Homework Isn’t The Answer

In a study General Society conducted, 16% of teens viewed themselves as workaholics, 39% said they felt under constant pressure to do more than they can handle and 64% cut back on sleep to do the things they need to do. As these tasks are quite time consuming, students state that homework is the most out of all the unpaid activities they do throughout the day, as 60% complete 2 hours and 20 minutes on average each day (CBC news, 2007). The amount of homework students receive on average daily has greatly increased in the past 15 years, which concerns parents. Homework interferes with students’ lives outside of school, a student’s overall health, and consumes countless hours, which is why it should be limited to a reasonable amount.

In a study General Society conducted, 16% of teens viewed themselves as workaholics, 39% said they felt under constant pressure to do more than they can handle and 64% cut back on sleep to do the things they need to do. As these tasks are quite time consuming, students state that homework is the most out of all the unpaid activities they do throughout the day, as 60% complete 2 hours and 20 minutes on average each day (CBC news, 2007). The amount of homework students receive on average daily has greatly increased in the past 15 years, which concerns parents. Homework interferes with students’ lives outside of school, a student’s overall health, and consumes countless hours, which is why it should be limited to a reasonable amount.

Have you ever tried to finish something after you’ve been busy all day, you're out of time, and you have no one to help you? Students try to do this far too often. Students are handed mountains of homework that despite their best efforts, they cannot finish. I would know, I am a junior high student after all. Far too many times I’ve seen students struggle to complete homework and their mental health has suffered. It’s obvious students shouldn’t have so much homework. First of all, teachers can’t help student's when they are struggling to complete assignments at home. Secondly, homework puts teens under immense amounts of stress. Lastly, students often don’t possess the time with their busy schedules. Students should have less homework because students won’t have a teacher’s assistance in completing assignments, It stresses students out, and the majority of students don’t have enough time to finish homework and do things important to them.

By not giving out homework, students will work harder in class and have better grades. Teachers have to understand that if students are tired from late nights, they wouldn't be able to work efficiently during the day. In addition, students would be much more excited to come to school because they know they wouldn't have to worry about getting any homework. In 2010, a survey was taken and it showed that about 70% of teen ages 11 to 17 get less than 8 hours of sleep per day due to the amount of homework they have to do (Logos). According to Alfie Kohen, students feel forced to do their homework, therefore they aren't learning as much as they should (Ethos). Students lose interest in the topic and do not benefit from what they’re learning. In China, a cry for change by a mother who lost her thirteen year old daughter who committed suicide due to her inability to achieve in math, the mother considers homework is a huge negative factor toward her deceased daughter's tragic ending along with the pressure of society (Pathos). Such a story should leave us wondering, how many more children need to suffer the silent epidemic of school stress. Statistics prove the leading cause for the majority of physical and emotional complaints leading up to diagnosis of depression in middle and high school due to the amount of

Sandra Dodd once said, “Kids who are in school just visit life sometimes, and then they have to stop to do homework or go to sleep early or get to school on time. They’re constantly reminded they are preparing ‘for real life,’ while being isolated from it.” This is one side of an argument that has been going on for years, which is, “Should kids be given less homework?” Homework should be decreased because it is not valuable academically and students don’t have time to do homework after school.

The quality of students’ homework is much more important than the quantity of students homework and data collected during recent studies has proven that homework is not making the grade. “. . . American students are entangled in the middle of international academic rankings: 17th in reading, 23rd in science, and 31st in math according to the most recent results from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)” (Murphy-Paul). Students should not be given an excessive amount of homework because the pressure of having to complete excessive amounts of homework every night is quite daunting for most students. Knowing how much homework is the right amount correlates with age and grade. An 8th grade student should not be given a myriad of homework that would keep her awake past midnight completing assignments. In any case, there should be a limit on the amount of homework all teachers give to students because an excessive amount of homework would eventually cause students to become uninterested in school and learning, which could result in poor test scores and low ranks in international academic rankings. In order for students to carry out daily activities throughout the day restfully, teachers must be able to provide homework that does not exceed the appropriate amount of time needed to complete it, which is based on grade level. If teachers are too clueless of a students health due to excessive amounts of homework, many students will develop cases of sleep

The debate regarding exactly how much homework is too much homework has been an ongoing debate for years. As of right now, there seems to be no end in sight for this debate. Various adults believe that if children do not obtain homework, then they are not learning properly. However, numerous children are obtaining a substantial amount of homework per night, as well as per each class. Once a child exceeds a certain amount of homework, then it is no longer beneficial for the child’s education. An excessive amount of homework can essentially become harmful to the child’s education. As a result, teachers are struggling with finding the right amount of homework to assign to students. The National Education Association as well as the National Parent-Teacher Association endorse the “10-minute rule” for teachers to follow when assigning homework to students. If a child is assigned an excessive amount of homework, then the child might experience more harm than good when attempting to complete the assigned homework.

