Is there a point to Midterms

There’s always one week that students dread just a little more than the rest that causes an unbearable amount of stress. Every student knows it, where it seems as if the review packets never end and the hours somehow drastically go slower while studying for the overwhelming midterm week. While different school districts have differences including how long a midterm is or how much it effects grades still brings anxiety on kids throughout many high schools. Although midterms have been in tradition for many years people have arrived at the question of why do we even have midterms? Countless students and parents have complained of midterms not providing any benefits and causing nothing but anxiety. 

One factor that has been proven to happen more often during midterm week is the act of cheating. In many cases students feel so overpowered by the load of studying he or she starts to get behind and feel the need to ask a friend for answers or just plainly look at a neighbor’s paper for a quick answer. Not only are these just stories around the world but cheating happens in almost every classroom,” throughout high school I have caught people looking at other people’s test or attempting to google a quick answer on their phone” said Logan Dean. Cheating is wrong and an act of dishonesty that is not fair to any kid that actually earned that successful grade. 

The second reason midterms are unhelpful is based on the fact students become worried that they will not be able to handle every test coming at them so they turn to amphetamines and other drugs to help contribute to focusing better and staying up later to catch up on studying. One con to popping pills to supposedly help one study longer or harder is not knowing what all can be in this drug that is more than likely off the street. These drugs are made to treat attention deficit disorder not a stressed-out teenager. Staying up late studying can also contribute to being completely exhausted from constantly studying for countless hours that are usually spent sleeping,” I always used to have kids in my classes falling asleep on certain days and I never thought it’d ever be that tired until I had to study all night” said Trevor Lampkin. Too also add on to being sleepy from studying all night students pop pills just to get through the day without falling asleep. Drugs are never the answer to a situation, but because of midterms students think that they are. 

Overall, the cons of midterms outweigh the beneficial side. Yes, midterms do test students’ knowledge on the skills learned for that class but at many costs. It should not be worth having to put kids through a stressful week of tests that determine a large part of their grade. It also should not have to cause kids to rely on drugs to pass a test or to study for a test. All in all, midterms do not provide enough benefits to be making kids participate in taking them.