The Negative Effects Of Homework On Students In Elementary School

“Homework is arguably the worst punishment inflicted upon the student body.” One would think this extreme statement would come from the 10-year boys and girls who complain to their parents about the homework they have to complete. However, Rodney Jones starts of his argument against homework using this statement. He argues that homework does not help children taking up all their time. Continuing, he explains how parents should extend child’s knowledge out of school instead of homework and in the end these assignments do not help students grade. However, in contrast of Jones’ beliefs homework indeed benefits children’s learning through the small amounts of extra practice it gives to help the students excel.

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?

Homework has the greatest affect on our lives, even on our teachers and parents,as well as students.The purpose of homework is to connect the gap between children’s learning at school and at home.Most children abhor the purpose of homework.Others insist that assignments are a very important factor in the life of students and that it should be maintained.Homework has a positive impact on children and may help a child’s future life and career.

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

For the most part, education in the United States has revolved around the idea of a “work hard, and succeed” system. Educators strongly push for this idea and are in a way obliged to extend learning by assigning more work, which they are unable to complete in a school setting. In turn, they rely on homework to expand knowledge beyond the classroom. Homework has become what may seem a positive influence on education and test scores in the United States. However, It has also become one the biggest burdens on high school students.This burden fails to reflect today’s advancing technological society. It needs to conform to a more individualized and purposeful approach for students.

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

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.

Most high school students around the world are faced with outrageous amounts of homework that consumes majority of their lives, from the moment they arrive home to the time they need to be sleeping. If students have homework taking over their lives there is no real balance between school life and socializing also with the amount of homework given out is causing major stress on students and causing conflict within families.

Homework entails assignments assigned by teacher to students to be performed outside of the classroom (Cooper, 2006). Homework accounts for a major portion of the educational process and is a key factor for success (MacDonald, 2009). It is utilized regularly in the teaching and learning process and can be seen as either beneficial or detrimental to student’s academic success. Homework and student academic success has been a very controversial and debatable topic for many decades and one that will persist for many more. It is said to be so ingrained in U.S. culture the term is part of a shared language (Vatterott, 2009). Educators, parents and students are integral members of this debate. According to Buell

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

Homework has been the long dreaded mundane assignment that students worldwide have to suffer from. It increases at an exponential rate as one progresses up the ladder called grade school. In the typical American high school, teachers become known not for who they are as a person, but rather the workload they assign. Often students don’t get the chance to receive proper feedback on their homework, and isn’t graded until after several days or weeks after the due date, therefore rendering homework as a waste of time. Take Dylan for example. After a long day of school, he is sitting at his desk at 12:17 A.M, struggling with his AP Chemistry homework. He knows Chemistry forwards and backwards, but having to do 45 conceptual and repetitive problems is a whole different story. Getting very frustrated, he shut his book and made his way to his bed, away from the mental torture, knowing that it’s not gaining him any benefit, and deciding that getting a zero would be a bitter pill to swallow, especially when his knowledge of Chemistry is inaccurately reflected by a letter on his report card. Although homework gives students a chance to succeed in a very competitive world, it takes up a lot of time in the day, it doesn’t help students grow academically, and it also takes a toll on the personal lives and the health of many students.

“Thirty-eight percent of parents--more than one in three-- say their kids are getting too much homework. Twenty-six percent say they’re not getting enough, while 36 percent say it’s just right” (Luke, 2015, p.2). Not all students enjoy homework or retain much from doing it, yet we still have it. Having homework has lead to two sides, let’s take a bigger look at both sides of homework. Students and parents of different communities are coming together to question this topic on whether or not there is benefits and what teachers can do better. Some of the benefits to having homework is that it encourages responsibility and higher academic achievements, but that together leads to a con of homework. Homework affects kids health by causing stress, anxiety, and depression. Health issues are not positive resulting in kids not wanting to learn anything, they naturally turn it off. Whether homework is a good thing or not it allows parents and teachers to see progress within and individual. Along with all these pros and cons there are a few things that meant in the middle. Homework needs to show a students achievement and be manageable for them. When homework is manageable it give students motivation to achieve everything they originally set out to do. Although homework has its goods and bads it can meet in the middle to see both sides. Some believe homework encourages responsibility, higher academic achievement and allows parents to monitor students; others believe it creates stress

Lastly, homework results in a combination of corresponding negative physical and mental effects within students. In the survey conducted on high schoolers in California, 56% of participants admitted homework as their primary stressor, while less than 1% said homework was not a stressor (Strauss). Regarding physical symptoms, 72% of students disclosed their constant state of anxiety over school work, resulting in sleep deprivation, headaches, exhaustion, weight loss, stomach pain, and the lack of stability in their lives (Strauss). Over 80% of the students encountered a physical symptom in the timespan of a month, 44% of whom experienced three or more in that time period (Strauss). In addition to this, parents argued their children do not have enough time to complete chores, a skill that also trains a sense of responsibility within adolescents (Ponte). Furthermore, homework limits a child’s development of social skills, as it leaves them with little time to interact with friends (Ponte). In addition to the shortage of social interactions among friends, adolescents have limited time to converse with their family members as well. For example, junior Julia Jones was assigned a group project over Winter Break, a time specifically created for a vacation from school (Ponte). As expected, both of Julia’s partners were on vacation—one of which being out of country (Ponte). Julia experienced high levels of stress as she and her group members reached to finish the project before their

Picture this, an 8th grader coming broke-down into class with baggy eyes, having their back slouched, and seeming like they are about to pass out because they were up all night studying for their math and Spanish test after 4 hours of sports they have just completed while looking like a complete zombie, is it possible that homework has been assigned too much nowadays?

Bishop, author of the article “10 Benefits of Homework,” remarks, “In general, students are not excited about the homework they get assigned because they are bombarded with other options that seem more exciting. Lets face it, homework is no more exciting today than when we were kids,”which covers the totality of the student mind when given the workload that is homework (Bishop). Homework has always been something that has been presented and required for students without question. While this may be true within the schooling system, people are starting to wonder if the stress and diminishment of one's social life that homework plagues upon us as students entirely worth it. Although the workload may be strenuous, homework also has the ability to benefit the student, whether it may be in terms of the increase of responsibility and the ability to multi-task, or in terms of the students discipline and work ethic. Being given multiple tasks within the schooling system can prepare students for the real world and the harsh realities that the real world has to offer. Nonetheless, the act of doing homework can promote responsibility as well as accountability for students in the near future, homework should not be assigned because of the fact that it diminishes the students social life, which is crucial to one's mental health, increases the stress on students in and out of school, and adds more obstacles for them in terms of juggling things such as work and or taking care of