 days. Suicide rates have long been on the rise and may worsen due to the pandemic.
Cited:
Mental Health
https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/learn/index.htm
COVID-19