Lauren Doherty, Story Editor
@LDohertyCourant
While some might believe that the result of a large workload would be a high level of achievement, numbers appear to tell a different story. According to the American Psychological Association, 83% percent of teenagers believe that school is “a somewhat or significant source of stress”. Recently, Principal William Egan conducted a school-wide survey, which discovered that 74.3% of students are spending more than 25 minutes per class on homework each night. With five classes, that totals to over 2 hours. A 2013 study found that when faced with too much homework, students can be faced with many physical and mental health issues such as sleep deprivation or higher stress levels. (Galloway, Conner, & Pope, 2013)
To combat the student stress and piles of homework that students are given, Principal Egan has introduced a new homework policy. The policy limits homework to just 20 to 25 minutes a night per class. “We wanted to find a way to still maintain high achievement, but also make sure everyone knew we cared about kids and want to do the best by them in every way that we can,” said Mr. Egan. “But realistically, spending 4 hours a night, I don’t care what classes you’re in, it’s not healthy. It’s not okay.”
The new policy initially raised some concerns, as many teachers believed they would need to cut down on content. However, English teacher and head of the faculty homework committee, Jessica Cullen finds that this has not been the case. “The short answer is yes, reducing the amount of homework will slow down the pace of the class. But, in English it is more skills based, so if I get through 5 books in a year instead of 6 I can still teach the same skills with just those 5 books,” she said.
Quality over quantity seems to be the key for many teachers when assigning homework. “Focusing on how we can produce quality writing by breaking it into pieces really makes a difference versus just assigning a lit-based essay due in two nights and saying you’re on your own,” said Ms. Cullen. “That’s quantity, but you’re not necessarily going to get quality work.”
Sophomore Grace Flatow believes it’s questionable how effective the homework policy has been for some students. “Many teachers just disregard it and give more homework,” said Grace. “Especially on the weekends they think that you can do 20 minutes each day so they give you an obscene amount of homework.”
Senior Ben Castle has a heavy load of classes, including both AP Biology and AP Government. “I have found that for these classes I do have homework, but it is much more spread out,” said Ben. “Homework mainly includes taking notes and reading textbooks, but it is more for your knowledge rather than being checked for a grade.”
Sophomore Kiera Mastey finds that her homework has been incredibly overwhelming. “We’re already putting so much effort into school, it just seems insane for in an already high-stress environment for us to bring this into our home life as well,” said Kiera. “I just feel like I can never escape school and it has become a really overwhelming place for me.”
Kiera hopes that the homework policy will improve. “I think that the policy of having 20 minutes of homework is a good idea in theory,” she said. “But I don’t think it’s really understood that 20 minutes of homework for one person and 20 minutes of homework for another person are completely different things.”
Ms. Cullen says her team is working to make changes. “We are trying to develop a more comprehensive school-wide homework policy that will flush out more in depth expectations for teachers, for students, and for parents around homework.”
The current homework policy is just a start. “It’s a work in progress. It’s a step in the right direction,” says Mr. Egan. As the school continues to improve the policy, it is the hope that eventually New Canaan will reach what is needed to best please all members of the school community. “We need to find a way to work together, students, teachers, administration, parents, to best meet the needs of kids so they maintain high achievement and also stay healthy,” he said. “The truth is, we want you all to be the best you can possibly be, but be healthy.”
