–By Warthog-Pilot, @ 7th Grade
Dear Ms. Teacher,
I am a seventh grade student concerned about the time it takes for homework to be done. The amount of homework assigned each night from 6th grade to 7th grade increases enormously. One thing that is implemented in 6th and 8th grade is a study hall, but 7th grade is the odd one out with no studyhall. A study hall is needed in this grade more than all of the others in the middle school because this year we have long composition contests and finals.
In 7th grade there is at least an hour and a half of homework each night. In my case, I get home at 3pm from school. If I get right to homework, an hour and a half later is 4:30 then I have 30 minutes to eat and get ready for soccer practice at 5pm. That isn’t enough time at all to get prepared and fed. This brings me to my next point, with an excessive amount of homework, you’re late for things! I can not tell you how many times teammates have missed practice due to homework. I also can’t tell you enough how many conversations I have overheard talking about how late people had to stay up to finish homework. Research from the “sleepfoundation.com” has said that only 15% of teens get 8 ½ hours of sleep on school nights. This can result in a loss of concentration and lack of problem solving skills, and will cause a bad day at school. Most, if not all, of my teachers have told me that if I had no time to get homework done then write a note signed by my parents that I did not have time. A disadvantage to that is that is the work turns into makeup work, which is piled on to the metric ton every night anyways.
Having an excessive amount of homework also leads to interference with schedules of after-school activities. Many kids these days play sports. They play for very competitive teams so if they miss a practice or a game their coach will skin them alive. Even if you do manage to get to the practice or game late, it ruins the whole experience of the event because you will be jumping into the middle of an activity and have no idea what is going on. People might tell me not to complain about interferences and that I should not have signed up for the sport in the first place. I know for a fact that some of the kids that play sports and do extra activities do it to keep smart and be healthy. It can be as important as school!
A great aspect of having a study hall is that most of the homework is done in school. This allows teachers to explain the homework further before the kid gets home, if they did not have time to talk to the teacher in class. I am not the only one that has gone home not understanding a piece of homework. A study hall would give us ample time to ask the teacher all the required questions. If we had a study hall we would get at least half of the homework done in school which would benefit my life at home because I have a handful of chores to do when I get there. Plus there is a larger opportunity of having free time which is absolutely required in the kid handbook. Except for the fact that I can hear you now, “The only reason homework was implemented was to test kids a few hours later after they learned the subject.” A study hall does not eliminate the aspect of homework. If a kid didn’t get the work in class then they wont get the work at home either. Having a study hall gives them the opportunity to ask the teacher about it. If a kid didn’t understand it in class then they would obviously fail the homework and that is a waste of everyone’s time.
In conclusion a study hall in 7th grade is needed because we have too much homework. It interferes with schedules, and the work is done in school, without interfering with homelife, chores and a good night’s sleep. This simple addition to the seventh grade schedule would lighten up the workload at home and keep the members of Middle School happy!
by 
Tags: afterschool, homework, middle school, student, studyhall, teenagers, teens