Jackson Prep has been known for its academic excellence for decades. However, there seems to be a belief among many teachers that assigning busywork is what makes their class “challenging, rigorous, and worthwhile.” Busywork does not determine how hard a class is, but it shows how forty-five minutes of homework can be used inefficiently. By definition, busywork is “work assigned for the sake of looking or keeping busy,” according to Dictionary.com.

Students at Jackson Prep have to work on hours of meaningless homework that does not provide any educational purposes. Some teachers feel the need to assign homework just to be able to say that they give homework. With a smaller amount of homework, students would be able to prepare for tests better.

With less time consuming homework, students would be able to study harder and score higher on tests for school. Students would also be able to prepare for the ACT, SAT, and PSAT and could score higher on those tests. Higher scores on these tests could be the deciding factor for whether or not a student would be accepted into their desired college.

Busywork can lead to students not having the chance to study the appropriate amount of time and not being able to do the best of their ability on a test. It also can lead to sleep deprivation and cause students to do poorly on assignments. There have been many times in my Jackson Prep career where I have worked on a project or assignment until midnight and felt completely exhausted the following day.

Many students at Jackson Prep participate in numerous extracurricular activities throughout the school year. Teachers could make the counter argument that school must take precedence over any other activity. Sure, I would definitely agree with that statement, but there is not any reason to assign an absurd amount of work to do overnight. When teachers assign busywork, it is just an added burden to students.

In my opinion, busywork is useless and a complete waste of time. I feel as if many other Jackson Prep students would agree with my argument. Students are tired when they are overworked and need to unwind after a long day. A Jackson Prep student spends seven hours of their day at school and works hard in the classroom throughout the day. It is very frustrating to know that this type of work will not help you in college or in a job in the future. Nothing beneficial comes from assigning students busywork