Many students, teachers, parents, and more throughout the country have a firm stance on the argument that school should start at a later time not only because of our diverse sleep patterns, but also because of the negative stress it puts on our bodies, and it even how it can influence our ability to learn. We hear of students constantly complaining about getting very little sleep every night during the school week. Many teachers, parents, and even other students getting better sleep seem to just blow it off or think that students are overexerting the problem. We are starting to see that there are actual negative effects from students, mainly in high school, losing sleep due to extra curricular activities, homework, and any other activities

Most people would agree that homework takes a lot of time after school and out of their daily lives. 7 hours of the 24 hour day are spent on school. Then including, the average amount of hours spent on homework everyday which is 3.5. That equals 10 hours of the 12-18 hours students are awake in the day. Additionally, an average student gets about 7 hours of sleep each night, when scientists have proven that teens need at least 9 hours. There are simple and easy solutions to these problems, one is to take away homework for students. This would help issues like, no sleep, bad grades, cheating, not being with family enough and more! 79% of the people that took the debate.org quiz thought that homework should be banned. This survey included teachers, students, and parents. There are many students that do sports or after school activities and have not a lot of time for homework. Nearly 6 out of 10/ 57% students do after school activities. As a personal experience, I know that I have cheer practice most nights for two hours each. This leaves only a tiny amount of time I can spend on homework, concluding in me having to stay up later to finish it all. The time you spend on homework each night, could be spent on getting exercise or spending time with people to become better human beings or getting greater social skills. If kids are always busy, they don't get enough sleep. Too much homework also could cause bad grades or kids to attempt to cheat on tests because not always knowing

87% of high school students get less than the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep (Richter). Over the past few years, the amount of time students spend on homework has gone up , some up to 4 hours on it. While the recommended amount is still at 2. While taking away homework could be a possibility, students can still get benefits out of doing it. What many sleep experts recommend doing, is starting school later. Some of the advantages of later school starting times are that teens get more sleep, perform better academically, and are mentally healthier.

Starting this year, Decatur High School switched their block scheduling to an eight-period schedule. While this allows students to learn from each class every day, it also weighs them down with extra daily stress that would not come from the block schedule. Now that the school has eight class periods every single day, students have more homework and less time to do it. With only forty-five minutes per a class period, even teachers complain there is not enough time for them to meet their daily teaching criteria, resulting in more homework for the students and less time to learn the material for the homework. Being a teenager is already stressful, and, with the addition of school and extra curricular activities, it becomes a nuclear bomb of stress. Furthermore, it is recommended by doctors for students to get the standard “9 hours of sleep” at night, however, most students at Decatur High School would prove that teens regularly get only four to six hours of sleep and sometimes even less. The reason being, with after school activities which usually end around 8:00 PM, dinner, and maybe a shower, they’re starting on homework around 9:00 to 10:00 PM. Students who are in advanced courses may spend about 2-4 hours on homework, depending on the subject. That likely puts them to bed around midnight to 2:00 AM. When asking students who are taking advanced courses, most would agree that they have more homework this year, resulting in less sleep. With less sleep and more work,

Personally I have knowledge of friends and other people who struggle with staying on top off all the homework being assigned all at once. As students go through high school, good grades are more significant. This is due to students becoming more prepared for college. Students will do anything to get the best grade on a test or quiz. Several times not only does a student need to study for one test, one may have four or five tests to study for. This will cause a student to stay up as long as they can to be prepared for the upcoming tests. The consequences would be one only getting only four or five hours of sleep. Students with little or no sleep will not do as great as they could on test than the students with at least seven hours of

There are a great deal of teachers that give mountains of homework each night, and with more than one teacher in middle school and high school, a lot of kids will spend hours upon hours each night doing homework. The students who get home later than most have it even worse. Often, that means that students are awake late into the night. This makes them extremely tired the following day, making it harder for them to work and function efficiently in school. I remember one night in fifth grade when I was awake until 2:00 doing homework. If everyone’s falling asleep in class and can’t learn, what’s the point of giving them work that will make them this

The first reason students should not be given daily homework is that daily homework deprives students of sleep needed. According to Nationwide Children's Hospital, “teenagers need at least nine hours of sleep each night.” For most high school students,

Other people, who want to get rid of homework, say it’s busywork and it has no educational value. “Many supporters of no-homework policies say kids need more free time to play and relax after a long day in school” (“Do Kids Need Homework?”). “Books like The Case Against Homework (Crown, 2006) and The Homework Myth (Da Capo, 2007) have argued that too much of today's homework is mindless busywork that takes away from family time and does not improve academic performance. Homework's critics argue that kids should instead be reading for enjoyment, exploring and being creative” (“Too Much Homework? Parents, Schools Seek Balance”). “Researcher Cooper says studies show that up until fifth grade, homework should be very limited. Kids in middle school shouldn't be spending more than 90 minutes a night on homework. In high school, the limit is two hours, Cooper says” (Strauss). Finally, “In a poll by the National Sleep Foundation, one in four parents said their child had lost sleep because of homework. A lack of sleep can affect how well kids do in school” (“Do Kids Need