Imagine just coming home from a long and tiring day of school. Instead of stopping for a snack, getting a drink, watching TV or going outside, you go directly to your room and start on your homework. For about an hour you do your work nonstop, stopping only for a quick snack, after another two hours you finally have time for a break. But just when you think that your day of work is over, you go to piano practice for a one hour lesson. After arriving home you have dinner with your parents and/or siblings then finally, sleep. This is an average weekday for a middle or high school student in 2010. The topic of homework has created a conflict with one side saying there should be homework while the other says it is necessary. This homework overload needs to stop; kids need exercise, fun and a social life. We need to find a better way to keep kids on the path to success because there is too much homework, which takes away the students social life and make the student not want to learn. It's because of these reasons that homework should be decreased or abolished altogether.
Homework is causing a conflict for many students as it has accumulated over the years to a point where many students are overwhelmed. Since 1981 the amount of time spent on homework has increased by almost four hours totaling to almost 5 hours a week for a second grader, this amount of work is too much homework for one night. Studies have shown that homework in small amounts is more effective than doing none (Tim Herloff, 2). But when will there be a limit, doing too much surely can't be good for you either, well said by Claudia Wallis, 'Too much homework brings diminishing returns. Cooper's analysis of dozens of studies found that kids who do some homework in middle and high school score somewhat better on standardized tests, but doing more than 60 to 90 min. a night in middle school and more than 2 hr. in high school is associated with, gulp, lower scores' (Claudia Wallis, 1). One solution to the home work overload is the ''10-minute rule' created by Duke University psychology professor Harris Cooper. The rule, endorsed by the National PTA and the National Education Association, says kids should get 10 minutes of homework a night per grade. A first grader would have 10 minutes of homework each night; a fifth grader 50 minutes' (The Associated Press, 1). This solution gives a reasonable amount of homework that get progressively more demanding without becoming to tedious. With this reasonable amount of homework, kids have time for other activities such as sports and going outside with their friends. A few schools have already adapted the '10-minute rule' and I think that more schools should because it gives students less to work on while still making sure they understand the work that they are doing in class.
Secondly, homework should be lessened because of the social consequences. ''I don't believe that there's any use for it,' said Harris, of Federal Way, Wash. 'I think that's a complete waste of childhood'' (The Associated Press, 1). Whatever happened to playing with your friends after school? Because of the recent increase in homework kids have less time to play with friends, exercise and go outside. What happened to childhood? Since when was it ok to make children do loads of pointless work when they could be outside. Researchers found 'That children also need time to be children - to play. They need time to learn to get along with their friends. Some parents complain that today's busy children are unable to take part in after-school activities such as sports, youth groups, and church activities' (Tim Herloff, 1). In a recent study children who did physical interactions while learning did '1.3% better on reading achievement tests,' than another non-physical group (Tim Herloff, 2). So, based on this data, instead of doing repetitive and tedious work you should do enjoyable and physical work in order to do better on tests. Also, instead of extra homework teachers should assign less homework for more time to spend with friends.
Lastly, homework should be decreased because of the negative attitude it causes children to have towards education. Nancy Kalish said, on the topic of how her daughter has too much homework, that, 'The worst part: hearing my previously enthusiastic learner repeatedly swear how much she hated school' (Nancy Kalish, 1). When a kid starts to get too much homework it diminishes their drive towards learning. Instead of increasing their knowledge it actually makes them want to learn less about the topic that they have the home work in. In most cases the homework also leads to a poor relationship with parents, due to unfinished homework and arguments. In a Time Magazine article the writer says how homework actually decreases the child's interest in learning, ''It's one thing to say we are wasting kids' time and straining parent-kid relationships,' Kohn told me, 'but what's unforgivable is if homework is damaging our kids' interest in learning, undermining their curiosity'' (Claduia Wallis, 1). All of this homework is bogging down students and causing poor attitudes to both school and family life. If schools were to cut down on the amount of home work that they gave students then it would improve their family and school life. If schools gave less homework it would make learning more effective for students because they would actually listen to the teacher instead of dreading the amount of homework that they would be given.
In conclusion, homework is unnecessary because of amount of it and the negative effects it has on the students' social life and their attitude towards school. With the amount of homework that teachers are assigning it's no wonder why students' grades and test scores are dropping. Homework also cause kids to have poor social skills due to the amount of time spent doing it. Lastly homework is one of the main causes that kids don't pay attention in school in the first place. If homework was abolished or even just cut down all of these things and more would not be a problem and kids would enjoy life a whole lot more.
Work Cited
The Associated Press. 'Too much homework? Parents, schools seek balance.' http://www.usatoday.com/. USA Today, 2009. Web. 20 Dec. 2010. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-07-20-homework_N.htm>.
Claudia Wallis. 'The Myth About Homework.' www.time.com. TIME Magazine, 29 Aug. 2006. Web. 20 Dec. 2010. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1376208,00.html?internalid=AOT_h_08-27-2006_the_myth_about_>.
Math and Reading Help For Kids. 'How Much Homework is reasonable?' www.math-and-reading-help-for-kids.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2010. <http://math-and-reading-help-for-kids.org/articles/How_Much_Homework_is_Reasonable%3F.html>.
Nancy Kalish. 'Is Too Much Homework Bad For Kids?' www.parenting.com. Parenting Magazine, n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2010. <http://www.parenting.com/article/Child/Work--Family/The-Less-Homework-Revolution>.
Tim Herloff. 'American kids spend more time than ever on homework. Will their hard work pay off?' www.powayusd.com. Poway USD, n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2010. <http://www.powayusd.com/admin/lss/teacher-resources/testing_resources/Poway%20Unified%20Assessments/District%20Prompts%20and%20Anchors/Writing/Prompt/Grade%205%20Homework.pdf>.
