Come home, go outside, play with friends until it gets dark outside. Is this behavior only something of the past, and is it even possible in this modern era of school? On average, today’s students spend up to ten hours a week on homework and studying. In addition, students are involved in various organized commitments after school such as sports and other extracurriculars. With students being this busy, the question arises, “How much homework is too much?” This issue is a controversial one. Some people feel the amount of homework students receive is beneficial, while others feel the student’s own well-being is more important. Teachers giving excessive amounts of homework appears to not only be stressing out young students but also causing health issues and break down of family happiness.

     First, too much homework is affecting the availability of participating in after school activities. Most students want to participate in extracurriculars and sports but question whether or not the time requirements will lead them to lower grades and a lack of sleep. It is not easy to cram in studying, homework, and projects when you are not even getting home until late in the evening from after school activities. According to an article in the New York Times, first graders and kindergartners are spending an average of twenty-five to thirty minutes a night on homework. High school students are spending anywhere from under one hour to three and a hours a night on homework. Will students ever be able just to relax, play outside, and spend quality time with their family?

     Second, the amount of homework students receive is causing health issues. One of the main issues is headaches. Not all children are good at time management and the stress of getting everything done in a timely manner can cause headaches. Furthermore, the brain is getting less and less time to decompress. The second issue is sleep deprivation. Students are up very late trying to study and complete homework, resulting in them not getting the sleep needed. The third issue is weight gain or loss. If young boys and girls are not having the time to eat, prepare a healthy meal, be able to exercise, or be active, they will suffer with weight gain. In addition, some children may be so stressed that they do not even have a desire to eat resulting in weight loss. Is all of this busy work truly beneficial and worth the possible risks to the child’s health?

     Besides the health and well being issues that excessive homework may cause, there are still some positive effects as well. Teachers assign homework as reinforcement to what they learned during the day. Many people argue that repetition is necessary to truly master the material. Furthermore, homework can be a good way to determine whether you truly understand the work or need more review. In addition, homework can teach a child responsibility and how to work independently which is important as you get older.  Although many will argue the positives to homework, the negatives still seem to stand out greater. 

     Unfortunately, hours of assigned homework does not seem to be going away. From kindergarten through college, teachers are assigning more and more in hopes that their students will become more successful later in life. The problem is that this hope of success is coming at a huge cost for children. Children are suffering physically and mentally, they are not as active as they used to be, and family time is becoming more and more non existent. Life is short and children only have so much time to be just that, children. They should be playing outside more, having creative play, and spending time with their parents and siblings. Are good grades and children that look great on paper more important than a child’s well being and happiness? A change needs to be made, or else, the world will be filled with overworked adults who have forgotten how it feels to be happy and relaxed and sadly, how to be a family.