Homework Free Weekends

An average American high school student completes about 17.5 hours of homework per week. This ends up being about 2.5 to 3 hours every night, including Saturday and Sunday, after sitting in a classroom for 6 hours, attending sports practices, club meetings, co-curricular activities, a part-time job and school events. High schoolers are simply busy and stressed out. Teachers and administrators recognized the ongoing stress of students and therefore implemented “homework free” weekends four times a year for students here at NHS, allowing us time to relax and focus on other aspects of our lives.

I personally find it to be a relief to get a break from the workload of my academics, and even find myself motivated and in a better mood when I return to my schoolwork. Therefore, when I found out early in the 2015-16 school year that NHS was delegating a few weekends throughout the year to be homework free, I was pleasantly surprised. I believe that it is important for students to put their homework on “the back burner” for a weekend, and focus on other aspects of their lives, such as time with friends and family and also enjoying events, such as our homecoming game and dance this past weekend, without the stress and pressure of completing copious amounts of homework for the following week. A student participating within a survey conducted by Stanford University, regarding schoolwork and its effects on students, stated that instead of adolescents excessively focusing on their schoolwork, they should be “cultivating other life skills.” Researchers in the Stanford survey concluded that “young people are spending more time alone, which means less time with family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities.” I believe that the survey’s conclusion accurately proves why homework free weekends are important, so that students may spend time with their families, volunteer within the community and socialize with their peers.

I am not saying that homework in ineffective, and I do believe that homework can serve its purpose of teaching students responsibility, good work ethic and understanding of concepts. I understand that homework is preparation for the workload we may face once we have jobs after graduating college or high school as well. However, I also see the negative effects of homework on young students and even college students, taking away time from other significant aspects, opportunities and experiences in our lives. Even though students may still spend time studying for tests or working on homework that is due during the following week, homework free weekends are a break from our ‘normal’ workload. At the end of the day, we are still adolescents and need time to relax, sleep in, enjoy quality time with our friends and our families and learn life skills that don’t pertain to our academics.