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Problems with School-Assigned Homework Essay

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Images of children and teenagers sitting at the kitchen table with books surrounding them, or sitting at desks secluded in their room, for hours on end, dutifully studying for the next day’s exam has been around for quite some time. But recent studies have shown that just because a child is doing homework, does not mean he or she is learning (Kohn). The fact is, the homework teachers have assigned has gone up dramatically. In 1981, children ages six to nine received about 44 minutes of homework a week. By 1997, children six to nine were receiving almost two hours of homework a week (Chaika) That number has almost tripled. Though supporters have pointed out the many benefits of homework over the years, which may have led to the increase of …show more content…

Should a student start his or her homework as soon as he or she gets home from school at about three, that means homework should be done around seven at night. But, if the student participates in extra curricular activities, homework might be pushed back to being finished at around eight or nine. Plus, people need to eat. Even if it is heating up a TV dinner, that is still about another half hour that homework is being pushed back to being done at. So now, homework is being completed around 8:30 to 9:30. And of course, what high school student does not hang out with friends or socialize or just plain relax every night. If a student is socializing or relaxing to maintain a healthy lifestyle, by spending an hour or two doing these things, he or she is now falling asleep after an exhausting day anywhere from 9:30, which is not a bad time to midnight. And as growing human beings, should be getting at least eight hours of sleep each night which is not going to happen if students are going to bed at midnight and waking up at 6:30 the next morning to start the process over again. But, supporters may argue that this teaches time management skills (Oak). All of what was previously mentioned does not in fact teach time management skills, it teaches students to prioritize. Which can be a good skill to know, but may not be good for grades. Say a teacher assigns the before mentioned half hour of homework. A

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