Each school year brings a new challenge for every student. They never know how difficult the new year will be. During the first few weeks of school, students adjust to their new schedules and activities. In these few weeks students also begin to receive homework, and are sometimes taken aback by the quantity they must complete.

It is no surprise that students are unhappy with having a lot of homework, but how much is too much?

The amount of homework a student receives can differ depending on what classes they are taking. A student taking Honors classes may have more homework than a student taking CP classes.

Many students have sports or work after school, on top of homework, leaving them with less time for homework. Students believe it is difficult to complete their homework when they are not home for very long after school. This results in students staying up late to do their homework, wreaking havoc on their sleep schedules.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, children between the ages of fourteen and seventeen need eight to ten hours of sleep each night in order to properly function throughout the day. High schoolers often do not get this much sleep, leaving them tired throughout the day. Is this lack of sleep caused by homework, or something else?

Annika Ellis, a sophomore at Pentucket, says, “I don’t think the amount of homework we have is unreasonable, but it is still a lot.” She continues, claiming, “There are no nights when I do not have homework, every night I have between half an hour to three hours of work.” On some nights she does not go to sleep until one or two in the morning.

Homework is intended to further one’s knowledge of what they learned in class, which some claim make it essential to a student’s learning. Based on a study from Concordia University, homework has been shown to increase one’s responsibility and time management skills, which can be helpful in the future.

Sophomore Audra Foster says, “Most nights I procrastinate my homework, so I am up late, but sometimes I think we have too much [homework].” Procrastination is common among high school students and can create time management issues.

Do you have too much homework, or just enough? That’s up to you to decide.

Sources:

http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/news/the-homework-debate-benefits-of-homework/

https://sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need