Have you ever been forced to participate in something that you never wanted to have a part in? Well, this same situation will become a reality for many students at my school very soon. You see, Mrs. Generic_Name, the principal of my school, has decided that each student must participate in an extracurricular activity. This means that a student has to do an activity regardless if they want to or not. If students are required to do this, then they will not be able to complete their mandatory after school obligations, spend precious time with their family, and they will have more stress added to their life.

First off, since most extracurricular activities take place after school, students will not be able to complete their obligations waiting for them at home. For example, many students will no longer be able to watch their younger siblings until their parents return home from work. As a result, parents will need to find someone to watch their younger children. There are also quite a few students who have the responsibility of taking care of their family pets once they are finished with the school day. A few of the tasks that come with this responsibility are feeding the animals, taking them to the bathroom, and exercising them. Along with taking care of their younger siblings and their pets, students also need to complete their chores. So as you can see, it is extremely important that students are able to go straight home after school, instead of staying after for an extra hour or two, so they can fulfill these obligations.

Secondly, participating in an extracurricular activity will pry into the limited and precious time that students are able to spend with their family. For example, most adolescents get home from school around four o'clock in the afternoon, and many of their parents get home around five in the afternoon. A majority of families eat dinner between five and six at night. Once you clean the kitchen up from dinner, that only leaves about four hours to spend with your family. Depending on when the students' activity takes place, that suspends the amount of time a family spends together to around three hours. That is hardly enough time to do anything together! A famous family counselor once said, "Your child is a newborn for a month, an infant for a year, a toddler for two, an elementary schooler for six years, a preteen for three, and a teenager for five. Time is precious, so don't waste it." Children are at school more than they are at home. The more time that is added for school, the less time that is given for family.

Lastly, when students take on an extracurricular activity, they will have more stress added to their life. For example, if Generic_Name decided to write for the sports section of our school paper, he would need to go to every basketball, football, and baseball game. Then, he would need to write a detailed report about each of the games that he goes to. Since basketball games are every Monday, the football games are on Friday nights, and baseball games are on Saturdays and Sundays, Generic_Name would be writing at least four reports a week. That doesn't even include if any of the teams make it to the State Championships. If another student decided to join Drama, then he/she would need to attend at least seven weekday and two weekend practices a month, four dress rehearsals, and all five performances. Plus, the student would need to stay after each performance to help clean the set and put it back into order for the next night. Along with all this extra work of being in an extracurricular activity, students also have to complete their never ending work load from school. With all of this combined, there is enough stress to give these students severe health problems.

In conclusion, being required to take part in an extracurricular activity will result in students not being able to complete important after school obligations, losing precious time to spend with family, and having extra stress added to their life. Having the activities are a great idea, but the problem is that Mrs. Generic_Name is requiring them. If she allowed the activities to be optional, then families wouldn't have to find someone to watch their younger children, those who chose not to participate would be able to spend more time with their families, and there would be a lot less stress for the students to handle. From what you have read, I hope that you will agree with me and take a stance on my side against Mrs. Generic_Name's decision for participating in a mandatory, extracurricular activity.