A Misconception in Education Each night, millions of young students spend hours completing homework assigned to them at school. As one of those students I have found myself wanting to quit, time and time again, because of the overwhelming stress that these assignments inevitably create as I try to balance my education with the rest of my life. Over the last four years of my high school career, I have dedicated thousands of hours to a task that often feels pointless and it has led me to believe that homework is not as beneficial as many people say it is. 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
Most kids think homework is unfair because it takes away their play time. For example reformers in the progressive era depicted homework as a “sin” that deprives children of their healthy amounts of outdoor actives. Students in high-achieving neighborhoods who spend too much time on homework have more health problems, stress, and alienation from society.
How does homework affect students in academic and nonacademic ways? Both educators and students ask this infamous question throughout the course of their education tracks. Teachers and administrators often believe that homework is necessary; whereas, students often question the legitimacy of homework. However, due to new studies and research about homework, it has been proven to be insignificant, oppressive and pernicious to the student's wellness and success.
Imagine having a full time job where you did not get paid, could not quit, and have at least a few hours of paperwork to complete each night. This is what students go through everyday with homework. Homework is assignments sent home from school for students of all ages to finish by a certain due date, for a grade. In the past decade, controversies over the amount of work kids and teens are given has lead many to study the benefits of homework to see if the work teachers assign is actually helping students academically and improving test scores. It has grown to an extreme amount, prevents kids and teens from getting the things they need in life, gets in the way of a good childhood, damages relationships, and has not proven to actually aid
Homework has been an area of discussion for teachers, students, and even psychologists. It’s been a practice which has been used throughout the United States to help students learn material, reinforce their day’s lesson, or just as busy work to improve a student’s work ethic. Several people view homework as useless, or just plainly unhelpful; this view has been demonstrated ever since the early twentieth century, where many authors and politicians were vehemently against homework, going as far as to write whole books and draft legislation (legislation which had passed the Californian government and had been law) against homework. This opposition has ever since faded, but is now seeing a new movement around America, and there are reasons as to why that is. In an article from CNN, they quote a study from another article published by The American Journal of Family Therapy which states that: “students in the early elementary school years are getting significantly more homework than is recommended by education leaders, in some cases nearly three times as much homework as is recommended”, and, as such, students are raised within a state of stress from the first grade. Several other studies also find that homework is very hurtful; the Journal of Experimental Education published an article which had made a study that found that the average amount of time students spend on homework each night had been 3.1 hours from a sample of high-performing schools in California, when the recommended time on homework is, at most, one hour each night. Homework has been mandated work for students all around the country, and several others, and the workload seems to only be increasing, and so, how might this workload affect a student’s ability to live a healthy life, a teacher’s work plan, and a psychologist’s view of an enormous workload on a student?
The debate that is currently happening throughout America is whether children should or should not be forced to have homework, a standard part of education that has been in existence since at least early 1900’s. Homework began generations ago, and “has generally been viewed as a positive practice and accepted without question as part of the student routine;” however, “over the years, homework in U.S. schools has evolved from the once simple tasks of memorizing math facts or writing spelling words to complex projects” (Vatterott). Not only recently but even at the end of the 19th century was homework getting in the way of family life. Children normally always have house roles that they are expected to complete and around the 19th century “many families could not afford to have their children continue schooling, given the requisite two to three hours of homework each night” (Vatterott). Not just in current situations, but also the 19th and 20th centuries, the children play as helpers and workers in the
In the early twentieth century, the brain was seen as a muscle that had to be strengthened. They believed that with every piece of information they learned, their brain would physically grow. Therefore, most teachers during this time period’s response was to assign more and more homework. Although some students saw positive results, the majority did not. This led to a national crisis; more students were dropping out of school than ever before. Reformers at the time believed that homework was a sin, as it increased negative attitudes towards learning, deprived students of time to relax or complete any tasks that were not school related, and it had the ability to cause several different health problems. Now over a hundred years later, homework
On average, American high school teachers assign approximately 3.5 hours of homework each week, meaning that teens with multiple classes spend around 17.5 hours a week working on these assignments. In only 13 years, the percentage of teens that claim they spend an hour on homework each day has increased to 45%, from the 39% in 1994 (Bidwell). Parents and students across the country are beginning to spot the flaws in these homework methods, however, claiming that academics are merely being memorized instead of thoroughly taught. Is homework truly helping America’s students? To the majority of high schoolers, the answer is clear: homework is unnecessary for academic development.
