Have you ever been so stressed out from school that you don't know whether to scream, cry, pull your hair out, or just do all three at once? It turns out that many students feel the same way. Students from across the country, our own school included, are getting so overwhelmed with the amount of homework that many have to cut off all other activities just to get an A in a class. You see, in many classes, teachers (and I know from experience) will have you walk into class, give you 10-15 minutes to talk, take attendance and then begin class. When they don't finish a lesson, they'll give you all the work you didn't finish, along with the homework. Multiply that by about seven classes and there goes at least part of your night.

            According to a 2004 (over eight years ago) national survey of 2,900 American children, conducted by the University of Michigan, “…the amount of time spent on homework is up 51% since 1981.” This means that not only is there more to learn in a school year, but more goes into a teacher’s lesson plans, to teach, to memorize, etc. In a recent survey of Seckman High School, in which every grade level was represented, over 75 percent of students said that they had over two hours of homework per night. Over 80 percent said they were involved in school activities such as sports, band, choir, etc., and over 90 percent said that the amount of homework given affected their performance at school the next day. A recent CNN Time Magazine study backs up what the students at Seckman said, stating that “Too much homework brings diminishing returns.”

            One analysis of dozens of studies, done by well a known researcher from Duke University, Dr. Harris Cooper, found that kids who do some homework in middle and high school score somewhat better on standardized tests, but doing more than 60 to 90 minutes a night in middle school and more than two hours in high school is associated with the dreaded lower scores. Another well made point in Cooper’s analysis was that, on a global level, “Teachers in many of the nations that outperform the U.S. on student achievement tests--such as Japan, Denmark and the Czech Republic--tend to assign less homework than American teachers, but instructors in low-scoring countries like Greece, Thailand and Iran tend to pile it on.” Although we all know that tests do not always define who you are, but Cooper points out that, “Success on standardized tests is, of course, only one measure of learning--and only one purported goal of homework.” Educators, including Cooper, tend to defend homework by saying it builds study habits, self-discipline and time-management skills, but there's also evidence that homework sours kids' attitudes toward school. Senior John Kohn agreed, saying, "It's one thing to say we are wasting kids' time and straining parent-kid relationships, but what's unforgivable is if homework is damaging our kids' interest in learning, undermining their curiosity." Over half of the students interviewed at Seckman High School confided that they really dreaded having to get up and come back to school and get even farther behind.

            Is it not possible for something to be done? In our nation, “71% of mothers of kids under 18 are in the workforce,” meaning they don’t get home until later in the evening. Would it not be possible to add another hour onto the school day to cut down on the amount of work sent home, thus allowing students the opportunity to ask questions in class and learn at a fast pace while having a full and complete knowledge of the matter at hand?