Homework: Does It Do More Harm than good?
What does the word “homework” mean to you? To some kids when they hear that word they despise it. Everyone has tried to explain to students how important homework is. Homework is defined as an out of class task assigned to students to help them practice and prepare for their future, on top of the work they did in class that day. But what people don’t seem to understand is homework is more harmful than it is helpful. Homework can be very stressful and frustrating to the students. Too much stress can cause the students to get answers off their friend or internet instead of using up any more of their time trying to finish it. This will not benefit the students because they would not obtain the information from the homework, making the homework pointless. Teachers don’t seem to understand that their homework is not the only homework the students must do to turn in the next day. It can be very hard on the students to finish all assignments in one night. “It limits the amount of free time a student has; it affects a student’s social life, and it takes away time in which more productive things can get done.” (Homework: harmful or helpful, N.P.) Many students play sports, some more than one.
During sports, students have practices and games that can last for hours at a time. They don’t only have to juggle games, but also homework, which can be very time consuming. One assignment can take up to an hour to do. Students can be up until 11 or even midnight finishing homework. It hurts the amount of sleep they get, how attentive they are the next day, and how much they obtain during the long classes. Homework also causes students to stay in their room, and be less sociable with their family. Students who don’t get to spend time with their family, such as eating dinner with them, have a higher risk of depression than most students. Many other opinions on the matter, is that homework’s more helpful to students.
Homework is a part of every student’s schooling process. While it is stressful and time consuming, it helps prepare students for college. It helps in understanding the lesson taught that day and shows what the students comprehend and what they need a little more help on. Although the above things might be true, too much stress can cause students to not even attempt their homework which makes them fail that class. “The U.S.A has one of the lowest test scores in the whole world because the teachers give high amounts of homework.”(Homework, Good or Bad for You? N.P) This would be because students get so over whelmed with the amount that they give up entirely on homework. When it comes to test time, students are more likely to fail the test because they didn’t do their homework; they didn’t learn what they needed to acquire for the test, which lowers the test scores in every state. If it doesn’t help the students, and hurts test scores, what is the point of homework?
In conclusion, teachers give homework to students in hope of ensuring that students would absorb the concepts and theories of the subjects they are taught into full capacity. However, in many instances, students find homework as an unbearable pressure. For students, homework is a barrier for them to manage time and to relax. “From teachers’ point of view, homework is helpful to get an idea of how well students understand the material. On the other hand, from the parents’ and students’ point of view, homework is extremely stressful and time-consuming.” (Why Homework Is Bad, N.P) Therefore, homework is more harmful than helpful.
