These days, it is a very rare occasion for students to only get one small assignment for homework or no homework at all. Teachers assign so much homework to students that their entire evening is spent completing it all, making the students really stressed out. It only gets more difficult to finish it all especially when extracurricular activities are factored in.
One of the problems that teachers don’t recognize about assigning so much homework every night is that the amount of time students spend on doing their homework varies greatly. Some students could sit down at their table or computer and finish their homework within ten to fifteen minutes and other students may sit down and finish the homework after an hour, if not more. Advanced Placement classes especially tend to have that problem because of not only the difficulty of the material, but also because the classes require the students to think in a more abstract way than they’re used to. Yes, it takes time to understand and develop those skills but they may come more naturally to some than others, affecting the amount of time spent on the sometimes very time-consuming assignments. The teacher could assign the homework thinking that it wouldn’t take that long, without realizing that they already have the knowledge that the assignment is focused on, and that it is not the only thing the students have to work on that night.
Other teachers are unaware of the students work load from other classes and after school activities. It cannot be expected that students devote all of their time after school to perfecting the given homework assignment for every single class; it is not feasible. It is understandable that teachers expect the homework assignments to be completed, but giving three hours worth of homework a night is not only unreasonable but also incredibly impractical and only inflicts more stress on the student. In small doses, it has been proven that a little stress is good for students because it can motivate them to get their work done, but five times as many students are developing anxiety disorders and depression these days because of the increasing pressure to do well in school, according to a study reported by USA Today. Excessive stress only hinders the progress and development of students in school, and makes it increasingly difficult to get everything done each night to the best of their ability.
To the teachers that recognize both of these things, I applaud and thank you many times over. But these are problems that are not recognized by all teachers, and until they are, the stress levels in students will only continue to increase. It is truly unrealistic that so much is expected of us every night when there are so many other things that go on in our lives that get in the way. Of course school is very important, and many students see school as being very important, but even the ones that strive to do their very best every day find the workload each night to be completely insane.
In a perfect world, all students would get a reasonable amount of homework done to the best of their ability, but we do not live in a perfect world, and it cannot be expected of the student body to complete multiple extensive and time-consuming assignments each night. Collectively, they take time that students do not have after school if they want to be well rested and ready to absorb knowledge the next day in school. Teachers really need to cut back on the excessive homework assignments each night and give the students a break from the constant pressure riding on their shoulders.
