Going home after an exhausting school day might not be such a relief for students when piles of homework await to be done, leaving them no time for relaxation and leisure activities.

Academic work affects teens in many ways. These includes stress, lack of sleep and inability to help around the house. Several other students are reluctant in joining a sports team because they worry that they might not have enough time. Even so, some teachers give work than what most students can handle. This hinders teenagers to do certain activities that they enjoy.

Freshman Danielle Valenzuela, a student that have passion for both art and basketball, is among these students who feel that teachers need to reduce the homework given.

“I don’t have time to practice basketball,” she said. “I used to (practice) but now I don’t have any time.”

Valenzuela said that she spends around four hours each day for homework, which is close to the average hours that students are expected to spend their time doing academic work.

Researchers from University of Phoenix College of Education conducted an online poll for K-12 teachers across the United States tallying the hours of homework they give. On average, high school teachers said that they give 3.5 hours of homework per week (individually), which means seven academic classes allocate about four hours load of homework every day.

While teachers argue that assigning homework helps them see their students’ progress, most of which are busy work. In addition, some teachers do not understand that teens have to manage other things, including possible peer pressure from school, problems at home, and deriving their ambition.

“What’s difficult for me is to play piano and wash the dishes when I have more homework to do,” freshman Dianna Lopez said.

Another study from American Psychological Association reports the stress levels of teenagers are beyond the stress levels of adults (5.8 compared to 3.9 on a scale of 1-10). The study also showed that students have lower stress levels during the summer. This shows how homework greatly affects students’ lifestyle.

What teachers should do is cut down the work and avoid giving unnecessary assignments. For example, if teachers can give students homework with 10 questions instead of 20, then it will reduce students’ workload. Effective teachers are also proven to give less homework and spend more time in class to help students learn.

Another shift that might solve the problem is the six-period schedule that will be implemented next school year. Nevertheless, the change might not do much if teachers continue to give numerous assignments.