California bill pushes schools to dole out less homework to mitigate student mental health crisis

A proposed California bill could lessen the load on students by asking schools to dole out less homework.

AB 2999, also known as the “Healthy Homework Act,” would require districts to update their homework guidelines and adopt an annual policy to be distributed to district officials and families. It encourages local boards to consider students’ mental and physical health while taking perspectives from parents, guardians, teachers and students into account.

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An aerial view of the California Capitol. A bill in the state assembly could lead to less homework for students. (Visions of America/Joe Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

“As a single parent, I know how stressful homework time can be for our kids and the entire family,” said Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, one of the bill’s sponsors, according to KRON News. “The Healthy Homework Act is about ensuring that our homework policies are healthy for our kids, address the needs of the whole child, and also support family time, time to explore other extra-curricular interests, and give students and families time to connect and recover from the day.”

Multiple Golden State students told KSBY in San Luis Obispo that the existing workload they face, combined with their extracurricular commitments, has been daunting. 

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Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, says homework is a major stressor for students. (iStock)

One local high school student, Kyan Vanderweel, balances AP classes with band and orchestra practices. He said the AP courses should have a limited amount of homework and said a lot of the homework he’s asked to complete is repetitive.

Others, however, told KSBY their workload is manageable.

The Democrat-backed bill notes that research has found “no correlation between the amount of time spent on homework and achievement,” and that elementary students who completed more homework were not more likely to earn higher grades than their peers.

Additionally, homework, according to the bill, leads to increased stress, less sleep and less time for extracurricular activities or time with family and friends.

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Some students say their workload is too heavy or repetitive. (iStock)

Schiavo told KRON News in San Francisco that the bill will help alleviate some of that stress.

“We know homework is a top three stressor in kids’ overall lives,” she said.

“We are in the middle of a student mental health crisis. It’s critical we incorporate homework practices into this discussion to relieve student stress, especially with something we could profoundly impact almost overnight.”

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