You come home from school, get a snack, and sit down to rest. Suddenly, you realize that you have homework to complete for your math class. Then, you realize you have more work for your science and English classes. It’s not long before you have to go to your sports or band practice. And when that’s finally done, you still have an hour of homework left to do. This is a common situation for many students.

The purpose of homework is to commit material to build long term memory, but for many students, it becomes their main focus each day of the week, which can lead to an unhealthy amount of stress. 

Per KPS Homework Guidelines, high school students should spend 20-30 minutes outside of school reading, while total out-of-school work time should be 90 minutes. KPS also suggests homework for high schoolers four days a week. 

Though that is the recommended amount that students should be getting, there are students who spend a lot more time on their homework. 

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“I spend anywhere from two to five hours on homework a night,” said sophomore Violet Mercadal.

Mercadal is an AP Literature and Composition student and APUSH student, as well as a student at the Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center (KAMSC). She is also a student at the Kalamazoo Academy of Rock (KAR), and participates in many other music programs like the LN musical, as well as playing lacrosse. 

Another student, junior Hannah Boothby, is in a similar situation.

“I’m in a few AP and honors classes,” said Boothby. “AP Psych gives me a ton of homework.”

However, time spent on homework is often a spectrum, and some students have little to no homework. 

“I spend an hour at most on homework,” said senior Mallory Loken, who is also a student at KAR.

“It takes a lot of energy to complete homework. I have attention deficit disorder, which makes things harder to complete, like a homework assignment,” said Loken. 

According to a National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) study, secondary students have an average of 6.8 hours of homework every week. 

Students say that the average amount of homework that they get changes the way that they see school. 

“The amount of homework that I have has definitely made me dread going to school a lot more. I worry about my ability to complete assignments and school work,” Mercadal said. “The time I have to spend on homework and extracurriculars also makes it hard to get enough sleep, so I find that my homework has impacted how engaged I am able to be at school and has caused me to view school as a tiring argument.”

Still, some students understand that homework has helped them understand the material better. 

“A lot of the homework is useful for reviewing material. It helps it stick in my brain,” said Boothby. 

But there are some classes that assign a very large amount of homework. 

“Career and Technical Education (CTE) Conservation Biology requires quite a bit of work,” said Loken. 

 One disadvantage noted by math teacher Rosemary Sidwell is that students aren’t able to manage their classtime wisely if they have to much homework. 

“They don’t do their work for my class if they are doing work for other classes,” Sidwell said.

Sidwell doesn’t want to give her students homework, but they may have to complete her classwork at home when they don’t use class time wisely. 

According to Striking a Balance: How Much Homework is Too Much Homework for High Schoolers?, students should be spending two hours or less on their homework each night.   

While there are benefits, homework takes up a lot of time in students’ lives outside of school, which can affect their mental health. It’s important that students and teachers find a balance to handle school work, extracurriculars, and stress levels.