A boy's mother is suffering from cancer, so he must return home every day after school and care for her, assuring her that he has arrived back safely and is readily at her side. Cancer is a violent, devastating disease that deteriorates its planned target and spreads throughout the body at a rapid pace. This is an example of a student who has too many preexisting obligations, and a family crisis taking place that can't be ignored. This student may be unable to participate in extracurricular activities. It is common for a child to engage in sports and other social activities, but demanding such a thing is unnecessary and could overload them. When a student is mandated to take extra time to do something, their grades could plummet, they could gain anxiety or depression, and they could lose vital sleep.

When someone who regularly attends school goes through traumatic experiences, their grades go down the drain. They lose focus or simply give up. In their endeavor to help those in need and help themselves, they begin to view school as useless, or not deserving of their attention. Forcing students who are already under a great deal of stress to take part in more things can be their breaking point, rather than nourishment. The person could be brought to a new low: looking to drugs or alcohol as an alternative to stress. They will become dependent on such things and lose themselves. They will veer away from valuable paths that were leading towards a diploma or an advanced diploma. Studying will be hard to fit in, and the student will stop caring about their grades in the vast sea of depression. They will inevitably fail to understand the importance of educational rewards.

Depression and anxiety are similar, but not the same. They can, however, occur simultaneously and for the same reason. Anxiety is the constant fear of what awaits. Sometimes it's random and without reason, sometimes it's a debilitating disorder, and sometimes it's because the person is genuinely afraid. Depression happens to a person with a slower onset: it waits in their mind and causes them to doubt. Sometimes depression causes suicide, a very sad, final act which can't be reversed. Depression and anxiety are both very damaging to the mental health of a person, and can be caused by an inability to grasp the bright side of life. These things can happen when students are overloaded, and they can get worse over time. If someone is told they are required to do something when they can't find it within the realm of their capabilities, they become hopeless. They doubt whether they can hold their own against the mountain of depression, family problems, school, homework, extracurricular activities, and everything else that keeps piling up. Some students just can't handle the extra work, or they can't handle getting to the destination. Some students have to walk home, and they physically can't get to where they need to go for an extracurricular activity. Trying to can result in exhaustion, just as depression and anxiety can.

With all of these things the child is trying to participate in, they can lose sleep. The anxiety can keep them up at night, praying that they can complete the requirements of school. They could be praying that their mother gets through a terrible disease, or that their father comes home. They could be praying that their brother or sister succeeds in getting off drugs, and that their friend doesn't hurt them self. A thousand thoughts could be whirling through this poor person's mind, preventing them from getting to sleep. Consequently, if this person is driving, they could get into a car accident, hurting themselves along with other people. This is yet another reason why extracurricular activities can't be demanded.

These are terrible circumstances: plummeting grades, depression, anxiety, and loss of sleep. Any of these terrible circumstances could be caused or worsened because of a demand for extracurricular activities. Although the benefits of social activities may be significant, they simply can not be demanded.