Students in school everywhere struggle daily with the amount of homework they are given. From this comes stress and other negative effects.

Nothing is worse than getting home from a long day at school knowing that you have an excessive amount of homework to do.

According to a study conducted by Stanford University, “56 percent of students considered homework a primary source of stress.” This stress is directly related to negative health effects such as: lack of sleep, headaches, exhaustion and weight loss. Absurd amounts of homework also prevent students from retaining any information both during the school day and at home.

Another common problem regarding homework is many complain that some teachers do not take into account that students have many other classes in which they also receive homework, and extracurricular activities. Teachers should attempt to adapt their homework plans so that students are not overwhelmed, helping students to be more productive and engaged. For example, if every student in a class has a large presentation, essay, project, or exam, the following day students should not be given any other homework so that they can focus on an assignment that is worth a greater chunk of their grade. 

Extracurricular activities are extremely important in helping students to keep their sanity during the school year. Homework can prevent students from attending keeping students from ever having a break.

Should homework be given on weekends and other school recesses? McQuaid Jesuit sophomore Brent Donlon claims, “Weekends are for relaxing and taking a break from the business of the week, and I don’t think that responsibilities from the week should be forcefully imposed during this time.” If students were given a break on the weekend, a fresh start to the week could help students to be more eager to learn and retain more information.

The weekends could also be used as a time to review information introduced in the past week to gain a deeper understanding, but no homework should be assigned.

Over the past few years, homework and its effects have become a widely discussed topic around the world. Many states in the U.S. have taken action to limit homework and even prevent teachers from assigning it.

Something must be done in the near future to control the amount of homework students are given to prevent its negative effects