What is an agreeable amount of homework for a high school student? A student might say one hour, a teacher would say three. However, neither of these ideal amounts of homework are correct as far more is given every night. Teachers do believe that this helps the student to learn on a deeper level, but it instead stresses out students on a deeper level. Because health issues, excessive stress, and loss of interest in the learning experience result from overworked high school students, school need to limit the amount of homework given to their students.
Excessive stress in high school students is a concerning outcome that results from an excess of work from school. Sixteen year old student Bretta McCall, who has had her fair share of homework, says, “Academic stress has been a part of my life ever since I can remember. This year I spend twelve hours a day on schoolwork. I’m home right now because I was feeling so sick from stress I could not stay at school.” (MindShift) Because McCall is a high school student herself, she knows first-hand what it is like to deal with overly excessive amounts of work and stress. McCall deals with twelve or more hours spent working on schoolwork, which is more than any full-time job expects. The purpose of high school is to prepare teenagers for the dedication required to maintain a full or part-time job. However, like McCall, many students are forced to work more hours than that of an actual job. The students are overworked and overstressed, which leaves them with health issues that make them feel sick. Mary Alvord is a clinical psychologist in Maryland and public educator coordinator for the American Psychological Association. As a professional on the subject, she says, “A little stress ...
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...work they hand out in order to save students and find an agreeable amount that actually benefits the student to help them learn.
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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...
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To begin with, high expectations from family, friends, and academics beside family issues are two of the most common causes of teenage stress. Let’s begin with the high expectations issue. Some parents might not understand that putting an excessive amount of pressure on a teen to be perfect will damage their self-esteem. It results in stress called “Hyperstress which occurs when an individual is pushed beyond what he or she can handle” (“Teen Stress-Types”). Parents need to avoid setting impractical expectations. For instance, straight A’s for several kids may not be easily attained, instead they should decide to try for A’s and B’s with noth...
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There is not one college student who has not experienced stress in at least one of their classes. The constant reminder of failing an assignment or not finishing one is enough to cause stress in anybody. The big issue though is how students overcome this stress. A survey funded by the Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development in Europe was conducted to determine how students are coping with school stress. This survey was performed in the United States and Switzerland. It was discovered that “An estimated 35–50% of college and university students drop out prematurely due to insufficient coping skills under chronic stress, while 85% of students receiving a psychiatric diagnosis withdraw from college/university prior to the completion of their education” (Mohr et al.). College students are finding help to their massive amounts of stress by ending their college career all together. Some students are even developing other mental illnesses from not getting help with their stress like anxiety, depression, and even suicide (Sharma and Tripathi). These students are so unstable that they cannot even function properly because of their stress and what it has caused them. Families are taking their loved ones out of college because the student needs significant help. The amount of stress that a college student experiences is unreal. This stress does not have an exact source but instead multiple sources leading to various consequences like taking a life or developing a mental
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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 ...
Are the new standards and expectations the world has for teenagers really creating monsters? The amount of stress that is put on students these days between trying to balance school, homework, extra curricular activities, social lives, sleep and a healthy lifestyle is being considered a health epidemic (Palmer, 2005). Students are obsessing over getting the grades that are expected of them to please those that push them, and in return, lose sleep and give up other aspects of their lives that are important to them, such as time with friends and family, as well as activities that they enjoy. The stress that they endure from the pressures of parents, teachers, colleges, and peers has many physical as well as mental effects on every student, some more harmful than others. The extreme pressure on students to get perfect grades so that they will be accepted into a college has diminished the concept of actually learning and has left the art of “financing the system” in order to succeed in its place (Palmer, 2005).
The topic of homework has throughout the years been frowned upon, laughed at, and even downplayed leading to the question if homework is beneficial or detrimental to students worldwide. Educators have conducted studies to show that these questions are not as simple to answer, but are quite complex. There are many factors that affect student success. Even though most parents and teachers agree that some homework is essential, problematic questions remain: Does homework actually increase students ' academic achievement? How much homework is necessary?
As long as there has been school, homework and the amount of it has been a controversy among teachers, parents, and students. All across America, the average school day for children ranges from the lowest number of hours being 6.24 to the highest number of hours being 7.17. Large amounts of homework assigned after that many hours in school could inadvertently turn the student away from wanting to learn, and even the ability to learn, and