According to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics in 2011, high school students reported spending 6.8 hours a week on homework. That’s 80 minutes per school night.

Sophomore Paige Pritchard said this school year has been significantly more difficult than she expected.

“The amount of homework is a big transition for me,” Pritchard said. “I’d rather have more time outside of school because I have other activities, but it’s working toward my benefit so it doesn’t matter.”

Cassady and Pritchard say there are some ways to lessen homework and stress.

“I feel like people taking honors classes have more homework,” sophomore Myra Cassady said. “AP Euro is pretty hard because of the higher-level-thinking questions.”

Cassady and Pritchard both agree that although it’s time consuming, homework is important to learning.

“I think you benefit from it,” Pritchard said. “It’s not fun but it’s definitely important”.

Pritchard and Cassady said that the transition from freshman to sophomore year has been challenging for them.

“Taking more honors classes better prepares you for sophomore year,” Pritchard said.

“Do your homework and don’t procrastinate” Cassady said.

Does this mean that they should still assign 40 problems per night? Both Cassady and Pritchard seem to think so.

“Sometimes I don’t feel like the extra homework will benefit me,” Pritchard said. “But it almost always does in the long run.”