Extracurricular activities have been a driving force in my experience as a student. They have opened me up to new viewpoints and hobbies that were not available to me at any of the classes I have taken. If I had never taken piano lessons when I was younger, for instance, I wouldn’t have been influenced to pursue music today. 

In order to pursue these after-school activities, students need a reasonable amount of time. If students are overloaded with homework, it would be impossible for them to fully delve into these passions without sacrificing necessary sleep. Because of the detrimental effects homework has on students’ sleep, free time, and general well-being, there should be a schoolwide limit to how much can be assigned. 

Not only does homework take time away from extracurriculars, but it can be mostly “busy work” that gives students a bad general perception of school. As a senior in high school, I can recount nights when I didn’t go to sleep until 1 AM because of how much work I had to finish. Most of this work felt mindless and didn’t encourage me to practice critical thinking, which eventually hindered my productivity in school the following day from a lack of sleep.

This attitude isn’t exclusive to high school students; even elementary schoolers are receiving an excessive amount of homework every night. This includes kindergarteners receiving an average of 25 minutes of homework a night, when they shouldn’t be getting any at all. Having this much homework in such an early and developmental stage could be detrimental, since kids this young should be bonding with their parents and getting a good amount of sleep each night.

 “The data shows that homework over this level is not only not beneficial to children’s grades or GPA, but there’s really a plethora of evidence that it’s detrimental to their attitude about school, their grades, their self-confidence, their social skills, and their quality of life,” said Donaldson-Pressman, clinical director of the New England Center for Pediatric Psychology.

If students are given this amount of homework from as young this early in their academic career, the long-term effects on their general attitude toward their education is likely to be very negative. In a study published by The Journal of Experimental Education, more than 70 percent of students stated that they were often stressed by schoolwork, and 56% listed homework as the main stressor in their life. If students spend their K-12 academic career with homework as this driving negative force, their perceptions on school are bound not be positive. 

According to the National Education Association, students should be receiving 10 minutes per grade level (as the grade level increases, the homework time is increased by 10 minutes). This eventually adds up to 1 hour a night in sixth grade, and two hours a night in 12th grade. However, these are just guidelines; the actual amount of time spent on homework was found to be much higher, according to a study that was published by the American Journal of Family Therapy.

This quantity of homework affects students from low-income backgrounds who have lagged behind because of the pandemic and lack of internet access. According to a study conducted by the FCC, 17 million school children can’t access the internet at home. This only furthers the divide between students, especially if these students are receiving the same amount of homework as students with no economic disadvantages.

However, this does not mean that homework is entirely harmful and should be eliminated completely. On one hand, students are not likely to improve if they do not practice their studies. “Doesn’t a kid become a better reader if he reads more? Doesn’t a kid learn his math facts better if he practices them?” said Cathy Vattrerott, a researcher and professor of education at the University of Missouri-St.Louis in a Vox article.

If this is the case, we should find a middle ground. If we can agree that there are still benefits to reap from allowing homework to be administered, but that too much is a burden to students – especially those of low-income backgrounds – New York City Public Schools should administer a schoolwide homework policy. 

This regulation could lessen the gap between students and create a more equitable school environment that represents students’ needs and supports the mental well-being of students from grades K-12.