Like many teens, I’m a night person, and I’m most productive when working into the wee hours. Though I like working late, I have a major pet peeve: when teachers set deadlines for assignments and have them due at 11:59 p.m.
Such deadlines induce undue stress and cut down on my time to finish assignments.
The better practice is to have digital work due at the beginning of the class period. After all, that’s when physical assignments would be turned in in-person. Online assignments should have the same standards.
The value of an assignment shouldn’t be affected by the exact time when it was turned in as long as it is done before class; an assignment submitted at 8:26 p.m. is just as complete as one submitted at 2:37 a.m. on the day of the class.
Assignments due at 11:59 p.m. might make teachers’ lives more convenient — it’s the default deadline time on Canvas — but they create problems for procrastination-inclined students.
In addition, those who have more extracurricular activities also have significantly less time to complete their work with these kinds of deadlines. Imagine having sports practice right after school that lasts until 6 p.m., which happens to be when your 3-hour robotics session starts.
By the time you get home, you have far less time to complete assignments compared to your peers who can begin working almost immediately after the school day ends.
It’s not like teachers begin grading the assignments at midnight, so why must students submit by then? Would it really hurt to let students work past midnight and submit at the beginning of the period the next day?
