The conundrum of high school

High school is a never ending race that continues on for miles. Not only do you have to learn in the prison for 7 hours everyday but you have to go home and do an average of 4 hours homework each night. This collides with simple everyday luxeries like eating, sleeping, and breathing. I won't even mention relaxing. Just when you lose hope and turn your back on the maelstrom it ends abruptly. You sigh with relief after finding out everything is ok because you didn't fail the oppressive class that sucked out all your innocence.
School is suppose to help build your character and fill your head with knowledge. Unfortunatley many people are unable to deal with the vigorous scedual which leds to stress which leads to self-worthlessness which leads to giving up. All that could be character-building or it could lead to a career of working at McDonalds. After i realized we were not going to be getting any breaks in high school, which took awhile, I knew i could never slack off if i wanted to get into collage. At least that's what everyone told me. And it worked- i was scared i would end up on the streets eating out of trashcans. But could i have learned this an easier way? Without so much stress over such little things?
High school helps us in many ways but it also can destroy people. There's pressure from all sides. Parents, friends, peers, teachers all expect you to be a certain way when you're barely just finding out who you are. There's not much room for experimenting, instead you're on the go every second.
I measure out my life with the times i get to just breathe. The times when i'm most myself not worrying about every unimportant thing.