It’s only getting worse: Teachers assign too much homework

With the school year coming to an end, we all understand the rush of getting assigned a bunch of work during the last few weeks of school. But do teachers assign too much work, or are students overreacting? 

Because some students (including myself) are still remote, teachers would think to not pile a bunch of work on us considering our current learning environment. If I’m not up until midnight every day finishing assignments, I’m working on homework for hours at a time. Some teachers can assign 2-3 pages of homework a night. Now that may not seem like a lot, but when you have multiple teachers doing the same thing, it adds up. Students have other priorities such as sports, extracurricular activities, and jobs. We don’t want to come home after practice and work to just sit down and do more work. 

I believe that if students are getting assigned too much homework, they are not fully understanding the material. A lot of students just complete the work to receive a grade for it. If students aren’t understanding the material, then what is the point of homework? The point of homework is to get extra practice on specific materials learned in class, not just to get a completion grade. If teachers want students to have a better understanding of the material, assigning less homework a night would help the students out a lot. It would give us more time to focus and understand the material rather than doing it just because we have to. 

Many students won’t even bother to do their homework simply because they are too tired to do so, especially after extracurricular activities. 

Along with students not having time for other activities, it also takes away from time that we might want to spend with our families. It can also cause deterioration in one’s mental state as many students are stressed, overwhelmed, and caught up with homework, causing them to forget about their own social and active needs. In some cases. Teachers will assign packets due for the next day, which leaves students stressing until the assignment is completed. 

Sleep is one of the most important aspects of someone’s life, especially if the individual is always working. The workload that schools give out, can alter one’s sleep schedule, which then affects their in-school productivity and performance. Being tired can keep one from paying attention in class, thus making the individual confused and behind in schoolwork. 

To make sure students are less stressed and time with their work, teachers should assign less homework to help students in the long run. I would feel way better knowing that I won’t have to find time to do packets of homework due the next day, along with having to plan around my work schedule. Many also feel assignments should be based on real-world situations that will help and better prepare students for the future. Teachers could offer more flexibility with homework, thus giving students more time to focus on their assignments and understand the material given to them. This gives students to work around and create their schedules, along with getting rid of unnecessary stress.