Football. 4-H. Forensics. These are activities people want to be involved in but are unable to because of homework. Homework is studying or work done at home that is supposed to prepare students for future events. Schools are starting to give massive amounts of homework to students each night. Students are also receiving busy work, which is not beneficial to them at all. The amount of homework students are receiving is conflicting with their lives. Homework should be abolished in America’s schools because it prevents students from getting involved and increases the stress their levels; although some may say homework improves one’s academic performance, the time students spend with their family and friends is decreasing because of the excessive amounts of homework.
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To start, the vast amounts of homework prevents students from getting involved. Activities give students time to refresh their brains and get rid of any worries; however, some kids do not get that time because right when they get done with school, they go straight home to study. Students should not feel limited in what they can be involved in because of homework. They are already in school for the majority of the day, so they shouldn’t need to spend almost all of their time out of school doing homework. In a 2004 New York Times article, “When Homework Takes Over”, a mother of two whose children attended the Chappaqua schools in New York, stated,”We purposely don’t do much after school because of homework […] I didn’t want her to go to bed at 10 or 11” (Rosenberg). Further in the article it discussed how even some religious schools were backing down on offering extra curriculars due to the lack of time families face. The article stated, “Some Conservative Jewish congregations have scaled back their twice-a-week afternoon Hebrew school programs to once a week, because parents were reluctant to make that kind of time commitment for their children” (Rosenberg). Sadly, students then also face teachers telling them to get involved, but they make it hard for students to do so because of the homework overload. Some teachers even seem to forget about the homework students are getting from other teachers. If every teacher assigns something each night, the time needed to finish all those assignments adds up really fast. In addition, it is important for kids to get rest, and in order for them to get a good amount of sleep they need to eliminate something from their life: homework or extracurricular activities is usually the choice. Even if students are in an after-school activity, they still do not have time for bucket loads of homework each night. For example, if they are in track and field and have a track meet an hour away, they won’t get home until 9:30-10 o’clock. They will need to stay up exceptionally late to finish their assignments. The amount of sleep they will get will decrease. Teens are suppose to get between 9 and 9 ½ hours of sleep each night, but most students only get between 7 and 7 ¼ hours a night (“Sleep in Adolescents”). Sleep is very important for teens because they are growing and developing. If students don’t get much sleep, their performance the next day at school will not be good. So the homework did not benefit the kids at all. It actually made it harder for the students to focus and learn the next day because of their lack of sleep, which is caused by homework. Unfortunately, something has to give in the student’s life: sleep, extra activities, homework, or their lives. Homework, forces students to cut out extra activities. In order for students to lead a successful and stress free life, schools need to abolish homework. In our society, school is a top priority in life, but forcing students to do homework instead of exploring their talents and doing what they enjoy leads to stress.
Furthermore, the homework overload causes the stress levels of students to increase. In a recent article published online by Healthline.com the startling fact that “[m]ore than 70 percent of students said they were “often or always stressed over schoolwork,” with 56 percent listing homework as a primary stressor. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor” (Levy and Mills; “Infographic: How Does Homework…”). Kids should not be getting stressed at this young of an age. Symptoms of stress include headaches, sleeping problems, depression, stomach problems, and weight loss (“Infographic: How Does Homework…”). In the same article it was found that “[m]ore than 80 percent of students have had least one stress-related symptom in the past month, and 44 percent said they had experienced three or more symptoms” (Levy and Mills). Believe it or not, homework, and the stress that comes with it, can cause students to get involved in illegal activities to make them feel better. Two thirds of students use alcohol and drugs to deal with stress. What’s even more terrifying is that the age that homework stress is affecting students is lowering, some as low as kindergarten. Students are given more homework than recommended, some even three times more than they are suppose to. Some teachers give homework that can be very time consuming and not beneficial, also known as busy work. This just stresses out students even more. They spend long late nights trying to get their work done. The household goes crazy because the parent’s don’t know how to do the assignments, so they are no help (“The Truth About Homework…”). Homework should be abolished because it will decrease the number of students that are stressed, and it will also allow students to spend more time with family and friends.
Although some may say homework improves one’s academic performance, the time students spend with family and friends is decreasing because of homework. Homework affects family meal time, family vacations, down time, free time, and intrudes on weekends. Eating with family members is a valuable thing. It is a time one can share their day with their family. Not as many families eat together because of homework (Rosenberg). Families want to take vacations, but they aren’t able to because students can’t miss school, or they will get even more behind on homework. Parents are very busy with work, so they value family time. Kids never have that extra time though because of all their homework (Rosenberg). A lot of teachers think it is a good idea to give homework over the weekend so students have a lot of time to work on it. NO! Weekends are suppose to be a time for students to hang with friends and go to the movies or go visit their grandparents. Students’ brains need a break. Instead, students have to worry about studying and finishing their worksheets. They don’t have time to go out and meet new people either. Nothing is more important than family and friends. Sadly, schools have made homework a priority over family and friends. Getting rid of homework would allow students to strengthen their bonds with family and friends.
In the end, homework should be eliminated in all the schools in the United States because students are not able to get as involved in extracurricular activities because of homework. Homework also causes kids to be very stressed. While some may say homework improves one’s academic performance, it decreases the amount of time students get to spend with their family and friends. If we do not abolish homework, students lives will continue to be affected negatively. We want everyone to have the best life possible. To start they need to eliminate homework from students lives.
Works Cited
- “Infographic: How Does Homework Actually Affect Students?” Oxford Learning, 16 June 2017, www.oxfordlearning.com/how-does-homework-affect-students/.
- Levy, Sandra, and David Mills. “Why Homework Is Bad: Stress and Consequences.” Edited by Jenna Flannigan, Healthline, Healthline Media, 11 Apr. 2017, www.healthline.com/health-news/children-more-homework-means-more-stress-031114#1.
- Rosenberg, Merri. “When Homework Takes Over.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Apr. 2004, www.nytimes.com/2004/04/18/nyregion/when-homework-takes-over.html.
- “Sleep in Adolescents.” Nationwide Children’s Hospital, www.nationwidechildrens.org/specialties/sleep-disorder-center/sleep-in-adolescents.
- “The Truth About Homework Stress: What You Need to Know.” Mellowed, 9 Mar. 2019, mellowed.com/homework-stress/.
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