Dead week: The week of the walking dead

Saratoga’s zombie apocalypse comes twice a year. In these weeks before finals, the virus of stress spreads like influenza and the deadmen walk asleep. 

Masses of students can be seen stumbling around especially slowly during the week before finals, invoking an image of a zombie apocalypse. But this isn’t because of some cult ritual or a new virus; it’s simply because of the pain of the suffering students due to the overload of work. 

Many colleges offer a chance for students to study more in the week before finals by having a “dead week.” Saratoga High desperately needs a better enforced “dead week” — the antidote to the Saratoga deadman virus. 

Colleges generally don’t introduce any new material and don’t assign any work during this week in order to give students as much time as possible to study for their exams. 

Despite some teachers’ best efforts to reduce work others continue to pile on homework assignments and give out tests and quizzes. If students are taking difficult courses that may be similar to college level courses, then they should also be given the “dead week.”

Take, for instance, a poor senior who foolishly decided to take five AP classes, participate in band and attend after school community college classes including multivariable calculus. He already suffers on a daily basis, but  the week before finals, the earth practically becomes a torture chamber without a “dead week.” 

Not only will he have to juggle his extracurriculars and study for all his finals, but he will also have to continue to do work and possibly study for tests that week. Not to mention that he might still need to work on his college applications, most of which are due Jan. 1, just weeks after finals. 

Granted, it may be his fault for taking so many classes, but the lack of a dead week only worsens this problem. We should be encouraging students to follow their passions and to explore their curiosities in these challenging classes. Why are we blaming students for taking difficult classes when we could, by instituting a dead week, make their lives far less painful?

For the poor souls of these high school students, the stress is unhealthy, to say the least. Studies, such as from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, have shown again and again that stress is extraordinarily unhealthy for human bodies, especially in the case of teenagers who may still be developing. 

While education is an obvious priority, a high school’s main priority should be the students. Even schools like the Coast Guard Academy recognize the importance of a dead week and reduce the amount of military work the students have during this week. When even a military academy thinks students need to have less stress during the week before finals, it’s a clear indicator Saratoga High should do the same. 

With so much stress during this time, the academic performance of the students will likely decrease as well; as a result, the school can’t even properly measure and evaluate what students have learned with the final exams. In addition, these finals are worth a large portion of the students’ grades, so it is imperative that they do their best and work at their full potential. Even if a complete dead week is not yet possible, teachers should strive to make the week more “dead.”

By giving students a dead week, students can do their best and thus, have an accurate reflection of their education and efforts, shown through their finals. Why not give students a week for this self-learning, redigesting and much needed studying?