Homework Policy at Hillsborough High School: The Need for Change The issues surrounding homework have long plagued Hillsborough High school with little change for the past several decades. Students in the school can receive hours of homework each night, and then be expected to perform at their top quality the next day in school. With extra curricular and leisurely pastimes thrown into the mix, students often struggle to maintain their health and grades. Beyond just Hillsborough, the issue of homework has been debated for nearly 150 years with little change in its nature or quantity. As many students receive massive amounts of homework each night, studies have continuously found almost no correlation between homework and academic achievement …show more content…
Some of these beliefs include that hard work builds character and responsibility. This creates the illusion that homework that is strenuous and time consuming often appears to be more academic than homework that is fun and engaging which is often seen as less meritful. This leads some teachers to assign “busy work” rather than new and exciting homework ideas (“Rethinking Homework”). The problem lies when people judge homework based on these values rather than academic worth. Homework should be an opportunity for students to grow scholastically; However, teachers settle for unengaging work that has minimal impact on a student’s education due to fallacies of larger work loads’ correlation to academic capability. Although homework may benefit some select students, action must be taken against it, including the removal of homework, the restraint of homework, and the monitoring of homework to reduce stress and allow more personal time for …show more content…
That being said, homework advocates often argue that homework produces a higher capacity to perform well academically by improving critical thinking skills and understanding, leading to better retention of knowledge translating into good grades (Terada). Beyond its grade earning value, some find that homework creates favorable habits and values in a student by teaching them hard work and independence through it’s thought provoking problem solving and time consuming nature. On the other hand, despite some cases where homework has benefited certain students, research has shown the dangerous mental and physical pitfalls of homework. Homework can lead to limited sleep which can be an extremely serious issue, especially with teens who are already suffering from sleep disorders such as insomnia, narcolepsy, or restless leg syndrome (LeTendre & “Teens And Sleep”). The physical exhaustion a student faces from limited sleep can make it hard to focus and perform well in class. Sometimes, it can be a struggle to even stay awake. Another colossal problem that students face as a result of homework is an unhealthy amount of stress. Stanford research has found that less than one percent of students from an “optimal highschool” find that homework is a non-stressor (“Stanford Research”). To
The first major step in healing America’s exhausted teenagers is to reduce the amount of homework they receive. Kids from the ages of fourteen to twenty-two alike are expected to play sports, join clubs, and hang out with friends – all on top of an average of three and a half hours of h...
Most students believe that they have too much homework and not a sufficient time to finish it on time and it’s killing them. In these two essays “Too Much Homework, Too Little Time” by user name Laxdoublek on Teenink.com and “Satire: Homework Epidemic” by Ellen Keith of Medford High School, have many similarities and differences about the topic homework. Their essays are for everyone to realize just how much homework students in school are given. Keith does a better job getting her point across to the reader than Laxdoublek.
Khristina Janer, a mother from Illinois, says, “I don’t feel like a parent. I feel like a drill sergeant!” when making her kids finish their homework after an extended period of time (Wallace). Many studies show the effectiveness of homework and all of the benefits it can do for us; the problem is: teachers are making kids do too much homework when they get home from school. The teachers don’t take in the environmental factors that could be harming any student 's ability to get a task done. Teachers automatically believe that kids are irresponsible or unmotivated when they don’t succeed in finishing their homework. When kids are given this much, or this difficult of, homework, sleep is being sacrificed. Even when they are doing all of their
"I didn’t feel [stressed] until I was in my 30’s. It hurts my feelings that my daughter feels that way at eleven" (Ratnesar 313). This statement describes the intense issue facing the American Education System today. More and more students are spending a lot of out of school time on enormous amounts of homework. The overabundance of homework is putting pressure on the students, along with their parents. Our nation has steadily focused on after school studying to the point of possible exhaustion. In this paper, I will attempt to explain how educators are relying on homework as the major form of education, and how the amounts are too demanding on the students.
Many students who feel the pressure to succeed at the high school level have an unhealthy amount of stress. Students who feel this have been cheating, pulling all nighters, becoming depressed, and seeking relief in drug use, and self mutilation. On average in a recent study at Illinois high school students spend 3.07 hours of homework each night on just homework not including extra curricular activities(Jerushapope,2). Also in this high school students reported getting 6.8 hours of sleep each night, but 34.6% reported getting 6 or fewer hours of sleep(Jerushapope,2). Most high school students spend 2 hours of extra curricular activity each night thats not including homework so after those activities you have to come home and do homework and then you will not have a lot of time to sleep. Also most kids do not get a lot of time to spend with their parents during the weeknights. Some kids cannot even make it to the dinner table because they have so much homework and that is not healthy for the parents and their childs relationship. In ...
Today, many students report more anxiety due to stress than child psychiatric patients did in the 1950’s. In a 2006 survey of 1,300 students at a public high school in Needham, Massachusetts found that 58% of the students surveyed reported between a great deal of stress and extreme stress due to homework (Bennett and Kalish). Many students in today’s time, have so many things to do that it is difficult for them to come home, only to have to finish five to six hours of homework. This, with the added effects of after school activities and technology, only adds to the stress that is put on students.
