With the stress of college admissions and the pressure to take AP classes, many students are crammed with homework and studying. Students in America are receiving an average of 6.8 hours of homework per week. Studies show that over 2 hours of homework each night is counterproductive and can actually damage a student’s performance. One AP class is equivalent to about one hour of homework each night. 

According to an article from the LA Times, students who attend selective universities (Ivy League, UCLA, UC Berkeley) take an average of 8 AP classes throughout their high school career, and that number can range from 5 to 13. According to the Canyon High School website, out of the 18 AP courses offered, there is only 1 AP class offered to 9th graders, 6 to 10th graders, and the rest to upperclassmen. 

Students can also only take limited amount of electives per year due to the amount of required core classes, so it is difficult to take a good amount of AP classes in the first two years of high school. This means that the amount of APs taken in a student’s junior and senior years increases, and the amount of homework necessary is much more. Students who do not take AP classes still receive a heavy load of homework. Is homework even useful to students?

 “Each week, I’d say that I receive 1-2 hours of homework per day (5-10 hours per week).” Avery Crosby (9) 

“I only get a little bit of homework from each class, but when it adds up at the end of the day it becomes too much.” Hailey Bayle (9)

“Sometimes an assignment can be very tedious especially if I already understand what I’m learning and don’t need the extra practice… Studying can go on forever and you still might not be studying the right thing.” Claire Braun (9)

These were from freshmen in high school with no AP classes, yet they still receive the stress of homework. How is the American school system compared to other countries? Is the level of homework an issue all over the world? According to an article from upGrad Abroad, Finland is ranked as one of the best education systems in the world. Education in Finland states that its schools assign little to no homework each night and value a student’s sleep and family time more. Data from CNN shows that Finland is the happiest country in the world for the sixth year in a row, and although the US is relatively high, it is still ranked 15th on the list.

Overall, students tend to feel stressed with the amount of homework assigned, and it can cause a lack of sleep and can be challenging to manage sports and other extracurricular activities. Do you think American schools are assigning too much homework?