How Much Homework Is Too Much Homework?

How much homework is too much homework? How much sleep is enough? Even if there are definitive amounts to answer these questions and ensure that kids and teeneagers have enough time to relax after homework and feel energized after sleep, they seem increasingly difficult to reach. 

Eight hours of sleep is the commonly accepted amount of sleep needed ideally per night. If you sleep for 9, 10, 11 or even match the hours you're up and sleep for 12, that is fantastic. But the reality is, especially for high schoolers, that many students don’t even get half of that amount. 

We are taught in our health and wellness classes that sleep is very important. Sleep is essential for good mental health, as well as physical health, preparing us for the day to come. Sleep is crucial especially for high school students, as it enables us to make good decisions, feel good and promotes better overall mental health一which should be a number one priority.

When conducting a survey with twenty Niskayuna High School students asking about sleep time and duration, I got a variety of answers. (These numbers are from twenty randomly selected students and therefore, they may not represent the entire student body, which will differ due to diverse classes, homework amounts, and after school activities. In addition, these students are underclassmen (sophomores), so the graph does not fully show the added pressures from college essays, SATs, etc.) However, this sample can still provide an idea of average student sleep  times, variety and consistency of amount of sleep.

As represented in the graph above, overall, the three most common times that these students go to bed are 11 pm, 12 am and 1 am. 

Amount of sleep and homework can go hand in hand. The more homework you have, the later you may need to stay up to do it. If you don’t have any study halls, the more you need to do. Add on sports, clubs and other activities, from which you may get home late, and then after having dinner, you may need to stay up late writing that paper that's due or studying for a test the next day.

Many people may assume it is a student’s fault for staying up doing hours of homework each night because they have not managed their time well. However, even with good time management, last-minute homework assignments are inevitable, and tests require an indefinite amount of study time. Both extracurricular schedules and amounts of homework are variable, making it difficult to plan ahead.

Homework can encourage learning, as it helps students test what they know. However, with seven or more classes, homework tends to pile up. As much as students try to manage it, at times it is inevitable that students will have to work for hours outside of school一a time which, with after school activities, often becomes late at night. I highly doubt homework is going to go away, however it is important for teachers to consider what other classes students have, as well as what may be going on in students' personal lives. 

When asking the question to the same 20 students how much homework do you do each night I got a variety of answers with a few common trends.

Overall, the data from this sample show that the majority of students in this sample do 3 hours of homework per night, but many others also do 4-5 hours or more. 

Teachers and administrators are always trying to find new ways to improve students' mental health and make students feel seen. One way to begin would be to learn more about students' daily lives, including figuring out how many hours after a six-hour school day students need to do their homework. Homework is important, but helping students manage it, especially for those taking AP classes, without overwhelming them is crucial too. After school should be a chance to unwind and do the things you want to, instead of a time spent solely studying at the expense of sleep and working so much that you turn into a machine: a machine that wakes up early, goes to school for 6 hours, comes home, does homework for another 6, relaxes for a little, has a late dinner, and in the end, sleeps for a few hours only to wake up and do it all again. This can become a monotonous and unhealthy routine. It is important to give students control over their own lives, so they can learn while also discovering things they like and having fun. 

Homework is important, but we shouldn't be overwhelmed. Sleep promotes mental health and healthy living, something that should be encouraged. Many students have a lot to say and experiences to share: this affects us all.