Dear Teachers,
Although I have thoroughly enjoyed my high school experience thus far, but there is one constantly prying issue that I feel I must discuss: homework. Yes, I know it is a constant battle between students and teachers every year. However, I firmly believe my complaint is justified. I actually think that it is not homework itself that is the problem; often times I will find homework helpful in learning new information and preparing for a test. However, it is the amount of homework which has compelled me to speak out. Every night and weekend I am constantly barraged with a steady stream of assignments and projects which have so overwhelmed me to I am forced to speak out against it. I plead that you will listen to my opinion and stop assigning so much homework!

Homework often gives me no choice but to devote each weekday afternoon to school and little else. Although homework is something that is necessary to help a student learn and understand material, there is no justification to assign hours of homework each and every night. Almost every weekday, I will come home from school, sit down, and complete two or more hours of homework and studying. This means I get home at 4:00 (I walk home) and will work until 6:00 or later. Afterwards, I have time for dinner, a shower, and a little time with my family to read or watch television, and then I go to sleep! This is a constant cycle Monday thru Thursday. Even on the weekends, I can expect at least a couple hours of work usually, if not more. It is hard to appreciate a weekend when Sunday is constantly devoted to studying and completing assignments. This workload means I have almost no time for personal activities. I love to bake, cook, and write short stories. But unfortunately, I often feel I have no space to squeeze these hobbies in during the week because I am so overloaded. Extracurricular activities and personal hobbies are important in helping to develop one's character, and especially in these crucial years it seems an important thing to define ourselves. However, these important times are just being taken up by more and more work. Many of my friends are devoted only to school activities and don't have any hobbies or fun activities besides sitting in front of a computer. I plead for more time to be able to flourish creatively and to have fun, not to sit at a desk and study!

Another impact of a constant workload is the almost ever-present stress I feel. Every day I have to plan out when I will finish all of my assignments and find times to study. Almost from the minute I am given a new worksheet or bookwork I feel the worry of when and how I am going to complete it. When I have a lot of homework or am given a project to finish over the weekend, I constantly fret and fuss over it. My only peace of mind comes after I have finished, in which I will only have the brain power to sleep and get ready for the next day. The stress of these assignments makes a big impact on my life. I feel exhausted as if I've run a marathon even though I've been sitting at a desk. Being at this age is hard enough, but the constant worry I feel is even harder on my body and my mind. For my mental stability, please consider lightening my workload!

Another dilemma that has arisen from constant homework is issues with my friendships. High school is considered one of if not the most important time to flourish not only academically, but socially. As a teenage girl, it is important to find time to go out with friends or talk on the phone. So when I text my friend to see if she can go with me to see a movie, you could understand my frustration when the almost constant reply is “No, I have a huuge project due on Monday :/.” When you assign numerous projects and homework, it means our time with friends is drastically shortened, which mind you in years like this is a big deal. Not only does spending time with friends make me a happier person, it makes me all around just feel better. Also, developing more social skills not only helps you socially, but it also great for when you reach the “real world”. People skills are an essential element to have when applying for a job or promotion, or even college. So when time with my friends is cut, it makes a big impact not only on my popularity but my ability to succeed in life. For my social sake and my future job's sake, stop the crazy homework agenda!

So you may say that you don't enjoy assigning homework at all, but it is necessary to keep us on track for the curriculum. To this I say that the time we need to finish the work is already available: during class. There are innumerable examples of times I have sat in class with absolutely no work to do. Every day there is a class where we move unnecessarily slow, spending long amounts of time on a subject or assignment that should only take a few minutes. Sometimes I will spend an entire period just talking to the classmates near me. Why aren't we using this time to actually learn? Why is it that we spend almost no time in class learning a subject but are forced to spend hours on it at home? I do not think that we should have to put unnecessary work into our free time because lesson plans are not well timed. I firmly believe that class time has to be reevaluated and utilized to its full extent. I think that if teachers move classes faster and assign more work during class, then the work outside of class will not have to be so grand.

The immense workload I have experienced as a high school student has made an enormous impact on my personal activities, the stress I feel, and my friendships. I implore you to hear my argument and that of so many other students and stop assigning so much homework!