In the fast-paced environment of today's educational system, students face intense pressure to perform academically. Along with this stress, many teachers assign excessive homework afterschool, during weekends, or on state issued breaks and holidays. This leaves students overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, etc. I personally feel that it is unjust that me and many other students have spend additional hours on homework each night when that is what we spend 6 hours in school for. This excessive workload takes away time that could be better spent with family, pursuing extracurricular activities, or simply taking a much-needed mental break. In 2023 49,316 Americans died from suicide, many in the age group 10-30 years old, followedby 1.5 million suicide attempts from students. According to The JED Foundation, “Overall, 9.5% of high school students attempted suicide in the past year.” Common problems that are linked with teen suicide include pressure to succeed, lack of support, feelings of self-doubt, underlying mental health conditions, and excessive stress. I myself struggle very much with my own mental health, and I feel as if many of the teachers today lack the empathy, compassion, and kindness that students need. Many teachers treat students as if we are less than them, and they seem to pay no attention to our mental needs. I feel with this petition we can draw more attention to this issue, and hopefully make a positive change in the school system. My first step will be to take this issue up with my school, and then I will bring it up to the school district. We are still kids, we shouldn’t have this much stress at such a young age!