Too Much Homework!! | Teen Ink

Too Much Homework!! MAG

By Anonymous

   Trudging home each day after long hours of hard work and concentration, high school students all over Massachusetts face more hours of tedious schoolwork. As many as five or six hours of homework a night are not uncommon for students, leaving them little time to do much else. Assigned homework in almost every class, the students have acquired a heavy load of work by the end of the day. However, if a plan were installed in the high schools that allowed each teacher to give each of his or her classes a maximum of three hours of homework per week, students would have more time to develop themselves in other areas and a chance to lead more balanced lives.

Because of the amount of time students are obligated to spend on homework each night, other interests are undoubtedly suppressed. What happens to the student, so excited by science, who gets a new chemistry set for Christmas? He or she is so busy doing homework that the chemistry set remains unused. Or the student who can imagine no greater pleasure than curling up with a tall pile of books, what happens to this idea? He or she is also too busy studying to read. However, with the new plan of only three hours of homework a week from each teacher, these students would have time to pursue their passions.

Not only would students' minds benefit from a program like this, but their bodies would benefit as well. As American youth are generally viewed as being less physically competent than those of other countries, the extra time could be spent on exercise and physical activities. Many students do not have the time to get out and ride a bike or play outdoor sports simply because they are busy computing math problems or doing grammar exercises. As Greek philosophy states: "A sound mind and a sound body" are equally important. The stress that so much work puts on the students can in no way be helping their health either. By staying up too late frantically trying to finish assignments, many students do not get enough sleep, lowering their resistance to illness and dropping their performance levels as well.

Many also struggle to keep relationships with family and friends strong. Studies show American families, in general, do not spend enough time together, and homework significantly cuts down on the time that students can spend with their families. If a three-hour plan were installed in Massachusetts, however, students would be able to have more time with their families, which might help keep their relationships strong. As well as more family time, students would also be able to spend more time with friends, which is important in keeping emotional health in balance.

Although homework is an important teaching method, too much can keep teens from other activities and from fully developing other areas of their lives. However, if Massachusetts teachers are restricted to assigning no more than three hours of work a week, their students would be able to receive and learn things that they will never get from spending long hours on homework.n

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This article has 13 comments.


i love this so much!

byny said...
on Feb. 7 2014 at 8:22 am
i need to write a letter to the editor of the newspaper on too much homework . please help me . any idea.

on Oct. 25 2013 at 2:12 am
Oh! homework The most Leisure time in our life.But iknow homework is important.But people Should get at least half an hour break. hmm ,this is hard to to stay with our life.If a person studies all the time he will be mad forever,and this truly happened.Now ,let me tell my life,At first i woke up in the morning and go to school,ispend there 7 hours,after coming my home tuitor comes,I spend there 2 hours,after my tuitor goes my huzur comes ,spend 1 hour,then i eat some thing,and again start my homework  and spend 7 hours There.then i have dinner ,Then at last i go to sleep.what a wonderful life is this life is this!  

maggie4444 said...
on Mar. 5 2013 at 3:24 pm
sure no problem

shasha25 said...
on Jan. 13 2013 at 11:32 am
can i use ur comment for my essay??

maggie4444 said...
on Feb. 15 2011 at 11:38 am
i am a junior in high school and get loads of homework that i usually dont get done it greatly effects my grade i also have a part-time job i have to worry about 

Taby said...
on Apr. 20 2010 at 9:11 am

Hi Leah,

Im doing an essay on "How much homework is too much?" And I was wondering, if I could use your comment as a quote in my essay, for an example on how much homework teens our age are getting. Thanks, Please reply soon.

- Taby <3


Leah1023 said...
on Dec. 18 2009 at 8:37 pm
i spelled shower wrong...oops

Leah1023 said...
on Dec. 18 2009 at 8:36 pm
I'm in 8th grade and i have a ton of homework. Usually I have about 5 tests a week plus projects and homework. I am not involved in a sports team right now,but if i was then no way would I have gotten all my homework done. i do play tennis once a week and i got home took a quick shjower ate dinner, but i could not start my homework until after 7 pm. i had to stay up until 11 pm to work. Then I woke up early to study more, at 5:30 am. This is was he only time that this has happened,but i was extremely stressed during that time. i can not find time to have any fun after school, since of all the work i have.

torilol said...
on Nov. 9 2009 at 9:33 am
hey i am a senior in high school and i agree with this. i work and apply to colleges and i still have to make time for about an hour and a half of homework each night and do chores and explain to my mom why i cant do family night when i have reports due and college applications. so i bet almost every person who says homework isnt that bad is no longer in school and therefore has no say in this matter considering they honestly cant understand what us kids go through with homeowork. yes homework can be helpful but not this extent of homework. sorry parents to burst your bubble but i can garentee you didn't have this much homework a night so dont even say you understand or compare to us.

billie said...
on Oct. 22 2009 at 8:43 pm
If I'm understanding correctly, you're not proposing a total of 3 hours a week total homework, but 3 hours a week for each class, correct? Schools vary in how many classes a student takes at a time, but figuring an average of 6 classes, that's still 18 hours of homework a week, divided by 5 school days, that's still a little over 3.5 hours a day. Plus an average of a 7 hour school day, that's 10.5 hours per day, 10 if you subtract lunch. How many adults working a full-time job would be okay with it if it were expected of ALL employees to be at work for their usual 8 hour day, but also have to put in more than 2 hours of work time at home each night?

As the parent of a high schooler, I think that this is a very reasonable limitation, with the possible exception that it may need to be looked at as "a total of x hours/week, divided equally by the number of classes" to accomodate different class structures - my daughter takes 4 classes at a time, while the school district next door to us has a 7 period schedule. If you leave it as 3 hours per teacher, that would mean my daughter would have no more that 12 hours a week while our neighbor kids could have 21 hours every week.

Carter12 said...
on Sep. 20 2009 at 12:19 pm
I know that homework is very important. But i am in the 7th grade and spend 5 hours after school doing my homework. its really hard to get everything done especially when i am on a soccer and basketball team, am in the student council, and try to keep in touch with all my friends. we kids are supposed to rest when we get home not spend hours doing more school work that we just did for the last 7 hours at school. i know that homeowrk is important but not that much. i cant go away on the weekends anymore because o have so much homework. my friend moved and i could barely spend the last week with her because we had so much homework. just think about this. when u were younger did you enjoy doing homework or would you rather play. do you have kids in m/hs, do you watch them suffer when they come home with a ton of homework to do. if you atcually thnk spending your weekends doing homework are fun and if you have kids and tell them to do all there homework and you dont pitty them then what kind of mother are you. dont you want to spend time with your family? well isay hell to too much homework

Brooklynn W said...
on Jul. 11 2009 at 2:04 pm
I don't agree with this. I understand homework is difficult and time-consuming, but what else do you expect? School is trying to improve your mind and help with your educational abilities. That's my opinion.