Have you ever had to reply to an invite with friends or family “No I can’t. I have too much homework to do.” Or even if you are a parent reading this, have you ever heard your kid reply to you that way? As a student at SPASH, I believe I use this phrase all the time to my family and friends. In a study conducted by Challenge Success in 2018-2020, the average time a high schooler spends on homework is 2.7 hours a night. This average per night even seems to be a lot of time for a high school student. 

Students at SPASH believe that SPASH is giving too much homework. According to a survey sent out to thirty students within the SPASH student body that asked “Do you think SPASH is giving too much homework?” 69.2% of students answered “Yes.” This means, two thirds of the students who answered this survey who attend SPASH believe that how much homework is given is a problem. In addition, in an interview with SPASH senior, Montana Zdroik, she said “Yes, I think the average student at SPASH gets too much homework… I spend more time doing homework at night than I do sleeping sometimes and I still feel behind.” This is completely eye-opening. Spending more time on schoolwork than sleeping is a concern and I think. Kids need time to sleep and restart for the next day. 

Mr. Olson, a business teacher at SPASH also agrees with this statement: “I avoid giving homework. Students should have this time to refresh and enjoy themselves after school hours.” Mr. Olson says. The majority of the student body, along with teachers within the school believe SPASH is giving too much homework and it is affecting students in numerous ways. 

Giving too much homework causes students to have many negative mental and physical effects. In an article titled “What Is the Average Amount of Homework Given Per Night” it says that “…students in high-achieving communities who spend too much time on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, a lack of balance in their lives, and alienation from society.” In other words, studies have shown that there are many negative effects on students that are given too much homework. Some effects include feeling much stress, health problems, lack of balance, and feeling separated from society. “Yes and no, I feel like it’s helpful sometimes, but there gets to a point when the teachers give so much that it isn’t helpful. A lot of the assignments feel like busy work. I think it is effective in stressing students out and causing a lot of frustration. Students often times don’t tell people how much stress its causing them, so they will work on homework until they arementally drained and not say anything.” Montana says. Montana feels that herself and other students feel lots of frustration as well as stress and sometimes this isn’t shown to teachers or others enough to make a change. She feels that a lot of homework is busy work and is not effective. Kids should have less homework by assigning less homework, you’ll likely find that students will love learning, get more sleep, enjoy themselves more with outside activities, be less overworked, and have more time to spend with family.” says the article. As a teacher, it has been shown throughout studies that if you assign less homework, you will find that your students will seem to be happier in your class, be more rested, and overall have way more positive benefits. You will see a change in your students that you would have never seen before. Your students will love to learn. 

Some students at SPASH feel that SPASH is not giving too much homework. 30.8% of students from SPASH who took the survey answered they believe SPASH does not give too much homework. These students could also be students who don’t take very advanced classes. 30.8% of students additionally say they spend around one hour a night on homework. The same amount of students who said SPASH does not give too much homework also answered that they spend around one hour a night on homework. This is less time spent then the average that was conducted in the study which would explain why they feel SPASH doesn’t give too much. “I agree with Finland’s success with their school system. They believe less homework creates better well-being for the students.” Mr. Olson says. Mr. Olson is one example of a teacher that does not give any homework because he believes students do not need to feel stressed. He believes students should spend time for themselves and spend time with family. There are some classes such as Mr. Olsons business classes who don’t receive any homework at SPASH.

Providing too much homework causes mental effects such as stress and frustration on students, but also just makes students feel as if there is an imbalance in their lives and just becomes a primary stressor. Although some students at SPASH believe that SPASH doesn’t give too much homework, there is still a 69% majority of students that do and that seems to be enough to be a problem. It is time to fix this and get kids happy as well as give them time to recharge themselves and spend time with loved ones.