Roberto Nevilis, a teacher in Venice, changed history when he created the first use of homework in 1095. Since then, students’ opinions of homework haven’t changed. Roberto Nevilis started homework as a way of punishing his students for not doing their work. Nowadays, homework is assigned to help students receive more practice for what they learned in school that day. Despite the good intentions that homework is supposed to provide, it actually proves more harm than good. In the twenty-first century, the increase of homework negatively affects American teens’ sleep schedules, stress levels, and after school opportunities. Parent involvement in homework can turn into parent interference.
“Homework puts pressure on both kids and parents.” The things students learn on a regular bases parents did not learn back when they were in school and if they did it had a new method of doing it. The stress level of kids always studying and doing homework on a daily basis is making them overwhelming. “Homework takes away our personal time no student wants to come home and do more work on what they were already doing for the past 6 hours anyway.”
In many American households, homework is the main cause of stress. Some people think that America is not so well and adding more homework will fix that problem. A study by Indiana University found that students who do more homework tend to get higher scores on standardized tests” (“Do Kids Need Homework?”). “Plus, part of growing up is learning to balance outside activities and the demands of schoolwork” (“Should Parents Help Kids With Homework?). Teachers have their reasons as well. “Teachers say homework is important in the learning process and can help kids develop study and organizational skills. They say kids need to practice what they've learned in school so that the material sticks in their brain” (Strauss). “Having too much homework
It is a well known fact that students of various ages and schools are assigned homework, although the motive for giving said homework may vary depending on the teacher. However, the debate about whether homework is helping or hindering education is at a stalemate. Stated simply, homework is work assigned by teachers that students should complete at home or any other non-school setting. Just how effective is homework in the long run? Is it just adding unnecessary stress to students without truly adding enough positivity to make the homework worth it? Although homework can seem burdensome, it undoubtedly solidifies concepts learned in class and aids in the development of timeless skills such as time management and accountability.
There are many key components of every student’s high school experience: classes, social events, planning for the future, and, of course, homework. Some get more assignments than others depending on the rigor of one’s courses, but everyone is bound to be assigned homework in high school; in some cases, it can make or break students’ GPAs. Despite its appearances in nearly every high school across the country and the world, homework has become a hotly debated topic as of late due to increasing quantities of assignments and the immense pressure put on students to complete them. Some feel that it’s the natural course of the education system, while some believe that it’s all becoming nearly uncontrollable. The different perspectives on this issue have put teachers, parents, students, and
Homework has been a part of education for various centuries for the major part of the world. Initially, homework in America served to engage students with education and provide additional practice for material covered during class in order to encourage leaders during post-war years (“Homework: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Paid Labor at Home”). However, the effectiveness of homework upon academic performance has been gradually questioned over recent years. With many downsides to homework, many have begun to question whether homework is worth it at all.
Students claim that due to numerous hours of homework assigned, it tends to build up on them and thus, causing said students to fall into a stressed state. Although this claim is proven to be valid, the fact stands that stress will not only be encountered during an average American student’s 12 years of schooling. In 2014, The American Institute of Stress released the statistics relating to that of a person’s daily life. From this data performed by the American Psychological Association, it was found that job pressure was- and still proves to be- the leading cause of stress in Americans. The category includes those who feel this job pressure from work overload in particular. Therefore, the stress that is caused from homework in students is actually preparing these individuals for the higher workload that they may face in their lives outside of school. Adults essentially face homework as well. Although it may not be identified as homework, many of these adults take home work from their job in order to complete it on time. Thus, the factor of stress does not prove as an effective argument as to why homework should be banned.
Educators in America have been assigning homework as a mandatory part of students' education for years. In the early 1900's, the Ladies Home Journal movement claimed homework was detrimental to students' health, and since then homework has been highly debated as to whether homework is beneficial for students' education. There have been different homework movements and stances throughout the last century. In the 1900s there was a movement in America that advocated for the termination of homework. In the 1940s-1960's, debates shifted from abolishing homework, to reforming homework to better suit the individual student. Then, most recently, the launch of Sputnik boosted the pro-homework movement (SFGATE). Teachers, parents and students across