Dear future president,

Homework has become too much for us to handle. According to a recent study at Stanford on average, high school students do around three hours of homework each night. Teachers assign homework to reinforce previous lessons so students understand it, but it is their job to make sure their students are comfortable with the the material, not the students, especially not on their free time. Students have to try their best to understand the topics, but it is the teacher is the one who is responsible for getting the information across in a clear way. Countless times have I found myself teaching myself a topic because a teacher neglected to ask the student how they feel about the material. Scientists have proven that students should be doing two hours of homework outside of school maximum. If they exceed this time it could result in various health risks. When interviewing students who participated in they study over 70% if them said they were constantly stressed over homework and always thinking about it. All the students said that they felt they had to make a decision: whether do choose homework, a social life, or a healthy amount of sleep.

Balancing your friend and family with your homework can be one of the most difficult things to do. Between sports, hanging out with your friends, and family outings on top of homework, it becomes almost impossible to have time for it all. It is not healthy for students to be constantly isolated studying their textbooks. So much pressure is being put on teens today to perform well in school, and all of them are working extremely hard to achieve these expectations. With the strenuous workload put on us, students do not get to live out the normal teenage life that is detrimental to becoming a mature adult. When a person leaves school, it then becomes their time to do what they want. This is the time to develop life long friendships, spend time with family, and creating everlasting memories. These priorities are put on hold for our school work.

Getting the appropriate amount of sleep has become a serious issue for teens all around the world. In order to function properly in class and retain the most information, doctors have proven getting at least nine hours of sleep is the most beneficial. That would mean going to bed at 9:30 and waking up at 6:30. It has become impossible to get that amount of sleep every night with the busy schedules of the average high school student. Countless times have I and many others stayed awake Into the late hours of the night studying and completing our assignments. In conclusion, the work load and high expectation piled onto high school students is not only affecting them mentally but also physically with the various health risks. Teachers need to cut down on homework, and let students have time for themselves after the long school hours of working hard in class.

Ava Siegel

Http://slate-tablets.com/blog/?author=1. "On Homework: An Honest Teacher's Perspective." Slate Tablets. N