For many American students, the regular school day does not end after the last bell. In addition to the normal school hours, club duties, school sports, and community service events, students will often spend hours a night completing their daily assignments and projects. Long a tradition in the United States, homework has become a burden to students of all grade levels. In particular, high-school students face severe pressure and anxiety to be accepted into a good college or university, and homework presents a large burden on top of all the extracurricular activities. Instead of playing outside, socializing with friends, or spending quality family time, students are sacrificing important childhood activities and memories for homework. Since …show more content…
In many cases, homework fails to effectively teach students and creates greater strain by increasing the amount of work and producing a variety of health-related issues. Much of the homework system in America has become outdated and produces more negative effects than beneficial. Across the nation, homework has become an outdated method of teaching that fails to accommodate students and their hectic schedules. A typical high school student will have five different academic classes, and a lack of coordination and communication between teachers may lead to hours of work assigned each day. Many teachers fail to realize that students have other activities and subjects to study for outside of their classroom. According to Joseph Simplicio in his article, “Homework in the 21st Century: The Antiquated and Ineffectual Implementation of a Time Honored Educational Strategy”, a “problem inherent to homework lies in the fact that because daily routines are so overcrowded, students often complete their assignments in haste”. Due to the amount of homework students are assigned …show more content…
Throughout grade school, parents, teacher, and counselors will drill into students the idea that attending college is necessary. They sprout magical claims that the college or university path will be any student’s ticket to success. In order to follow this path, students must compete with their peers for the limited spots available in the very best colleges. In many cases, schools do not simply focus on just academics and GPA in their admissions process; instead, many universities adopt a holistic review of their students that also takes into account club participation, volunteer work, sports, leadership roles, and other extracurricular activities. With everything that a student must do in order to secure a spot in a good college or university, homework overloads a student’s schedule. A solution to this issue would be to adjust the amount of homework that a student is given daily or to adjust assignments to allow more critical thinking and meaningful learning. Homework also should not act as busywork that students “take home to show their parents something is happening at school” (Lacina-Gifford, Lorna J. and Russell B. Gifford). The tradition of assigning homework has, in many cases, transformed into an elaborate display in order to appease parents. Unable to grasp the idea that children also learn from
From the beginning of high school, students strap on their seatbelts and prepare for one of the most vigorous races of their lives – becoming successful. With the rare occurrence of a break, kids are expected to keep on driving as fast and as powerfully as they can in order to get into a “great” college, which would be followed by graduate school and then an actual job that would make a lot of money. In American society, common values include working hard, determination, and being so productive that free time is not even a question. However, this philosophy is taking a major toll on American college and high school students. For at least 40 years, America’s future has been steadily growing unmotivated, tired, and hopeless due to the overemphasis on performing well in school. This phenomenon is appropriately expounded in William Zinsser’s “College Pressures”, which takes a look at the top four sources of tension that cause these feelings of dejection and agitation. After reading this article, I came up with a few solutions to this national problem. It is time to switch the harsh, over-encouraging green light of education to a comfortable yellow one. In order to make this ideal transition, directors of education across the country need to primarily reduce the amount of out-of-class assignments, lighten the grading system, and incorporate days in the school year that allow students to express their thoughts about school and provide useful feedback.
"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.
There have been so many studies recently that talk about how homework has started to become more burdensome for more students. The United States has gone from teaching to shoving homework in kids’ faces to keep them on the idea that school is always there. Classes have been extended from 45 minutes each day to an hour and a half. This was supposed to allow students work time at the end of classes and get help when needed. Instead, teachers lecture from beginning to end. This gives no time for students to get the help they need when can’t come in any other time. The rationale has changed in America that doing more, always means doing better. This, however, can be the downfall to anything. There can’t be homework assigned just for busy work, that becomes a waste of time. The homework needs to be assigned as a thoughtful way to engage students, so they know what is being
“The typical student, even in high school does not spend more than an hour per day on homework” (Loveless NP). However, there is an ongoing dispute between critics on whether a lot of homework has more negative effects than positive effects, and vice versa. Homework is the greatest tool for student success, whether they realize it or not, homework is the key to success, it may not be to fun, but it has many positive effects. Homework improves academic success, it develops non-school skills, and it helps involve parents.
In conclusion, homework is a waste of time. Time that can be better spent is with family and having fun participating in extracurricular activities. Eliminating homework allows students the reward of free time and the invaluable time spent with family. Homework creates unnecessary stress and strain for parents and students alike. Also, homework allows teachers to pawn off their own teaching responsibilities to students and parents with hours of homework. Homework is not beneficial and it should be banned for students Kindergarten thru 8th grade.
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...
Research shows that being in school for seven hours a day is enough and homework does not have an extremely noticeable impact besides in stress and obesity. Students being stuck behind a desk for seven hours then being stuck behind a table for a few more is not healthy. Stress is a leading factor to getting depression, and depression can be a lifelong battle. Overwhelming students with homework now could have a bad impact on the rest of their lives. Students spend enough time in school and don’t need the unnecessary stress added on when they get out of school for the day.
Dr. Michael Nagel, an associate professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast, says homework has no scientific benefit and that it could even be bad for a student’s brain. “The adult brain does not fully mature until the third decade of life (a person’s thirty’s) and too much stimulation could cause unnecessary stress on a student.” An analysis conducted by Pearson showed that the number of hours spent on homework was between ten and sixty-five hours a week, with females scoring higher on the hours of homework, stres...
In closing, I want to reiterate that homework is an important piece in your student's education. It allows for additional practice of skills introduced and taught during school hours. Successful students are able to manage their time and nightly homework helps to prepare students for life after high
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 ...
Have you ever wondered why teachers give homework? Here’s why they do! Teachers give homework because it helps us learn more. They give homework to help our brains grow and develop. Children need homework because it helps them stay focused even when they’re not at school. Homework sets children up to manage their time and plan out study schedules. Most people think teachers shouldn’t give students homework because the students have to work all day at school. And the students are already tired from doing work at school. And not only do students have to keep up with classwork but then they have to keep up with homework to and they also have to able to keep up with both classwork and their homework. And getting the habit of doing work and then
Homework has been around as long as parents have demanded it and just as long has it been a topic of heated debate. For instance, some people are hopelessly enslaved to the idea that the amount of homework assigned in a particular subject directly determines the rigor of a course, or the installation of a strong work ethic through worksheets and packets galore is the only way to accomplish such feats; both of which have stained the attitudes towards homework and have shifted the focus away from homework’s primary objective—to learn! In short, teachers deliver it unquestionably; students complete it involuntarily, and unbeknownst, parents support it (Jackson 57).
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
Homework has been around since the establishment of the first schools located in the original thirteen colonies. Every student understands what it means when a teacher assigns homework; it usually means hours of the student’s free time spent on school work and not enough time to spend with their friends or even with their families. Many teachers have the mind set that homework allows students to practice the subject they learned in class. Recently, researchers have found evidence to show that homework has caused more trouble than help to students. Homework should be substantially reduced because of the physical, social, and academic deficiencies it has brought to students.
To start off, too much homework can be a huge time consuming monster. With what some students do after school, there simply isn’t enough time to