Teachers listen up, I’m going to tell you what students have been telling you for years “YOU GIVE WAY TOO MUCH HOMEWORK”. I understand you are trying to get us ready for life and what not, but look at it from a student’s point of view. They have other classes not just yours, then they have after school activities and some might have to go to work as well. And at the end of the day they still need to eat, shower, and get close to 9 hours of sleep. But you want to assign hours of homework every night when there are only 24 hours in a day.

A poll of public high school teachers found out that on average students are assigned approximately 3.5 hours of homework a night, which is about 17 hours a week. Due to the excessive amount of homework given to students, stress levels have increased exponentially throughout their time in high school. Not all teachers give the same amount of homework, so the students don’t know how manage their time efficiently which sets off their circadian rhythm. On average, a student gets about 5-6 hours of sleep a night which is not healthy. Nevertheless, the student is still expected to get up early the next morning and perform to the best of their ability in the classroom.

“Nearly 20 percent more 12th-grade students have sleep deficits than do those in ninth grade”. Typically in 12th-grade you are taking more advanced classes such as AP, FCC, or internships. Plus, there are responsibilities outside of the classroom that students are required to complete for college. These stressors are huge factors of sleep deprivation. The added stress of homework given by teachers does not help with the students’ way of coping.

In conclusion, teachers should think more about students’ lives outside of the classroom, especially seniors. Seniors have enough things to worry about and giving them a heavy load of homework every night might not help them as much as you think. In the long run, instead of helping them learn, homework is just adding to their daily stress.

Cites:

http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/01/news/la-ol-too-much-homework-20140228

http://www.cfah.org/hbns/2010/most-high-school-students-are-sleep-deprived