America Must Eliminate Standardized Tests and Reduce Homework

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The world of a student is a very complicated place with either two options: a relaxed childhood filled with quality learning and experimenting, or one that is so demanding and exhausting that students cannot handle it anymore. Presently, the deciding factor for which path students will travel is the conditions and environment provided to students by the previous generation. For example, Finland is one of the most successful countries in creating proper educational settings for students to excel when it comes to world competition. The policies created by Finland’s government and its authorities are more than suitable to extract the most potential out of students without the negative side effects. Finnish students receive the benefits of more breaks throughout the day, decreased amounts of teaching, less busy work, and almost no testing. Meanwhile, in the United States, stressed out students are overwhelmed with the amounts of exams and standardized tests they are forced to take and are falling behind with the amounts of homework assigned, which in many cases has no real value. The environment is almost at a brain-numbing level where some students work more hours in a day than adults. United States policies are trying to supplement the fact that they are falling behind educationally with increased amounts of work for students to complete, but evidently this is a strategy that takes away from proper development of American children. School-related stress not only has a severe impact on students' health, but also takes a toll in how students perform academically. Student pressure and stress has numerous amounts of causes, leads to health problems, and contributes to decreased academic performance. There are, however, many sol...

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...ner, Jerusha, Denise Pope, and Mollie Galloway. "Success With Less Stress." Educational Leadership 67.4 (2009): 54. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Dec. 2009. Web. 9 Feb. 2014.
Freeman, Andrew. “Finland’s Education System: 10 Surprising Facts That Americans Shouldn’t Ignore.” TakePart. Participant Media, 14 Aug. 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
Galloway, Mollie K., and Denise Pope. "Hazardous Homework?." Encounter 20.4 (2007): 25-31. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 2007. Web. 9 Feb. 2014.
Redding, Alexis Brooke. "Extreme Pressure: The Negative Consequences Of Achievement Culture For Affluent Students During The Elite College Admission Process." Journal Of College Admission 221 (2013): 32-37. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
Weissbourd, Richard. "The Overpressured Student." Educational Leadership 68.8 (2011): 22-27. ERIC. EBSCO. May 2011. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.

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