Should homework be optional?

Generally, do teachers see homework as a tool, or do they see it as a reason to pass the time students have at home? Understanding that homework helps keep one’s brain refreshed on the fundamentals that an average student practices. Is it necessary, seeing as they already spent most of their day at school learning?

Not only do these students spend the majority of their day at school, but some of them also have commitments such as games, meets, or practices for sports. They could be spending their whole day including sports and school until around 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM when they come home. But why should the teachers care? To them, that is three extra hours to do homework.

Understanding that students spend hours at school, they need to get as much sleep as possible. Considering the time spent in after school activities. They are not able to get as much sleep as they should. According to an article by Health Promotion, most college students are only getting 6-7 hours of sleep a night. A sophomore, Alison Daly, says, “I spent around 6 hours at school just to go home and spend around 2-3 hours doing homework when I could spend that time with my family.” School time adds up together with doing homework and other extracurricular activities. School may be a necessity, but mental health should be taken into account with their sleep and how much they should be getting.

It is harder to separate teaching and doing work at school than at home. In an article by Harvard Magazine, it is “Difficult to separate where the effect of classroom teaching ends,” Vatterott writes, “and the effect of homework begins.” A senior, Luke Denahey, said, “I feel like some people who take a few AP classes and take extracurricular activities might have a harder time finding time to do homework at the end of their day.” It is a highly agreeable opinion among students that homework should be optional and those who want homework should find time on their own to do it. Students should be getting more than 8 hours of sleep, not 5 to 7 hours of sleep added on with the factor of doing homework, which is one of the causes of not getting enough sleep. Sleep is a big factor in a person’s well-being, closely correlated with their mental state. “People with insomnia, for example, may have a tenfold higher risk of developing depression than people who get a good night’s sleep” (Hopkins). Lack of sleep clearly affects people in multitudes of ways and should be considered more when assigning a certain amount of homework.