Homework

[1]I wrench my biology book from the front pocket of my backpack, using the momentum of its impressive mass to slam it on my overwhelmingly overloaded desk. I brush a few papers onto the already messy floor to make space for the hefty textbook, glancing quickly at the clock. It is 9:00 p.m.
[2]I flip to page 394. After pulling a wrinkled packet from a haphazard stack of binders, I begin furiously transferring answers from the textbook to the blank paper of my homework packet. The assignment doesn’t really require thinking, so I just turn up my music and turn off my brain.
[3]An hour later, I finish the packet. Rubbing my aching eyes, I blearily stare at the time, barely registering that it was nearly midnight.

All students recognize this brand of homework; homework that doesn’t teach the material and is completed only for the sake of being completed. The infamous term “busywork” comes to mind. Teachers in high schools dole out paper after paper of unnecessary busywork, which is frustratingly tedious and incredibly time-consuming. Copying sentences word for word from a long-winded textbook, completing redundant activities that reiterate again and again the same skill, rushing through mandatory study guide after mandatory study guide, that is a true curse. I know this from painful experience. Instructors everywhere assign thousands of meaningless assignments, hoping to teach, but the assignments are really just stealing students' time. And despite common sentiment, high school students have scarce amounts of time that cannot afford to be

A healthy amount of sleep for a teenager is around nine hours, while most students achieve a depressing average of seven hours. Many can slip into six, five, or even four hours of sleep, which is obviously detrimental to performance in class and in any examination. Not surprisingly, many students regard a regular sleep schedule of nine hours with awe and an almost hopeless despair. Even eight seems too good to be true. The elimination of these damaging homework assignments could alter this flawed sleep schedule and greatly benefit many burdened teenage