A new idea has been proposed at Scituate High School, opening the opportunity for students to fully engage in life activities during the weekend: “Homework Free Weekend.” Five SHS juniors, Annie Sullivan, Grace Sullivan, Evelyn Tobin, Kayli Pitten, and Kaitlynn Washburn, all from Mrs. Hall’s AP Language and Composition class, came up with this idea. “Homework Free Weekend” arose as part of a classical oration project that challenged students to identify possible solutions to local issues.

The topic the students decided to pursue was how to cope with overwhelming student stress. They proposed occasional homework-free weekends in order to decrease stress. The goal of this proposal was to “allow students time to engage in other life activities,” said Stephen Howley, a Scituate High School psychologist who helped the group make their idea a reality. These “life activities” include college visits and family weekend vacations and activities when students don’t have to worry about homework. Similar programs have seen success in other towns. On the South Shore, Hingham High School has been experimenting with homework-free weekends.

This idea of introducing homework-free weekends was presented by the group at a recent SHS faculty meeting, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. After the meeting, 80% of the faculty agreed with the proposed idea, while about 17% wanted a few changes to the plan.

There have been many goals and hopes for these weekends, including an overall lowering of stress, more engagement in family activities, college visits, and overall enjoyment of the limited time that is supposed to be used for relaxation from a busy week.

This year, two homework-free weekends are scheduled during the weekend of the junior and senior formal, March 2nd, and the weekend of the Junior Prom, May 18th.