Limiting Homework Essay

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

Every single student receives homework when he or she enrolls in school. Whether it is a single page, or three chapters a night, homework is always a factor in education. This said, Brian Haley captures the essence of these assignments, saying, “like mowing a lawn or taking out the garbage, homework seems to be a fact of life” (Source E). It has been long debated what amount of homework is adequate for students. Some view homework as a hindrance, whereas others view homework as positive reinforcement of skills learned in the classroom setting. Decreasing homework is necessary, as it is a detriment that takes up time and does not add value to a student’s education.

The positive effects of homework on student achievement is an important factor in the homework debate. Several participants expressed the importance of the positives of homework on student academic success. For example, a parent of an elementary student expressed that there has been a major shift in the student’s grade. “Homework completion is essential for students to advance and grow. There has been a major improvement regarding grades and overall interaction”.

In today's education system, its teachers are held to a standard where they are supposed to give carrying amounts of homework to their students. While on paper this sounds like an obvious decision, recent studies have shown that while homework is helpful, the content that is on the homework can be unimportant or irrelevant. Often times homework is most important for students in high school and should be utilized more effectively. Therefore the amount of homework should remain the same, but at the same time be challenging and productive as well as relevant to the topic at hand.

“Some experts think that the homework problem is deeply woven into the very fabric of our system of educating children” (Ponte), a system that does not foster a love of learning, but turns learning into a competition between students. In modern education, this is a result of a massive push towards better test grades and higher standardized test scores. In an effort to relieve some of the pressures this creates at school, educators extend the school day by assigning homework. It is a common belief among educators that homework helps create a student with a disciplined mind that can learn easier (Marzano and Pickering). However, according to Alfie Kohn, “In an attempt to create more learning by doing homework, students may actually be learning less than they are capable of” (qtd. in Ponte). The assignment of homework in education is not beneficial since it does not increase scores, not all kids have adequate support, and students need time to learn outside of academics.

The general arguments given by teachers and some parents are that homework increases the overall grade averages, sharpens study habits, and helps students become more prepared for college work. Along with that, it helps students learn responsibility for life in the work field of the real work. Although these arguments are valid, there are arguments against homework as well. Homework causes students to be stressed out when there is too much to be done by a certain deadline and takes away the free time of students. Some of the work that students are assigned isn't relevant to what they are studying. Worst of all, it causes that struggling student to lose interest in the study of that subject ("Students and Homework"). While it does have negative outcomes, homework also has it's perks.

learning. Not Only does homework allow students to practice concepts it allows teachers to see

Homework has been a common teaching strategy since the middle of the 1800’s (Gartner, 1980). It is said to promote learning by taking what the kids learned at school and bringing it home for further practice. But some people see that there are more negatives to homework than positives. And those people are hoping to change the way our society looks at homework. For example, many kids don’t think that

To begin, a surplus of homework can lead to emotional and physical health issues for a student and causes too much stress. In fact, a study completed by 4,317 high-school students, conducted by the Stanford Graduate School of Education discovered that giving more than two-hours of homework each night will adversely affect the lives of students. This research revealed that students in high-achieving communities who spend too much time on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, a lack of balance and even alienation from society. Countless students struggle to complete their homework because it is over-complicated for them. Teachers contribute to this predicament by giving pupils an excess of homework making it challenging

The main cause of homework is teachers not having enough time in a school day to cover all the material, and they give homework to make up for topics barely covered. This benefits some students, who can teach themselves and learn at their own pace, but for others, human interaction is an important keystone in learning. However, some things besides curriculum are administered with homework, as said by Cooper Robinson, and Patall, “Certain nonacademic benefits of homework have been shown, especially for younger students. Indeed, some primary-level teachers may assign homework for such benefits, which include learning the importance of responsibility, managing time, developing study habits, and staying with a task until it is completed” (2006).

“Some experts think that the homework problem is deeply woven into the very fabric of our system of educating children;” a system that does not foster a love of learning, but makes learning a competition between students (Ponte). In modern education, this is a result of a massive push towards better test grades, and higher standardized test scores. In an effort to relieve some of the pressures this creates at school, educators extend the school day by assigning homework. It is a common belief among educators that homework helps creates a student with a disciplined mind that can learn easier (Marzano 74). However, according to Alfie Kohn, “in an attempt to create more learning by doing homework, students may actually be learning less than they are capable of” (qdt. in Ponte). The assignment of homework in education is not beneficial since it does not increase scores, since not all kids have the right support, and since students need time to learn outside of academics.

Homework is something that causes students to miss multiple hours of sleep due to working on homework. It can be described as stressful, difficult, but one of the better words can describe homework as useless. Have you ever worked on a homework assignment and thought : “Why am I doing this?” Or have you ever been up hours past your curfew because you’re working on homework? All teachers and bosses have different approaches when it comes to assigning homework. Some deadlines are more flexible, some assignments are longer, and some are an option for students to do. The big question still remains : “Does homework benefit students?”

Over the years, there has been ample discussion about whether or not students should have homework and/or if that amount of homework is necessary. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, homework is defined as “An assignment given to a student to be completed outside of the regular class period; preparatory reading or research” (2017). Many believe that students should devote time outside of the classroom playing with friends, spending quality time with their family, participating in extracurricular activities, or simply relaxing. “Teachers see homework as a necessary expansion of daily instruction, parents expect it, principals view it as a catalyst to higher test scores, and students understand it as an inconvenient truth about their busy lives” (Watkins & Stevens, 2013). Research findings on the effectiveness of homework are mixed and the topic is dependent on if it is from the perspective of the student, parent, teacher, or principal. In actuality, the issue with homework is not necessarily that students should not have homework at all, but it is solely a quality vs. quantity problem. Through this study, we will first investigate the negative effects of homework, then explore how the advantages of homework benefit students, and finally I will share my personal opinions on the topic.

Many teachers assign large amounts of homework to students. Unfortunately this causes a great deal of stress, loss of time, or decrease in homework quality and effectiveness. Too much homework is not worth the extra effort put out by teachers and students, and teachers should take consideration to the well-being of the students by encouraging them to learn and accomplish the schoolwork effectively and correctly. Student’s careers and lives often depend on what they learn in school, and what is taught can make an enormous impression on their opinions and attitudes, so it is imperative that they are taught in a manner that is effective and understandable. Large amounts of homework are not the most effective ways to teach.

America’s opinion on the purpose, effectiveness, and proper amount of homework has changed many times since this country was first formed. In the beginning of the 1800s, homework was insignificant and the school year was short because families across the country depended on their children to help them with chores. This changed drastically by the end of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s as technology improved and families moved to cities for work. It was then that philosophers deemed homework a necessary part of a child’s day for him or her to be successful. Not everyone agreed with this idea which then raised the suggestion that homework could have negative effects because students were kept from physical exercise and spending time outdoors. The views of homework shifted again in the early 1900s as the Progressive Education Movement began and learning was seen as a more active process; the supporters of this idea