It’s time to take on the question that has made every teenager quiver at one point or another. “Did you finish all of your homework?”

Homework is defined as schoolwork that a student is required to do at home. The National Education System and National Parent Teacher Association have both agreed with the idea that “students should receive ten minutes of work per grade.” This would mean that the NPA and NPTA find that it is reasonable for a  high school senior to have up to two hours of homework a night. Homework is to “reinforce what we learned that day in class or do some extra learning outside of class” said science teacher Mr. Hugener. But is it as beneficial as teachers say it is?

Homework and Sleep

On a recent poll of 100 PHS students, over 80% of them had over an hour of homework assigned every night. Along with Portsmouth High School being in full support of extracurricular activities such as sports, band, clubs, etc.

“There just aren’t enough hours in the day” PHS sophomore Aiden Aliouche told us, “I’m on swim team and go to the gym everyday. I only get seven hours of sleep a night and always end up finishing my homework in school the day it’s due.”

This idea of finishing homework in school (the day that it is due) is more common than most would expect. In a separate poll of 50 PHS students, over 65% finish at least one piece of homework in school the day that it is due. When asked why not just finish the work at home, the most common response was “I wanted to go to bed.”

A study done by the Nationwide Children’s Hospital found on average the amount of sleep adolescents get per night is seven hours. That is two hours less than the National Sleep Foundation says teens need to function best. A different study done by the NSF states that only 15% of teens receive the amount of sleep that they need.

As you are probably aware, Portsmouth High School will be changing the start time to 8:25am to allow students to sleep in. The problem with this is that students will just be staying up later, or not finishing their homework to compensate for this lack of sleep.

Sleep deprivation is something that everyone has experienced and it comes with some unhealthy symptoms. This includes drowsiness, depression, and even paranoia.

With homework out of the equation, that is on average an extra one to two hours of sleep that students can get. With enough sleep, students will not only feel more awake in the morning but also get sick less often. There will also be a lower risk of serious health problems such as diabetes and heart disease, stay at a healthy weight, maintain a healthy metabolism, and reduce the most dreaded word in high school, stress. But will students really get more sleep?

Homework and Stress

In a study done by Stanford University, 56% of students felt that homework is a primary source of stress. New York University published a study and article stating “too much homework is directly correlated to chronic stress.” Stress can cause a multitude of health and mental problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity. It can also affect your thoughts, behavior, and emotions.

The worst part about this situation is that no research has ever found a benefit to homework in any amount. The only study to show a correlation between homework and test scores is in math. The National School Board Association has said there is “no conclusive evidence homework increases student achievement.”

Homework and Social Life

Students also face the challenge of balancing time with friends and family because of having too much homework. Homework can take up time that could be spent doing things students would much rather enjoy. The list of activities students could do could go on forever.

Students from the same Stanford study say that “too much homework can even alienate students from society.”

Is this what a teacher or parent would want? Students are preached all the time by adults to be social, make friends, and have fun. But how is this possible when students are loaded with homework.

So What’s the Point?

No research has ever found a real benefit to homework in any amount. There is also no correlation between having more homework and higher test grades in every subject except math. Sure, homework gives students something to do and ensures that free time is being spent productively. But could there be more negatives in having homework?

If there are no correlations between homework and test scores, why assign it? This is where the idea of ‘busy work’ comes from. Defined as work that keeps a person busy, but has little value in itself.

We are left with the question, is homework ‘good’ for students? To answer this we must take in account that homework causes teenagers to be sleep deprived, causes teens to be antisocial, and creates an unhealthy amount of stress. All of these negatives for an unclear amount of positives in students’ grades and test scores.