Homework is detrimental to students

We hurry home from school, quickly change for practice or a game with barely enough time to eat, we’re out late, and we come home in a panic over the amount of work we have. We stay up late cramming in homework and studying for tests and show up to school exhausted the next day.

This is the cycle of high school students. They have packed schedules that keep their after school time full and homework is an unnecessary added pressure.

Students need their time after school for extra curricular activities, time to relax and spend time with family, and to benefit their mental health. Time for this is taken away by homework which is detrimental to students

Many would say that students just need better time management skills. For some students this is true but for many their schedules are extremely full and they cannot adjust them.

“ more than 70 percent of students said they were “often or always stressed over schoolwork,” with 56 percent listing homework as a primary stressor” (Sandra Levy).

Students should not have to stress over homework every night especially since they spend a great deal of time at school during the day.

It is necessary for students to have enough time for extracurricular activities. Homework becomes a negative factor on student involvement, they are worried about having enough time for homework that they decide to become involved in less.

Along with extracurricular activities many students also have jobs, this is also a large responsibility so they need time to be able to work. Homework should be limited so that students have time for these responsibilities and activities without stress over school work.

Family time is becoming limited due to homework as well. With these packed schedules students are out after school and get right to homework when they get home. Family time should hold greater importance than homework. Time with loved ones is long lasting and homework is only a short period of time.

Sleep and mental health is impacted by homework as well. Students stay up late doing homework and do not get enough sleep. This affects their behavior during the school day, students are exhausted during the day so they struggle more to pay attention and be focused. Not getting enough sleep is detrimental to students’ physical and mental health which makes them more likely to be sick and absent from school.

Overall homework causes too much stress to students and affects many areas of their lives. To fix this problem homework should be limited to what work students do not finish in class and studying for tests.