PHS PERSPECTIVE: Homework-free periods need better implementation

Rutha Chivate
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In alignment with the recent initiation of the district Wellness Committee to promote student health, Princeton Public Schools has implemented a Homework Free Schedule for the 2015-2016 school year.
According to a statement on the Princeton Public Schools website, “The purpose of this schedule [is] to provide our students with periods of time throughout the year when they can mentally step away from focusing on homework and projects, and studying for tests.” During these five selected weekends or longer breaks, teachers may not assign homework or schedule tests within the first couple days of return.
This action is not unprecedented in the local area. Last year, West-Windsor Plainsboro School District enacted a similar policy geared to alleviate the historically high levels of student stress, going so far as to eliminate its midterms and finals, while Hopewell Valley Regional School District implemented a homework free night schedule the year before.
According to the National Education Association, the recommended homework time is about 10 minutes in first grade, and an additional 10 minutes every year thereafter. For example, this would put high school freshmen at 90 minutes, and seniors at 120 minutes of nightly homework. However, according to CNN, recent studies have found students are being assigned up to three times as much as recommended.
It follows that the intention behind homework-free weekends, in terms of the extent of student stress, is shockingly relevant in today’s society. The American Psychology Association reports that current teen stress levels rival those of adults. The Atlantic magazine further reported that over half of high school students in America experience chronic stress, which often results in burnout and other undesirable psychological detriments in the long run. Alleviating stress is most definitely a prevalent area of need, but have is the current “homework-free weekend” solution really advantageous?
An online survey of 122 PHS students created a baseline for gauging the effectiveness of homework free weekends. Over 50 percent agreed that less homework than usual was done over the homework-free weekend than normal, supporting the potency of this new action, but many of the comments conditioned this success. They argued that although the homework-free weekend prevented work due the first day, it was not a true break, as most teachers got away with tests and work due or scheduled within the first couple of days after. Between extracurricular activities and disproportional homework loads, some students actually found the weekend added more stress with a greater burden waiting behind the facade of a “no homework” scheme.
Nevertheless, 75 percent, or the majority of students, still believed that the actions should continue to be implemented. To some extent, this may be the hope of future change, rather than faith in what has already started. Students are optimistic that the proposed goal of homework-free weekends — a decrease in mental and physical stress associated with the ever-competitive education system — will be expanded and further restricted and enforced so that students and even teachers are able to reap the benefits.
Others feel that time taken from the curriculum during homework-free weekends simply amounts to a reorganization of the teaching schedule. Basically, structural relaxation periods are compensated by increased stress during other times of the year, when teachers become hard-pressed to deliver on a curriculum plan that has been leeched upon by many “homework-free” weekends or breaks, and must increase the pressure on students at otherwise normal times. This is especially important when considering the increasing amounts of time taken for new standardized testing procedures, or the tight schedules of AP courses that are bound by the May exam date.
In this case, students have urged for a unilateral stress reduction initiative, targeting overall work levels instead of specific instances that end up spilling over to weeknights.
It’s important to recognize that the issue of homework-free weekends is more complicated than it may seem, with the originally well-meaning intentions eclipsed by some misimplementation and evasion. It is also a far more divided issue than the first impression, with the majority of students voting neutrally on a scale ranking homework-free weekends from ineffective to very effective.
It is clear that homework-free weekends have, to some extent, succeeded in reducing stress on fixed time frames, but there is much further to go in order to execute large-scale, structural, and long-lasting effects on current student stress in Princeton. 
Rutha Chivate is a sophomore at Princeton High School. 