Teachers should have a certain leniency when it comes to grades because as students, we have a lot on our plates. As students are expected to balance having a job, participating in multiple extracurriculars, maintaining a social life and seven classes, there are times we need a little help from the teacher’s end.

Often, students are having a bad day and need to be cut some slack. It happens to everyone at one point or another, and having the option to have extensions from teachers would be helpful.

Students with after-school activities often find it hard to find the balance between spending time at their club or sport and finishing all the homework they are assigned. Not to say that students on a sports team or in a club should get special treatment, but if they are assigned three hours of homework the day of a big game or meeting, their teachers should take it into consideration. “On the night of my senior night for soccer I had at least three hours of homework to do,” senior Bianca Shah said. “I just could not get to it all because I had to go to my game early and ended up getting penalized for it.”

Although students are expected to have perfect time management, it does not happen every time. If teachers had their own rules on turning in work with some leniency, not only would it take pressure of the shoulders of students, but it might even help them with their grades.

Homework, in the eyes of teachers, seems to be a small portion of students’ grades. Although it is only 10 percent of the grade in most classes, it could make or break someone’s grade. “I usually do well on my grades in class,” senior Mitch Schuster said. “But, when I have a lot of homework or have to be at an extracurricular, I find myself struggling to get to all of my homework, which ultimately tends to bring my grade down.”

Teachers should have some leniency when it comes to extenuating circumstances because there are so many things going on in each individual’s life. If teachers have this leniency, then it would allow students to turn in their best work, rather than something they struggled to complete. There is so much pressure for students to succeed that sometimes it drives them to value finishing an assignment over actually putting their best effort in. “Most of the time when I do not have time to complete something, I feel tempted to just make something up or ask a friend for the answer,” an anonymous sophomore said. “If I had more time to do it, I could give a better effort and understand it better.”

If teachers had more leniency with deadlines and grading, students would not only feel less pressure from school but also gain a better understanding of the project or assignment.