People expect so much out of teenagers, especially the students who are involved in sports and maintain a job throughout the school year. They are expected to attend classes and their extracurricular activities; they have to make it to work on time, finish their homework, do their studies, and on top of that, get enough sleep at night. This is the kind of busy schedule students uphold in their week and it’s overwhelming for them. It causes stress and exhaustion, and people still expect them to do well and keep up with everything. Is this how we want students to feel all the time? Sure we want them to accomplish goals and be the best they can be, but one way to relieve some stress is less homework. When they come home from work or sports late at night, they still have paperwork to fill out, but nowadays, it oftentimes takes hours to finish. This is where life becomes almost unbearable for our students. Students of America have too much homework, and it’s come to a point where it’s created many problems for people including teachers, family members, and students.
Homework is work students are expected to do at home individually in order to learn the content and gain study habits. However, in order for it to be meaningful for students, it needs to have purpose and promote mastery (“Does Homework Work?”). If the homework comes to a point where the assignment doesn’t have a clear purpose, it upsets students as well as their parents. For this reason, it’s important for teachers to make the meaning of the homework obvious. It helps motivate the students and makes them more willing to learn (DeNisco).
When homework becomes busy work, students begin to loathe doing their homework, and start stressing out about it. This is, quite possi...
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Homework stems from the learning environment that students are exposed to in school. The students’ learning environment can be a place where the students may learn to be independent, contain a caring nature, contribute for the betterment of their fellow students, or become creative. In order to have a successful learning environment, it is essential to have management within the classroom to allow the students to follow rules, which enhances the ability to learn in the classroom (Froyen & Iverson, 1999). A classroom does not assign erroneous homework or assessments. Each assignment has a purpose to further the growth of students.
Homework has been an integral part of education since children started to be educated. Recently however, homework has begun to be assigned more and more often to students, especially in the United States, as it has begun to fall further and further behind countries like China, Singapore, and Japan. Homework is anything assigned by teachers to be completed by the students either at home, or just on their own time. The workload for students has gotten to the point where more and more parents are starting to notice the load for their kids has gotten to be too much. Many kids in high school, even 9th and 10th graders, can have 3 or even 4 hours of homework every night. In the past couple years, homework has gotten so out of control that parents are starting to speak out, and protest the amount of homework that students get each night (Marzano). In addition, studies have been done to determine the value of homework, but overall, the results are mixed at best (Kohn). Even studies that show a positive relationship between homework and test scores, among other things, show that homework is only effective when assigned in a moderate amount. Too much homework can be counter-productive, or have adverse effects on students. Students with too much homework can perform worse on tests, and develop serious physical and mental health problems from too much stress or lack of sleep.
"I didn’t feel [stressed] until I was in my 30’s. It hurts my feelings that my daughter feels that way at eleven" (Ratnesar 313). This statement describes the intense issue facing the American Education System today. More and more students are spending a lot of out of school time on enormous amounts of homework. The overabundance of homework is putting pressure on the students, along with their parents. Our nation has steadily focused on after school studying to the point of possible exhaustion. In this paper, I will attempt to explain how educators are relying on homework as the major form of education, and how the amounts are too demanding on the students.
“Did you know that homework is one of the greatest causes of student dropouts and failing” (Kralovek 39)? Since the beginning of the twentieth century, homework has been a major debate in America. “At first, the brain was seen as a muscle that could be trained by learning from homework and people enjoyed learning at home. This enthusiastic spirit did not last long since during the 1940’s, Professor Otto explained that, ‘Compulsory homework does not result in sufficiently improved academic accomplishment.’ When Sputnik was launched in the 1950’s, the United States feared that Russia would dominate the world in technology if homework continued to be unnecessary. This incident has partially shaped our country to compete more with other nations. Yet again, during the 1960’s, researchers and educators feared that needless pressure on students was a symptom of overdoing homework. Educator P. R. Wildman wrote in the late sixties that homework does not meet its expectations when it blocks out social experiences, creative activities, outdoor recreation, and deprives students of their recommended daily sleep” (Cooper 34, 38). Today, homework continues to grow in need for students entering high schools and higher education; nonetheless, concern has grown over its benefits for all, especially elementary children. There are many necessary life skills that homework can provide for everyone, which must be used appropriately and in moderation. According to researchers, such as Harris Cooper, homework should be limited, even though research approves of its increased effectiveness as students grow older. Overall, America has witnessed major problems with homework overdoses because many of America’s families have become disrupted, the urge to improve test scores does not always come from doing homework, different ages deal better with specific types of homework, and problems with student behavior and attention in and out of school may arise.
Homework can prevent students from discovering what they really enjoy doing. There is no time for them to read about interesting topics, or think about their own ideas, because they are too busy trying to keep up with their homework. By the time they are finished, they are too tired to do anything else.
High school is another vast world where one can explore the depths of the teenage experience: the hell that lies in the dark, bottomless abyss and the ominous heaven with everlasting light and everything else in between. On top of this perpetual rollercoaster of emotions, there’s this other dark force that looms over the head of every student, the beast that devours all happiness in life: homework. Assignments can be tedious and are stacked on top of a student’s busy lifestyle, leading to sleepless nights and weariness. Homework causes an epidemic of stress and sleep deprivation resulting in overwhelming fatigue and ultimately deemed unneccessary for success.
