The Truth About Homework, By Alfie Kohn

The amount of homework assigned has dramatically increased over the past few years. With new state standards and standardized testings, teachers are beginning to put more pressure on children. They are being sent home with six page packets and vocabulary words that are due the next day. Most children do not have the time or help to complete this much homework. Alfie Kohn’s The Truth About Homework states “Homework continues to be assigned - in ever greater quantities - despite the absence of evidence that it is necessary or even helpful in most cases.” Not only is all of this homework unnecessary, but it can have negative effects on the children as well.
More and more children are beginning to feel pressured in school. Their teachers are assigning too much homework and they are expected to excel in their classes. Most children are involved in some sort of after school activity with their family and friends. But having large amounts of homework restricts them from having any free time. This

time restriction often prevents children from exercising and developing important skills.
Some school teachers are making homework more difficult for children, trying to prepare them for standardized testing.

But children are not understanding their work causing them to get low test scores. Struggling to keep up their their work and failing tests can have an emotional toll on them. For example, a child can begin to feel depressed or even develop a low self-esteem. Too much home can have physical effects as well. For example, with all their time spent on homework a child can begin to gain weight and become sleep deprived.
Parents are often expected to help their children with their homework. Even though most of them do not understand, have the necessary resources, or the time to help. This creates additional stress for the parents and the child. Homework is stressor for teachers as well. Teachers have to create lesson plans, tests, class assignments, and meet state standards. Making sure that each child completes and turn in their homework is an unnecessary

hassle.
Many education administrators would agree that homework helps children better themselves and the school. But the administrators are not the ones who have to deal with the negative effects. They don’t have to stay up late, or do research for hours, or try to explain why they don’t want to go to school today. Education administrators only care about two things: meeting state standards and government funding. A school that frequently fails to meet state standards will not be able to access grants and other forms of funding. Some teacher salaries are based on class test scores. But what education administrators fail to realize is that they cannot achieve either of those things without their students.
Homework was very popular in the past, but now society disagrees. Homework is an unnecessary burden that children are expected to complete. Even some parents have a hard time understanding how homework might benefit their child. The amount of homework assigned needs to lessened or eliminated altogether. Having no or less homework will allow children to participate in extracurricular activities and be less stressed.