When a student gets home they usually sit down at the table and pull out their homework. Piles of papers rise all the way to the ceiling. “Do I have to do all of this tonight? It’s due tomorrow, but I can’t finish this all in time!” the student complains. American students should get less homework on a daily basis because too much can cause a great deal of stress, too much time is required to complete it, and it impacts free time and sleep.

Too much homework can cause stress in a student and lead to health issues in the body and mind. Homework related anxiety and stress can affect school work negatively. Stress causes lack of sleep, slipping grades, fatigue, unhealthy eating habits, depression, and many more factors. According to a 2006 poll, 80 percent of teens don’t get the recommended amount of sleep. At least 28 percent fall asleep in school and 22 percent fall asleep doing homework(‘Summary Findings of the 2006 Sleep in America Poll’, www.nationalsleepfoundation,org). In the film Race to Nowhere, the people working on the film interview multiple students and many of them talk about having nervous breakdowns or being very stressed; some even talked about getting depressed because of all the homework in school and depression can even lead to suicide. Nervous breakdowns can make completing homework much more of a struggle and also effect the health and life of a student.

Kids are doing more than the recommended amount each night, with no academic benefits. The recommended amount is 10 minutes times the grade level, so first grade gets 10 minutes, second grade gets 20 minutes, third grade gets 30 minutes, and so on, but kids are doing much more than that. (Homework, www.wikipedia.org) Twenty three percent of 13-year-olds do more than 2 hours a night. The more the students do, the less they get out of doing it. There is no academic benefit for high school students after 2 hours and there are no academic benefits for middle school students after 1 and a half hours. (‘As Homework Grows, So Do Arguments Against It’, www.washingtonpost.com)

Doing homework all night can take away a student's free time and sleep. Always doing homework can lead to less family time and less time for activities. It creates less time for sports and after school activities. Family time is also decreased which can add more family conflict. Hanging out with friends is decreased, so that means there is less socializing. Staying up late and doing homework takes away a student’s time to sleep. Sleep deprivation can cause stress and many more factors. Not enough sleep can leave a student tired, and at school they might focus less or fall asleep during class. Then the student gets in trouble for falling asleep. Homework is taking away a students childhood, no one wants that, do they?

School students in America should get less homework on a daily basis. Too much homework can cause stress and other health issues. Also, students are working more than the recommended amount of time on homework, and this takes away from family time and free time, as well as time for sleep. When it comes to doing homework, students also want time to relax and enjoy other activities. Shouldn’t students get less homework so that they can be happy and have more time with family and friends? Administrators, teachers, students, and parents need to address this issue and inform people about the effects of homework on students in America. If teachers and parents tried to reduce the amount of homework there would be a decrease in stress and anxiety and an increase in happiness! “Homework makes it so I can’t spend time with my kids and family and I resent it.” (Ms.Valette)