Students should receive less homework. Everyone likes to go home at the end of the day and rest. Kids do not like to have to go back home to face more work. Sometimes the work at school is too complex and the teachers don’t spend long periods of time discussing that topic especially in advanced classes where they move immediately from one topic to another. Students should receive less homework because it’s stressful, reduces social life, and homework reduces test scores.

For one, homework is stressful. From previous experience, I know that sometimes I would be falling asleep at midnight, stressing myself out over the amount of work I had to do in order to achieve a good grade in a class. “Research shows that some students regularly receive higher amounts of homework than experts recommend, which may cause stress and negative health effects” (Sandra Levy).  Health should always come before school. I understand that kids still need to do homework; practice makes perfect, but doing homework to the point of stress is harmful. “ The average amount of sleep that teenagers get is between 7 and 7 ¼ hours. However they need between 9 and 9½ hours (studies show that most teenagers need exactly 9½ hours of sleep.” (Nationwide’s Children). Students can not continue to stay well with their academics if they are tired and unhealthy.

Another reason is, too much homework reduces your social life. The time spent on homework could have been spent talking with friends and family. Especially now in high school where people get separated from their friends. There’s nothing better than a long conversation with friends, especially the ones you haven’t seen for a while. Not to mention, parents also want time with their kids. How are parents supposed to do that is their child is too busy with homework? The time used for homework could have as easily been used to socialize with loved ones. “Some of the most important social skills for children to learn are conflict resolution, understanding and forming positive social interactions, valuing other people and their ideas, taking turns, and taking responsibility for their own actions.” (Susan). By giving kids less homework, they have more time to socialize and have some of the characteristics mentioned earlier. Social life also affects how students perform in school and on their work because if they have time to be with others especially other students they don’t know, they could get the chance to know them and kids would feel more comfortable being around them.

Too much homework reduces test scores. No teacher, nor principal, or district wants failing test scores. “According to Richard Walker, an educational psychologist at Sydney University, data shows that in countries where more time is spent on homework, students score lower on a standardized test called the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA. The same correlation is also seen when comparing homework time and test performance at schools within countries.” (Natalie Wolchover). Supposedly, students in schools should be improving their grades not decreasing them over something so simple that is not really necessary.

I am aware that homework is necessary and it prepares us for real life situations. For example. you cannot go to work and be expected to not go home with at least some other work you need to do. “ Success is the sum of all efforts repeated day in and day out.” Or even getting ready to start a job, depending on which career you want to take there are different amounts of work that needs to be performed in order to know everything you need to know and be successful in the job you chose.

Homework is getting to the point where students can no longer handle it. Stressing out a student over something that you already review in school is useless. Kids need their own free time out of school so they can be able to rest well and be able to catch up with friends. This is not only for students here in the United States but it is also in other countries such as Japan. “Even in countries as workaholic as Japan, the number of hours kids are forced to study is becoming an issue of concern.” (John Buell). If other countries are taking this as an issue of concern shouldn’t the U.S. too? It’s time for the homework overload epidemic to stop.