The Lexington High School Student Handbook for 2024-2025 states that homework is “work assigned by educators and completed by students outside of classroom time that supports and enhances learning of the curriculum.” The handbook will tell you many more things, such as the purpose of homework and educators’ guidelines on creating it, but for the average student, nothing about these policies spark excitement except for the No Homework Weekends.
Homework can be demanding. Depending on the classes each individual takes, the burden of work may be different, but I have no doubt the experience of stress from many cumulative assignments is universal.
Many LHS students participate in time-consuming extracurriculars. LHS is a diverse community that sports many different clubs, sports teams, and performing groups, to say the least. Even for the most hardworking learners, there comes a point where assignments cross the line of student wellness. The unmanageability of this outside-of-classroom work is why we have No Homework Weekends, where educators cannot assign new work, and long-term assignments must be given out at least a week in advance.
But this doesn’t mean all homework is bad. As much as I hate to say it, homework is an essential part of a student’s understanding of the key topics they cover in class, and reinforces material. So then it becomes a conflict: should we hinder our educational progress for a short while, or give our students a much-needed break?
We are about two months into the school year right now, and as a freshman, I am already starting to recognize my lack of appreciation for the considerably reduced amount of homework in middle school. As students, our job is to persistently take in knowledge from our educators, part of which involves putting in effort outside of class. But buried under the mountain of academic pressure, it becomes hard to balance socialization, hobbies, and simple relaxation. No Homework Weekends are the two days a month when students can take a step back and recharge. Two days where they can do whatever they want without the looming pressure of upcoming tests and pending assignments. They remind us that when we step away from textbooks and computer screens, we too have lives outside of school.
No Homework Weekends prioritize mental health and personal well-being. They allow us to engage in extracurricular activities that fuel and satisfy us in ways that a classroom setting simply cannot. Think of it like a recharge for your brain; like your cellular devices, for example, we need to be put down and given a break to charge every once in a while. Otherwise, we’ll crash, which is why homework breaks are essential to optimize the future productivity and performance of students.
No Homework Weekends give us the chance to be more focused, effective, and motivated. Too often, student mental health is overlooked at LHS, but initiatives like No Homework Weekends can provide a much-needed boost to our well-being.