7 hours. 7 hours is the number of hours that students learn in high school. Within these hours, students spend their time learning new topics, taking tests, and working on classwork assignments. As the end of the day approaches, they come home with multiple homework assignments to complete before the 11:59 pm deadline. 

This trend continues to go on for 5 days a week. Now just think about repeating this schedule for 180 school days. That’s pretty stressful. In modern times, our mental health has been a top priority that individuals desire to take care of. However, homework creates a heavy burden, which prevents students from having the opportunity of caring for their mental well-being. I feel that giving too much homework to high school students brings a negative impact on their mental health. 

Homework steals a big chunk of my teenage lifestyle. It is a stressor that prevents me from having time for myself to relax after a day of hard work. After spending 7 hours in high school learning, I spend 5 more hours working on homework assignments--on a good day. To me, I think that this schedule is completely ridiculous and extremely unhealthy. I shouldn’t be spending this much time working on school assignments. 

Kelly Wallace wrote the article “Kids Have Three Times Too Much Homework, Study Finds; What’s The Cost?” in which she recognizes that “the impact of excessive homework on high schoolers included high stress levels, a lack of balance in children’s lives and physical health problems.” As stressful as school already is, continuing to receive more homework assignments to complete at home, brings stress and anxiety to many students and ultimately worsens their mental health problems. 

To be completely honest, I understand that the purpose of homework is to serve as a refresher for the student body in terms of retaining information, as well as a way to provide feedback on how much content students are able to comprehend. However, students have jobs and other personal activities that may acquire more attention than completing a school assignment. Having personal and academic responsibilities to deal with, adds pressure to a high schooler's life, as they struggle to manage a busy schedule.

In my case, I spend a couple of hours in school for track and field practice. After practice, I have other family-related responsibilities to deal with. Having an overwhelming schedule on top of assignments that are waiting to be completed, makes me feel mentally incapable of successfully getting my plans in order.

Jula Utzschneider, wrote the article “Excessive Homework Negatively Impacts Mental Health, Causes Unnecessary Stress” which identifies that “any more than two hours of homework per night is counterproductive.” Having 1 to 2 hours of doing homework will open up more opportunities and possibilities for high school students to have time for themselves. Having fewer amounts of homework will be beneficial in reducing mental health conflicts.

The school system, teachers, and educators, need to recognize and consider that excessive amounts of homework negatively affect students' mental well-being. Even though promoting self-care is present in the classroom, teachers are still assigning more work for students to complete.

To me, this defeats the purpose of having improvements in mental wellness. Everyone has unique and different schedules. In order to fix these mental health conflicts, educators need to consider everyone's situation. Simply giving students fewer assignments can be the first step toward assisting students with their mental health conflicts.

Works Consulted

Utzschneider, Jula. “Excessive homework negatively impacts mental health, causes unnecessary stress.” THE ALGONQUIN HARBINGER, 10 November 2021, arhsharbinger.com/27706/opinion/excessive-homework-negatively-impacts-mental-health-causes-unnecessary-stress/. Accessed 5 May 2022.

Wallace, Kelly. “Kids have three times too much homework, study finds; what's the cost?” CNN, 12 August 2015, cnn.com/2015/08/12/health/homework-elementary-school-study/index.html. Accessed 5 May 2022.