Education is an essential element in the lives of young people. Without the opportunity to attend school daily and gain the necessary skills, they may face lifelong challenges. Yet, despite the importance of learning, it is equally critical for children to take breaks from their academic work. Research has shown that excessive homework can lead to a lack of sleep, overwhelming stress, and subsequent health issues for students. We will now explore why we shouldn’t have homework and the negative impacts that homework can have on students. Additionally, seeking help from a literature review writing service can alleviate some of the pressures associated with extensive assignments. We will now explore why we shouldn’t have homework and the negative impacts that homework can have on students.
1. Homework is a cause of stress
Research suggests that excessive homework, especially for younger students, may result in detrimental stress levels. When overwhelmed with too much schoolwork both in the classroom and at home, children may experience stress and anxiety because they are unable to complete their assignments on time. Although classroom learning is essential, students should also have opportunities to explore other interests beyond school.
Impact on Health
Many students have reported that excessive homework has led to reduced sleep and various health issues such as headaches, fatigue, sleep disturbances, weight loss, and stomach issues. Among the 10 reasons why students should not have homework, a significant number of students have reported a shortage of time to participate in activities outside of school. A vast majority (72%) felt regularly stressed by school assignments, with 82% experiencing one or more stress-related physical symptoms in the past month; 44% had three or more symptoms.
It has been observed that students are getting less sleep than eight or nine hours per night, as recommended for healthy adolescent development by the National Sleep Foundation, with an average of only 6.80 hours on school nights. Schoolwork obstructs sufficient sleep for 68% of students and impedes 63% from spending quality time with family and friends. Moreover, 61% have had to give up activities they enjoyed due to their academic load.
2. Homework is burdensome
Another argument against assigning homework to students is the need for them to have downtime to relax and decompress from the demands of school. Young learners, especially those in kindergarten, often return home exhausted after a day filled with challenging mathematics, extensive reading, and the task of memorizing lengthy passages. Overloading these tired children with additional work at home can lead to exhaustion and burnout.
3. Homework may become counterproductive
Instead of enhancing students’ academic success, an excessive amount of homework can detrimentally impact their performance. The pressure to finish assignments consistently can impede their school accomplishments. This is why homework is bad. While classroom learning is essential for students, it is equally important for them to engage in other pursuits beyond school, such as participating in different activities, spending quality time with peers, and enjoying family trips, among others.
4. Homework doesn’t guarantee educational value
Despite teachers’ efforts to provide children with homework that captivates their interest, it can be difficult to recognize its worth when parents or tutors end up completing these tasks for them. Consequently, the educational advantages that homework is supposed to offer are completely lost. Furthermore, the overwhelming amount of homework assigned may result in a child not dedicating the appropriate amount of time to each assignment as needed.
5. Homework consumes too much time
Why should students not have homework on the weekends? They need to have enough free time to spend with family, socialize with peers, and participate in after-school programs for mental and physical rejuvenation. Unfortunately, homework assignments may consume all the precious time they have for these activities. For adolescents, academic responsibilities may clash with part-time or intermittent jobs, challenging their ability to maintain an equilibrium between educational commitments and employment.
Final Thoughts
Here are five reasons why homework could be harmful to your child. Numerous studies indicate that homework has adverse impacts on the lives of students, affecting various aspects of their well-being. Leisure time is crucial for nurturing creativity and emotional growth, elements that are just as essential for achievement as education is.
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Finland abolished homework for children in primary school. Finland has one of the world’s most highly ranked education systems.
I am a teacher and I say cut the homework crap. For many reasons. The parents or bigger brothers and sisters end up doing the homework because most times teachers are giving children work that even they do not know where to look for answers.
Parents are also stuck with hours of doing ‘homework’ after a full day of hard work. They are helping with projects that most times have little to no relevance. They are spending money on projects that their children have to take to school. Too many times the homework is not even reviewed nor graded by the teacher.
Some students do best because they have a fullyloaded computer at home, a tablet, a room to themselves where they can work in peace and quiet, and just in case, Mom and Dad who have the time to do the work while their kids play video games.
A high grade is given for this homework and this goes to the end of term/year final total. Result is child does very little, but ends up with a high grade. Mark him promoted and one trip to Disneyworld coming up.
While we’re at it, LET’S GET RID OF THE END OF TERM EXAMS.
Most times only the last things given in the class end up being tested.
Testing should only be for practical subjects. Students are no longer learning by memory.
Let’s get real, children aren’t bright anymore. But they don’t care about that. They are just more savvy.
After school learning, especially from the same teacher in the classroom, is big business.
Some teachers save their energy for the extra pay sessions. There is very little individualized teaching. Just an extension of the classroom sessions. Most times the kids are tired of sitting in a classroom all day and all they want to do is go and play.
BTW, too many high priced private schools are attracting low quality teachers, paying them chicken feed wages and expecting parents to hire tutors.
It’s a vicious learning cycle out there. Sad thing is most of what gets learned don’t worth a sh-t.
Homework is necessary because spaced repetition is needed for the brain to properly store and retrieve information over long periods of time. Having one class on a topic at school is not enough. There are not enough hours for that spaced repetition to happen at school alone unless you want students to be at school all day everyday, which would lead to some of the same and other problems listed e.g. lack of time for social activities.
Kids have plenty of time to socialize and do a little homework actually. They often leave their homework for the last minute that’s why they end up going to sleep late.
They should be encouraged to manage their time more effectively. But, teachers should discuss with one another to ensure that students are not overwhelmed with too much homework in one grade level.
Parents should understand that homework should mostly be done by the child not the parent to help the child’s brain learn the information. The purpose of homework is not just to finish something to please the teacher or for marks. The child should have the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them without penalty. So, I don’t think homework should be for marks.
Secondly, homework helps students to get personal attention that can help them to understand things they didn’t quite get in class. There are too many students for teachers to always be able to identify what the exact problem is for each child. I let my child do his own homework and I check it along the way or after. Sometimes e.g. for Math he knows how to do the work but didn’t understand the question. So, it can be a language problem not a math problem really. Sometimes the new methods they use in schools these days are actually confusing to the students. I teach him the simple approach from the past. He understands that and then he understands what they are trying to say in the new textbooks. Sometimes he keeps making the same simple mistake so I have him practice that one step a few times until he gets it and the rest of the topic is then easy. When parents take the time to sit with their child, they can help the child in ways the teacher can’t. So, homework gives parents an opportunity to make sure their child is on track.
When the kids are older some parents might not feel comfortable with certain topics so they can hire a tutor for a while. A good tutor should help the child to fix underlying issues and learn tips and tricks to become more independently capable so eventually they don’t need a tutor not try to keep them coming back forever.
Also, places like Finland have a totally different social system. E.g. they have very high taxes. So, their schools would be well stocked with supplies and they probably have smaller student to teacher ratios so the students can be helped more in class. We can’t just copy one part of someone else’s system such as no homework and expect it to work well.
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