According to the National Assessment of Education Progress, only twenty-six percent of students in high school feel happy for at least half of the day. One of the causes of unhappiness in school is the excessive amount of homework given to students each night (“Why Giving”). Students do not get enough rest due to the overload of homework and are less focused when they are in school. Additionally, the amount of homework given is limiting students’ social lives. Though homework can be beneficial to academic achievements, excessive homework can be disastrous to a student’s mental health and academic success. Students should be given less homework so they can be sacrificed from physical and mental symptoms of stress, little to no sleep, and lack of social interaction.

Students should be given less homework so his or her engagement can be increased.   

When a student has too much homework, he or she struggles to focus during important lectures given in class because they are not well rested. With less homework, the hypothetical student would be able to meet the recommended amount of sleep given by doctors; therefore being able to focus on the material given in class.  Sleep is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle that helps reduce feelings of frustration, anxiety, and depression; yet eighty-three percent of high schoolers do not get enough each night (“Sleep Benefits”). Furthermore, the abundance of homework is causing students to have more unnecessary stress. Eighty-nine percent of students have reported that they feel a stress-related symptom from homework each month.  With homework increasing as well as stress, homework has caused physical and behavioral symptoms and homework is playing a huge roll in this suffering. Students should be given less quantity of homework so they can reach the doctor’s recommended hours of sleep, a total of eight hours, and have less stress put on their shoulders.

The excessive amount of homework given now is limiting students’ full potential in life. Homework is taking up most of students’ free time; shattering all opportunities in developing other skills. Giving students a life outside of school will provide them the amazing skill of being well rounded, although hours of homework is preventing this. Not being able to discover true talents simply because educators are limiting time outside of school is a robbery of individuality of a student, variety of career option, as well as a positive outlet outside of school. Giving students a life outside of school can open doors to other amazing opportunities and can lead to the discovery of one’s hidden talent. Additionally, providing an excessive amount of homework to students is also ruining the most important relationship in their lives: the parent-child relationship. Letting children have one more hour to be with their family can help the well-being of the student, but also allow parents to be more involved in their child’s life. This can decrease disciplinary issues and help students to become better people in the future. Students should be able to have a life outside of school; however in order for this to happen homework must be decreased.

Some administrators in schools might suggest that homework raises academic achievement and helps students develop learning habits. Studies show that homework can even improve the chance of attending college.  According to ProCon, “students who spent between thirty-one and ninety minutes each day on homework scored about forty points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average.”  Although homework can improve SAT scores, too much homework that surpasses the ninety minutes per day mark can be detrimental to a student’s lifestyle completely. The nationwide average of time spent on homework is three and a half hours, and that statistic makes the said suggestion invalid. Studies show that students excel when they spend thirty to ninety minutes a day doing homework; in spite of that not a single study shows that kids who do excessive amounts of homework receive academic achievements. Critiques may believe that homework can be beneficial; yet on the other hand, too much homework can be detrimental.

Students should be given less homework so they can be granted stress-relief, healthy amounts of sleep, and opportunities to be exposed to unique skills. With less homework, students will be able to engage in class and can potentially raise test scores. Students will also be able to spend more time with family while doing the things they love. Lastly, students should still have homework but should have a reasonable amount of it. Hopefully, future students can have a better relationship with their family, a burning passion for an extra-curricular activity, and one-hundred percent happiness at school.