When a teacher always calls out that word terrifying word “homework”, moans and groans fill the classroom. Students start to slouch and lie their heads back, as teachers start to feel guilty for what they have done. You might say that homework will help teens and children to drill in the knowledge they’ve learned in school today, and help these kids learn some study habits. But let’s face it. The truth is that no student in any school loves homework. They have already spent their time in school focusing and learning for nothing, since homework is...
The amount of homework assigned has dramatically increased over the past few years. With new state standards and standardized testings, teachers are beginning to put more pressure on children. They are being sent home with six page packets and vocabulary words that are due the next day. Most children do not have the time or help to complete this much homework. Alfie Kohn’s The Truth About Homework states “Homework continues to be assigned - in ever greater quantities - despite the absence of evidence that it is necessary or even helpful in most cases.” Not only is all of this homework unnecessary, but it can have negative effects on the children as well.
Many students do not enjoy their homework even if it is only studying. These students would not be able to have any free time because there's homework. There should not be homework because classwork is already enough work, it takes time away from other activities, and it does not let kids have independent thinking, so they won’t be able to be hard workers.
Another reason students should receive less homework is because too much homework can cause students to have severe stress, anxiety, and depression. “There’s an inherent quality to homework that evokes a certain amount of stress, and that can be good, because it pushes us to learn. But for some children, the anxiety is so pronounced it basically freezes them” (Bailey). Homework does help students learn, but at what cost? If students are always worried over their homework, the positive effects become null and void. Teachers expect too much from their students. The expectation that the student's homework must be perfect causes even more anxiety in the student (Bailey). Homework can also c...
Although homework may seem like drudgery, the hard work that is put into homework may pay off in the long run. In the article, “Does homework really work for students?” Jacqueline Carey, the mother of seventh grade student Micah Carey, stated that “homework gives [students] a good foundation for when they move on further in school” (Johnson). Not only that but according to Donyall Dickey, principle at Murray Hill Middle School, “if students do not acquire things in class, they will acquire them through homework” (Johnson). As we can see homework helps and prepares us for higher grade levels while in primary school that can possibly prepare us for college. It also helps us to remember the materials that were taught in class. Another reason homework can be beneficial is the fact that it can prepare us for tests and the dreadful pop-quiz that a teacher may randomly give us. This fact was proven, according to a 2006 study by Harris Cooper, director of Duke University’s Program in education, in the article “Homework or Not? That is the (Research) Question”. The studies instituted that “students who had homework performed better on class tests compared to those who did not” (DeNisco). Another compelling thing about homework, are the qualities a skills th...
One of the reasons homework should be banned is because of the unnecessary stress and strain it creates for students. Many students are left pulling their hair out at homework time. Students struggle with homework for different reasons. Some of which are because they do not understand the assigned homework, or they are not being challenged, and quite possibly because they have hit their daily threshold for learning and have no more to give. Furthermore, students who struggle academically will likely require extra assistance to do their homework. Students are therefore tasked with finding a qualified person to assist them with homework. Students are not only under the stress of homework, but now they are under additional stress to find a qualified person that can assist them. Unfortunately, some students may not be able to obtain the help they need with their homework. Consequently and to no fault of their own their grades may be affected inaccurat...
Today, many students report more anxiety due to stress than child psychiatric patients did in the 1950’s. In a 2006 survey of 1,300 students at a public high school in Needham, Massachusetts found that 58% of the students surveyed reported between a great deal of stress and extreme stress due to homework (Bennett and Kalish). Many students in today’s time, have so many things to do that it is difficult for them to come home, only to have to finish five to six hours of homework. This, with the added effects of after school activities and technology, only adds to the stress that is put on students.
Harris Cooper, a researcher on homework from Duke University, claims that too much homework causes stress. In this I paper will talk about the damaging effects homework has on a child, how homework causes students to dropout of school, and some ideas for an alternative to homework.
We all know the downfall of homework: the frustration and exhaustion, family conflict, time loss, and decreasing interest in learning. No study has ever demonstrated any academic achievement linked to assigning homework. There is also no support to the fact that homework provides nonacademic benefits at any age. Here are a few examples: building character, promoting self-discipline, or teaching good work habits. All teachers who assign homework want to believe that the gain outweighs the pain. Although, there is no evidence of that and they must rely on faith (“Homework: No Proven Benefits”, pg. 1). Michellea, a mother of a middle school student, says that some work can reinforce certain skills, but hours of homework are unhealthy and unproductive. Mominseattle agrees. She contemplates that such a heavy load can result in potential drawbacks to the students. Hours of homework a night plus a full day of school can be just as much work as an adult at a full-time job. She believes students should enjoy their childhood, as short as it already is. MagnetMom complains about how her daughter’s homework takes away her beneficial sleep. With busy families, like hers, they have many after school activities, so when they get home, they do not have time for too much homework. She says ...