Students given too much homework, not enough time
Staff writer Daniel Goldstein claims that high school students should focus activities such as exercise and friends, yet are forced to put nearly all their energy in school.
March 21, 2018
Tick, tick, tick! The clock sounds as I’m stressing over five loads of worksheets due the next day. My mind wanders as I want to watch television, hang out with friends, and exercise, but I also want to get good grades. The question is, how much homework is too much?
According to the National Education Association, there is a “10 minute rule” where the amount of homework should increase by 10 minutes for each grade level, but of course, that is not always the reality.
As a sophomore, I’d say I get at least two hours of homework each night and that is just too much. At Algonquin, sports and extracurricular activities are offered and are extremely encouraged by teachers, guidance counselors, and parents. That’s what helps gets you into a good college along with good grades, but I argue that doing these extracurriculars and sports mean there is not enough time to do two hours of homework each night.
Also, high school students are some of the most social people in the world and should be the most active physically. With the heavy load of homework many students receive at Algonquin, being physically and socially active gets severely limited.
Despite all of this, I do understand that homework is important for the development of student’s minds. I’d have to say that without 10-15 homework problems a night depending on the subject, I wouldn’t be any good at taking tests because a lot of homework problems appear on tests.
Also, I understand that procrastination is a thing. In fact, I may be the king of it. But speaking for all students, procrastination is not on the teachers. If they give you a project that is due in two weeks, they don’t expect you to wait until the last night to do it.
Students receiving too much homework is also terrible because it is a distraction from what is more important, tests and quizzes, which make up a larger percentage of a student’s overall grade. For example, in most math classes, the percent distribution is 90% tests and quizzes and 10% homework so giving fifty problems a night just isn’t necessary or practical.
In order to stay healthy, sleep may be the most important factor. Teens need about 8-10 hours of sleep per night to function at their best. On the contrary, one study shows that only 15% of high school students sleep 8 ½ hours on school nights (National Sleep Foundation).
A likely factor to this is indeed too much homework. The lack of sleep leads to being tired all throughout the day in school when you are supposed to be learning. Then, when you get home and you are still tired from the five hours of sleep, you have to do two more hours of homework, given after your sports practice and after school club. What this does is create a domino effect that is almost impossible to stop, unless teachers lighten the load on homework.
So when it is 11 p.m. and you’re struggling to get three subjects worth of work done and think that is unnecessary, think about my point and don’t be afraid to speak up.
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Verona • Apr 25, 2024 at 10:56 am
thank you for agreeing with what I think. I’m in sixth grade and I don’t have the time because I go to therapy and I have a after school activity plus we don’t have a activity bus so I have to get picked up and I have to stay after school sometimes to get assignments done plus I only eat I a little bit a day which is 1 bag of cheese it’s for lunch and I only have 5 minutes to get dressed and to be honest I live in McCall Idaho which is in the mountains! 😤😡
Bri • Nov 15, 2022 at 11:49 am
y’all are rude?
bob • Jan 25, 2023 at 10:10 am
yasssss
My Opinion • Mar 29, 2022 at 1:51 pm
I personally feel that homework should be banned or at least changed because of students not having enough time or support to get it done, because students don’t have enough time for themselves, let alone their family, and the stress it causes students. 78% – 89% of student have extracurricular activities and 18% of students have after school activities, which leaves students with too little time to get much done. They would also be tried from their sports and want to get a shower and crash because school starts so early. Also, 56% of students say that homework is a primary source of stress. Alternatives to homework would be to assign a homework related video game, assign a small, easy project that students have a month to complete, or to have a choice board of activities so the students can choose what they want to do.
Charlie Hughes • Jan 26, 2021 at 2:24 pm
as a student, this is extremely relatable. especially during lockdown, i get given too much work for online class and even more for homework. as a result, i get almost no free time at all.
Bobert Boberty • Apr 16, 2020 at 10:50 am
Do you guys like pizza?
fdsafda • Apr 3, 2020 at 6:48 pm
Emily, some work is just too much.
Emily • Jan 15, 2020 at 1:55 pm
This does not make sense at all.
Emily • Jan 15, 2020 at 1:55 pm
This does not make sense at all. As a teacher myself I do not understand. Its high school you are supposed to have hard homework.
Emily • Jan 15, 2020 at 1:53 pm
This does make sense and teachers and the principal should make it longer school days but only go to school four days a week. I think that Daniel Goldstein is absolutly correct.