Kralovec, author of The End of Homework argues that doing homework during high school has little or no effect on successful study skills of students in college. College students have only a few hours of class a week and lots of daytime hours in which to study. She says the college schedule is nowhere as grueling as in high school. In addition, the average adult does not return home from the office with three or more hours of work to complete (Kralovec). When "busy work" assignments are given carelessly and frequently, it causes students to lose interest in the subject. Negative results can also occur when a student is not able to complete his or her homework. Many times they will resort to copying homework, having others do their assignments, or cheating on tests. Bad habits such as these are likely to follow kids through their lives and have an effect on their moral judgment. With no consequences to these actions students will almost always take the easy way out when it comes to homework
Although homework may seem like drudgery, the hard work that is put into homework may pay off in the long run. In the article, “Does homework really work for students?” Jacqueline Carey, the mother of seventh grade student Micah Carey, stated that “homework gives [students] a good foundation for when they move on further in school” (Johnson). Not only that but according to Donyall Dickey, principle at Murray Hill Middle School, “if students do not acquire things in class, they will acquire them through homework” (Johnson). As we can see homework helps and prepares us for higher grade levels while in primary school that can possibly prepare us for college. It also helps us to remember the materials that were taught in class. Another reason homework can be beneficial is the fact that it can prepare us for tests and the dreadful pop-quiz that a teacher may randomly give us. This fact was proven, according to a 2006 study by Harris Cooper, director of Duke University’s Program in education, in the article “Homework or Not? That is the (Research) Question”. The studies instituted that “students who had homework performed better on class tests compared to those who did not” (DeNisco). Another compelling thing about homework, are the qualities a skills th...
Homework can be defined as an out of class task assigned to students to help them practice and prepare for their future. Homework has been around for a very long time. It is set and traced as a tradition of having teachers assigning work and students completing it. Teachers assign homework to help some students improve their grade and pass the course for those of who do not do well on tests. Assigning homework satisfies various educational needs and serves as an intellectual discipline, establishes study habits, eases time constraints on the amount of curricular material that can be covered in class, and supplements and reinforces work done in school. Although homework helps student learn more, too much of it can become harmful or burdensome
Harris Cooper, a researcher on homework from Duke University, claims that too much homework causes stress. In this I paper will talk about the damaging effects homework has on a child, how homework causes students to dropout of school, and some ideas for an alternative to homework.
Homework offers multiple benefits for real life. One benefit of homework is that it helps the student develop essential skills. While homework may seem like a tedious task, it can help a student comprehend the material. Homework is necessary for more than just a grade; it is an assignment that teaches you valuable life skills. According to “Do students have too much homework?”, homework should lead students to be better at taking what they know and applying it to a certain task. Students tend to portray homework as something that they have to get done without knowing the value that lies behind it. Homework enables the student to recall a certain problem and apply it to another distinctive situation. According to “Do students have too much homework?”, applying knowledge is the most important. Learning is definitely important but what students do with the facts that they learned is essential as well. Applying knowledge allows the students to take a simple fact and relate it to a grander scheme of things. Relating what they know will enhance their creativity and let them see behind the lines of how everything connects.
Homework in schools today has become an everyday normal for students. Teachers now hand out homework for every course possible, leaving students with heaps of homework to accomplish. The growing concern of education has caused an even greater increase in the amount of homework given to students. The concern has many questioning whether too much homework is being given, and how the excess amount of homework is impacting the development of students. Though some might say that homework is a good way to build responsibility, too much homework is impacting a student’s development in a negative way as they become more distant from others, began to cheat, and have a greater chance of developing health related problems because of stress.
We all know the downfall of homework: the frustration and exhaustion, family conflict, time loss, and decreasing interest in learning. No study has ever demonstrated any academic achievement linked to assigning homework. There is also no support to the fact that homework provides nonacademic benefits at any age. Here are a few examples: building character, promoting self-discipline, or teaching good work habits. All teachers who assign homework want to believe that the gain outweighs the pain. Although, there is no evidence of that and they must rely on faith (“Homework: No Proven Benefits”, pg. 1). Michellea, a mother of a middle school student, says that some work can reinforce certain skills, but hours of homework are unhealthy and unproductive. Mominseattle agrees. She contemplates that such a heavy load can result in potential drawbacks to the students. Hours of homework a night plus a full day of school can be just as much work as an adult at a full-time job. She believes students should enjoy their childhood, as short as it already is. MagnetMom complains about how her daughter’s homework takes away her beneficial sleep. With busy families, like hers, they have many after school activities, so when they get home, they do not have time for too much homework. She says ...
So many schools over the world are giving their student homework because the think homework is one of the way to test student’s responsibility, but there are disadvantages of doing homework. There are a lot of studies that argue about homework that it is necessary and really useful to help student learn well or not. Some report said that homework make students unhappy and it wasted time. The stressful puts students off learning. Homework is a waste of student’s time to do other activities. Moreover, homework in some school is about winning on test, not learning.