Too Much Homework Is Bad Essay

Hearing a teacher say “You have homework” is at the top of the list of “statements students do not want to hear.” The amount of homework that students have had over the years has increased in hours since homework became standard practice in 1905, around the same time formal school was created. An average highschool student today is given four to six hours in one night, limiting how much time they can spend with family and being active. Homework is harmful to students.

To begin with, students are given too much homework. To explain, according the article “Too Much Homework!”, “9 year olds to 11 year olds spent an average of 2 hours and 49 minutes in homework each week” (1). This is in addition to the forty hours students spend in school during

the week. Even adults are expected to work only an average forty hours work week, not forty-three hours. In addition, author Vicki Haddock states, “too much homework assignments are dull, uninspired affairs that have little academic value. Students would be better served pursuing their own intellectual interests at home” (2). This demonstrates that many homework assignments are too boring for most students to the point that a student will be better off pursuing interests on their own. Finally, author Vicki Haddock mentions, ”Homework assignments are generally unchallenging ‘drill’ exercises or little or no academic value” (1). This shows that homework often uninterests students because the homework is not challenging enough for the liking of most students.
To continue, with the growing amount of homework, children are being pulled away from spending time doing other activities and time to spending with family. “Excessive homework prevented children from spending time outdoors, playing in the sun” (Haddock 3). This demonstrates that too much homework leaves students cooped up indoors without any access to the outside unless their homework is finished. Vicki Haddock announces, ”Most students receive too much homework, which prevents their pursuit of other interests” (1). This exemplifies that although homework helps an adolescent learn, it also deprives them from being able to pursue other interests such as music or sports. Finally, the article “Homework Stress” states, “[Student’s] parents have argued that heavy loads of homework leave kids little time for other activities” (1). This shows that even parents are arguing that homework is stealing the time away from children to do other activities. The amount of homework that is given is defeating the term used by parents to go outside and play. Homework is destroying any free time a student may or may not have. A question may be, does homework really help students learn? If someone would ask a student, their answer would probably be no.
Finally, homework has become unhealthy for many students across America.

Vicki Haddock states, “Enforced homework assignments not only do not help children learn, opponents contend, but also largely destroy their love of learning!” (2). This explains, homework does not help students learn but instead, kills any love of learning a student could of had at one point. “The memorization exercises that comprised most of the era’s homework assignments were characterized as a dire threat to children’s mental health” (Haddock 3). This exemplifies, homework is a threat to mental and physical health of a student, causing stress or depression. Students care a lot about grades, but if there is an outrageous amount of homework, a student can lose hope for everything involving school and grades. Finally, “The now-defunct American Child Association joined the campaign against homework, posting that homework was one of the leading causes of tuberculosis and heart disease among U.S. youths.” (Haddock 3) This demonstrates, homework has been proven to cause diseases in U.S. youths. Homework is a hazard to a student's health, but teachers still give it out anyway. Soon no one will ever want to go to school because of the outrageous homework piles handed

out.
To wrap up, many opponents may say that the amount of homework is fine. In the article written by Vicki Haddock, the fact is presented, “polling data shows that most parents do not think their children are overburdened with homework” (5). Also, an opponent may say, “According to a January 2006 AP-AOL poll, a majority of teachers [63%] and parents [57%] believe that the amount of homework assigned to students is just right” (Haddock 5). This statement is wrong no matter what poll it came from because students are given far too much homework. Homework causes stress on students and has been considered unhealthy. “Opponents say that many homework assignments can be unhealthy, since they can cause stress, which has been shown to lead to obesity and depression in many adolescents” (“Homework and Social Class” 1) This demonstrates that even some adults agree that homework has led to stress and depression in many adolescents. There has been a long debate over the issue of homework but no one is trying to cut down on amounts that students are given. Vicki Haddock explains, “Along with the debate over the amount of homework U.S. students receive, there is an equally continuous debate over the effect of homework on the minds of children. Does homework help or harm students from an academic standpoint?” (7). No. Homework does not help students from an academic standpoint. It is just another grade that a student has to worry about. Some students may forget to do their homework one night and that would cause the student to have a zero for the day. It would be easier for teachers if students did not have to do homework so they did not have yet another paper to grade.
To conclude, many people believe that homework is harmful to students of all age groups. Reason being, homework prevents students from many activities, students are given far too much homework, and homework can become unhealthy to mental and physical health. The distribution of homework can stop forever if people just convince those that are all for homework that homework is harmful to adolescents.