Homework Harassing Students?

The amount of homework students have should be lowered. Homework is stressful and tiring, time consuming, and ineffective. Students already have too much going on, they have other important things to do, and studies show that homework doesn’t do very much. Homework is supposed to be a review of what has been taught, but it is a nuisance. It is annoying not only for the students, but it is also annoying for the teachers. How many teachers actually like grading papers or a bunch of math problems? This is why teachers should assign less homework.

Homework can make students feel stressed. Homework makes students hate school and learning. They’re so worried about getting all of this work done that they learn to hate the stress caused by the homework. When students spend all of their time doing homework, they don’t have any time for anything that relieves stress. Students would rather be outside with their friends than be cooped up inside doing work. Some studies have shown that an increase in homework can lead to stomachaches, headaches, sleep problems, and even depression (Kalish). When students spend too much time doing homework, they stay up very late or they don’t get it done. Once they don’t get one thing done, the homework builds up until they have that night’s homework and a lot of makeup work. In conclusion, homework makes students anxious.
Students with large amounts of homework often have no time for anything else. They don’t have time for family time, sports, or social time. Students don’t even have time for dinner or sleeping. This results in exhaustion, making homework even more obnoxious. Students already have seven hour work days. When two hours of homework are added every day, students have 45 hours of work a week. Imagine what it would be like if students had up to 4 hours of homework a night. Only 5 math problems are enough to show that a student understands the concept. The rest is a waste of time (Kalish). In conclusion, homework takes away from important time in a student’s life.
Homework is ineffective. At Glenrock’s Grant Elementary School in Glenrock, Wyoming, they eliminated most homework except for studying for a test- which isn’t often. Test scores haven’t decreased. In Liberty, Missouri, at a school called South Valley Middle School, homework was eliminated in Joel Wazac’s math class. Standardized test scores and grades went up. Studies show there isn’t really a tie between homework and positive long-term effects in elementary school. Some people argue that homework is a way of teaching responsibility. That can be taught other ways, such as chores or jobs for older students (Kalish). Homework should be quality over quantity. Parents usually get involved when students have too much homework. When parents get too involved with homework, students aren’t learning as much (Carbonell). In conclusion, homework isn’t helpful to students.
What should you do about it? If you are a parent of a child that has too much homework, talk to the teacher. Write notes, send emails, and meet with the teacher in person to discuss homework issues. If your child is overloaded with homework, then others might have the same problem. Get other parents to help. If a lot of parents all came in to talk about the same problem, something’s bound to change (Kalish). If you are a student that has too much homework, get your parents for help or go to the teacher yourself. Don’t complain and whine. You should be respectful and understanding. Make sure you actually have good reasons to lower homework amounts. You need something for your teacher to actually listen to. If your teacher is unwilling and won’t change the homework amounts, talk to your parents and ask for help. In conclusion, to fix the homework problem, talk to the teacher and figure something out.
The amount of homework has gotten out of control. Is it really the necessary? Shouldn’t students be using their time for something better? Would you rather be working all afternoon, or be with your friends? Homework is not only exhausting and practically pointless, but it takes up too much time and it makes students hate to learn. Students shouldn’t have to do so much work just so the teacher knows that you understand the subject. You or your parents should contact the teacher and tell her about the problem. Glenrock’s Grant Elementary School can get rid of homework, so any other school can do it, too. Maybe homework won’t go away completely at first, but with a little time and effort, you’re homework load could decrease by a couple hours. Who knows? It may just go away completely, leaving you stress-free with all the time in the world to do what you want to do. Students have too much homework to do, and we should get rid of some of it.