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Rant & Rave
What's the answer to No. 7 Jordan?" (YAWN) "Uhhh, the president of the United States?" Students rest
easier with less
homework"No, the answer to x2 + 2x + 1 is not the president of the United States; are you even paying attention?"
I was, or at least trying to. I was so tired that I had to fight to stay awake, much less pay attention. Out of 10 students I surveyed, all got eight or less hours of sleep, and six said it was because of homework.
The Pediatric Health Encyclopedia, in an online report, states teen-agers should be getting nine to 10 hours sleep each night, and that eight hours is an absolute minimum. Some of my classmates stay up past 11 p.m. working to get good grades on papers. Do you think that the degree of excellence should be measured by who stays up the latest? Of course not! That would be preposterous!
Students come to school, after staying up late working on homework, and are expected to perform at full potential. How can anyone expect this out of sleep-deprived students, whose teachers keep them awake with homework overload? This is like telling someone to eat a hamburger after extracting all of their teeth.
Stress is defined as, "A situation that requires adaptation or change and may cause anxiety. This includes situations that are desired but usually refers to undesirable changes in life," at www.ask.com. "Some stress is helpful because it provides motivation. However, excessive stress can build up and interfere with life."
Most students get enough pressure from parents, peers, teachers and themselves. Homework adds unneeded stress and sleeplessness.
MY poll showed the main cause of sleep deprivation in 6 out of 8 students was excessive homework. However, this was not the only cause. Several students had multiple causes; two said that they stayed up watching television and three others said they had to get to school very early. Some also said that they get little sleep because of homework and participation in an extracurricular activity (sports, music or drama). Excessive homework discriminates against students who have a life -- who are good at or enjoy some extracurricular activity.
Students should not have more than a half hour of homework every night in each of their classes. Also, teachers may assign one big project per week that require 45 minutes to an hour of work, and no two big assignments from different classes should be assigned on the same day. This would require faculty coordination, but would be possible.
Faculty violators should be required to stay awake all night. Teachers could assign less homework, of course, but shouldn't be allowed to assign more. On weekends the workload can double, because you have two nights to study.
If a student is not done with a certain assignment, but they've spent their full time, their parents will be able to give them one excuse note, per subject, per week, as long as the parent knows that the child put in his time. There will be no pardons for weekend homework.
I think that if my idea were acknowledged and put into effect, school would be a happier, stress-free place that would actually be conducive to learning.
"Jordan what is the answer for No. 7? Jordan?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was working ahead a bit. I just feel so energized, I got 10 hours of sleep last night; I feel like I could take on the world!"
Jordan D'Olier will be a 9th grader at Punahou in the fall, but alas, he has a big project due for summer school this week. Rant & Rave is a Tuesday Star-Bulletin feature
allowing those 12 to 22 to serve up fresh perspectives.
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