Where’s your homework?

A phrase said every day that drives students crazy.

Stacks on stacks of paper are placed in the hands of developing children trying to find their place in the world and balance all of their responsibilities.  

Is homework even worth it?  

Personally, I  have been assigned hours of homework regularly.  And if I do not complete it, the stack doubles, triples, quadruples.  There is no time for after-school sports or clubs even though I won’t get into college without any extracurriculars.  There is no time to hang out with my friends but social interaction and happiness is vital for human survival. 

Quite contradictory right? 

The focus on completing the curriculum often overlooks the negative impact homework has on children’s mental health.

The harmful effects of homework are evidenced by the increase in health issues and the limitation it places on children’s ability to enjoy their childhood.

While many children dislike homework and revolt against the idea of it, some teachers believe it is necessary for academic success.  In a 2019 publication of Education Next, Bempechat, a fourth-grade teacher at a Boston school, claims that there is a strong and positive correlation between academic success and the amount of homework that is completed.  Well, I disagree.  While children in school should be learning basic educational skills, shouldn’t this occur in the classroom?

Students attend school for at least six hours a day, five days a week.  Isn’t that enough learning time in the classroom? Why is work being dragged into the home?  According to Healthline, the NEA says that kids should be getting ten minutes of homework per grade level.

120 minutes of homework for a 17-year-old?!

No student should have to spend two hours after the school day doing even more work.  Nonetheless, teens this age have jobs, sports, and many other responsibilities that limit the amount of time they have to spend on homework.  The only thing that results from hours of homework is stress and a lack of full development and enjoyment of our childhood.

In a 2018 study published by Opencolleges, a student named Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College, students voiced that “there’s never time to rest, there’s always something you should be doing;” “It can feel like you are drowning;” and “My body crashes when I’ve done maybe half of my homework.”  

These students are getting no learning benefits out of their homework.  They are only diminishing their sanity and giving up their time to be kids for the very few years they have to do so.  Homework takes up way too much time out of kids' day that they do not have time to be social, develop their other essential skills, and take the time to have a mental breather.

While I do not think that homework should be entirely abolished, I think that it needs to be limited and schools need to put their students first for once.  In agreeance, USAtoday’s Kang, a high school teacher of 10 years, says that we should not scrap homework but instead scrap meaningless busy work.  In regards to high school students, 10 minutes of homework per class is reasonable.  Bear in mind that most high schoolers have six to eight classes a day which would mean 80 minutes of homework.  While that is still a lot, it is much more reasonable than 120 minutes of homework.  This would allow students to balance their responsibilities, be able to socialize and do things kids should do, and maybe even have some time to relax.  Students are still human beings with lives outside of school and that needs to be recognized, not squashed by piles of homework.  Maybe this would to less cheating in school as students won’t rely on their friends that completed the material and will actually absorb the information.

The Board of Education should prioritize students’ mental health and well-being by reevaluating their homework policies and finding a balance between academic success and personal development.

Works Cited

Levy, Sandra. “Is Too Much Homework Bad for Kids’ Health?” Healthline, healthline.com, 11

Apr. 2017 

healthline.com/health-news/children-more-homework-means-more-stress-03

1114 

Moniuszko, Sara. “Is it time to get rid of homework? Mental health experts weigh in.” USA

TODAY, usatoday.com, 17 Aug. 2021

usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2021/08/16/students-mental-health-time-get-rid-homework-schools/5536050001/ 

Rimer, Sara. “Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?” Bostonia, bu.edu, 19 Feb. 2019.

bu.edu/articles/2019/is-homework-helpful/ 

Stenger, Marianne. “Don’t Overload Students: Assigning Too Much Work Discourages

Learning.” informED, opencolleges.edu, 24 Jul. 2018

opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/dont-overload-students-assigning-to

-much-work-discourages-learning/