Homework is usually used as a way to study or learn outside of school. While homework can be helpful and important, a Stanford study found that any more than two hours of homework a night might actually have negative effects on students’ education.

Currently, high school students have an average of seventeen and a half hours of homework a week, which is roughly three and a half hours a day, according to a report done by US News. With the current amount of homework and the time it takes to complete it, students are most likely always going to be negatively impacted by the work. And if you ask any other teenager I’m sure they can probably relate.

High school students’ homework load negatively impacts the students’ mental health. A survey done by the American Psychological Association shows that when in school, students have higher stress levels than adults. With adults typically having more to worry about, it is almost unbelievable that students have more stress. But with work at school and then work at home it isn’t odd that students can experience more stress than adults.

Another study by the Princeton Review stated that large amounts of homework result in mental and physical health issues and an unbalance in students workload. Since the amount of homework students have leads to high levels of stress, consistent stress can hurt the other parts of students’ lives, like their physical health. The stress can also lead to students not being able to handle their workload, which can lead to more issues later on in life, such as in jobs or college.

The amount of homework that students should have a night is 10 minutes per grade level, according to the National PTA and the National Education Association. That would be 90 minutes for 9th graders, one hundred minutes for 10th graders, and so on. With the average amount of homework students get a night is three and a half hours, students are doing over an hour more of the recommended amount of homework. When students have that much over the recommended amount of time spent on homework, it starts being less beneficial and more harmful towards students.

In my experience, homework is one of my main priorities after school. Since my homework usually takes over 3 hours, I am very stressed most nights. Participating in sports, going to work, and attending my other commitments alone is very stressful and when I get 3-4 hours of homework a night my workload is almost impossible. With the pressure of trying to get good grades, do well in sports, and keep my job, doing my homework after school is extremely stressful. And I have less extracurricular activities than a lot of my peers.

High schools should look to cut down on the homework so that instead of stressing out students and probably negatively impacting their education, they can easily grow in their knowledge outside of school.