Piled High: The Mountains of Homework
Over the centuries, the classroom has kept the same scenario with rows of desks lined up facing the board, teachers giving lessons, and students doing their work.
Nonetheless, as time has gone on, school has become more difficult, and students often have to take the work they have been assigned home. By the end of the school day, the amount of homework given is piled high, essentially burying the students. Many Investigators of homework assert there is too much homework. Others believe there is a reasonable amount, while some say that students need more.In the article “Should Schools Be Done With Homework?” proponent Edward Graham insists that scholars are overwhelmed with the amount of homework assigned every day.
Opposers, such as Monica Fuglei, argue that homework is more beneficial than media. Although there are many opinions on the matter, it is hard to overlook the negative effect on students’ health, the issues homework brings up in the home, and how little homework is helping. Homework can make students stress levels sky rocket, affecting their health. So, why is homework being assigned? Critic Denise Pope, a researcher at Stanford University, found that homework can negatively affect students by, “increasing stress and sleep deprivation and generally leaving less time for family, friends, and activities. According to Pope, homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice” (Graham, 10). Her study shows that because of homework, kids are under a lot of pressure, and it shows us that it’s gotten so bad it is affecting their health.
Another opposer, Alfie Kohn, contends, “There are simply no compelling data to justify the practice of making kids work what amounts to a second shift when they get home from a full day of school.” Kohn goes on to say, “Teachers who do assign it need to have a very compelling reason for extending a student’s school day” (Graham, para ?) This expert understands the risk of a second shift, for students’ health are affected. Based on this evidence, homework should not be handed out like it is; furthermore, homework doesn’t only affect their health, it affects their relationship with the family. Home is where the family lives, but homework can make things difficult in the home. When the student does not understand a problem and seeks help, the typical, “undereducated parents really believe that their children are supposed to be able to do the homework, therefore, their children must be doing something else during school.
“(Wallace; Donaldson-Pressman, 13).This creates much unneeded stress in the home, especially when the child really paid attention in class and did their best. These issues cause the child’s “safe-haven” to be ruined and makes them feel stupid and alone. Not only does homework cause all of these issues, but homework might not even be benefiting the student. Homework is supposed to help the student remember what they have been taught at school; however, a 2006 analysis found that time spent on homework was much stronger in secondary schools.
Another study in 2012 found, “no relationship between time spent on homework and grades,” (Wallace, 9) critics of homework argued that homework had no effect on a student’s grade, or even how well a child did in school. Defenders, like Tammy Linder, claim, “Students have not had that daily homework practice in any subject that keeps concepts ‘alive’ and moving in their brains, so that means that much of the practice time and teaching time and testing time had to come during the class time each day.” She also contends, “teachers have not had the amount of teaching time they usually need to enforce classroom lessons and concepts. With the heavyfocus on standardized testing already in schools, losing precious out-of-school homework time drastically diminishes how long teachers can devote to thoroughly covering a given subject,” (Graham; Linder, 16). Advocate Monica Fuglei stated in the article, “The Homework Debate: How Homework Benefits Students,” that homework allows parents to interact with their children and get involved with their education; nonetheless, she fails to mention the tension homework can bring into the relationship.
Wallace contradicts this statement explaining parents tend to accuse their children of not listening to the lesson when they ask for help leading to fights and arguments. Pryor-Johnson claimed, “four qualities children develop when they complete homework that can help them become high-achieving students: 1. Responsibility 2. Time Management 3. Perseverance 4.
Self-esteem,” all of this is true, but at what risk to students take by doing this? Responsible students will stay up for countless hours to get in an assignment on time. Their time is managed, but they have over 2.5 hours of homework combined with other activities. Perseverance is defined as a steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success, showing just how much they would risk their health to be “successful.” Self-esteem is another thing that homework can bring up, but also tear down.
Another proponent points out, “NYU and Duke professors refute the idea that homework is unrelated to student success.” Homework may benefit some students; on the contrary, Researchers at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education found in a 2012 study that homework did not correlate to better student grades. As you can see the few positives of homework found by advocates can all be refuted with a negative showing us that students are getting bombarded with too much homework. In conclusion, homework isn’t a beneficial factor for students, so we should make no homework the new norm. With the amount of homework given each day, it is no wonder why students have such negative affections towards school. When teachers hand out homework to students, they are not stopping to consider just how much these packets of paper may be affecting the student.
With all the conflicts brought on by homework, health, issues in the home, and no progress provided, it makes people wonder what type of person would continue handing out these packets of issues. Are you going to be the type of person willing to risk the health of others to show no progress at all, or are you going to do what’s right and climb on top of the mountain of homework to destroy it?
