The average high school student will do 17.5 hours worth of homework in just one week, according to a survey by the University of Phoenix. This equates to about 3.5 hours a night.

I am no mathematician, but if a student gets home at 3 pm everyday, does their homework, and gets about an hour for dinner, this places them at about 7:30 pm. This doesn’t include an hour or two for extracurriculars, chores, outings with their family and other activities. If the student wants to go to bed and get up at a decent time, then they are cutting it close.

Research conducted by Stanford University showed that 56 of 100 students consider homework to be a primary stressor, and students reported they were less likely to take care of themselves and deal with greater health issues due to the workload.

Homework creates a feeling of helplessness in students due to the sheer size of the workload. Students do not benefit from large amounts of homework, and the workload prevents them from getting proper amounts of social interaction, sleep, and all around taking care of themselves.

“I don’t like giving homework for my classes. In terms of English, it is important to do reading in advance; however, I believe we can get a lot done in the context of class,” English teacher Mrs. Lauren Tocci said. “I can’t speak to other courses, I only know what I give for my class. I often hear my students complaining about their workload, which worries me because of time issues.”

Unfortunately, this is the reality for students in the American education system. Three and a half hours of homework may not seem like a lot, but that does not include projects or the extra amount of work honors and AP students may get. To make matters worse, recent studies have shown that homework does not benefit students in the long run.

In a study conducted by the University of Indiana’s School of Education, there was little correlation between amount of time spent doing homework and better test scores. The study focused on 10,000 sophomores between 1990 and 2002. Whether or not students completed homework, their test scores were the same.

“I do notice my test scores going up [when I do my homework], because it gives me more time to study, though I wouldn’t say that’s necessarily from the homework,” junior Zack Campbell said. “There is a difference between homework and studying.”

This means that all those hours spent doing grammar worksheets or math problems have little to no impact on test scores and final grades. The study proved that despite the long nights filled with homework, students still are not guaranteed to do any better than if they shirked the work.

University of Indiana’s study also proved that teachers may not be giving beneficial homework. Some homework is just used as a time filler for students, and is not really helpful towards a student’s education.

“I think some of [the homework] is actually helpful review, while the rest isn’t really necessary,” sophomore Alysia Lee said. “When teachers give something we haven’t gone over that well, then I feel that is important.”

While homework may be beneficial if a student is struggling in a subject, wants some extra practice before the test, or needs to do some reading for English, it just is not helpful outside of those areas.

Not every student needs practice, and not every student is struggling, yet the average high schooler still gets 3.5 hours of homework a night. Maybe it is time to stop bombarding students with countless hours of homework, and instead take a look at the costs of all those worksheets.