Overdose on Homework

Dear President,

Have you ever cried over the amount of homework you have had? Have you ever been up really late working on your homework? Well I know most of you have and it has gotten out of control. Most students and even parents are stressed out on the amount of homework that we receive throughout the day, but yet studies say that us Americans are getting just the right amount.

Kids these days are stressed and overwhelmed. Kids take home about 3.5 hours of homework a night. Lets say kids are in sports after school, they don't get done till about 6:00, they come home, and still have to eat and the timing to be around 7:15. Then shower for about 15 minutes or so, after all of that they have to start their 3.5 hours of homework. After doing all 3.5 hours of homework straight you're already at 10:30. Kids need to be getting at least 8+ hours of sleep a night. After this these kid gets ready for bed and put everything away they won’t be going to sleep until about 11, most kids don't go to sleep right away also. Waking up for school the next day at 7 is putting you at just 8 hours of sleep. Kids need to be getting to bed on time and need to be getting more sleep. Studies show that the more sleep the kids get, the better their brain is going to work the next day, and the more energy they are going to have.

It’s unbelievable how many hours kids put in nights, weeks, months, and years, doing so much homework. They put in 3.5 hours a night, 15+ hours a week, 525 hours a month, and 191,990 hours a year. That is a lot of time on doing just homework. Homework is taking middle schoolers and high schoolers evenings and weekends away because they are busy working on all of their assignments for teachers. Kids don't have time to be kids anymore, they are too weighed down. Homework overload is also affecting family life—a lot of kids can't even make it to dinner, and as a result, the only interaction they have with their parents involves arguments about homework.

Where I’m going with all of this is that us kids get way too much homework. Seeing some kids never getting out anymore or never being active anymore is such an awful thing. Seeing some kids falling asleep in your classroom may be one sign that the teacher is the reason why they were up very late and that they didn't get enough sleep. I’m not saying that us kids should get no homework at all, it is okay to be getting some homework but it is not okay to be getting 3 hours worth every single night. We need to have more time with our family and friends. Kids need to be kids and spend their time enjoying their childhood.