By Elizabeth Flower
The Brownell Beat
Brownell MS
1st Place
MS Division, News Writing
Editorial
When most students get home, they aren’t rushing to the TV, reading a book, or just plain relaxing. Although they would like to do these things, they can’t, because these days kids and teenagers are stuck with the unnecessary burden of too much homework.
According to Australian researchers, too much homework can lower test scores. Many people agree that the homework that is given in each grade should increase 10 minutes, and that anything more is too much. For example, 1st graders should only get 10 minutes per night, 2nd grade 20 minutes, 3rd grade 30, and so on.
One study by a Stanford researcher says that if a kid has more than two hours of homework each night, it’s most likely counterproductive.
Countless studies have shown that when a child has too much homework, it can lead to unwanted stress, lower grades, sleep deprivation, and sometimes even depression.
Some teachers will give busywork, homework that takes up time while being completely non-productive, which keeps children busy. This busywork does nothing to improve grades or test scores.
Senior lecturer at Stanford University Denise Pope said, “Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good.”
Students will sacrifice sleep time to study more, or complete an assignment, which means that homework is making kids lose sleep time. In fact, if children and teens don’t get enough sleep, it might affect how they do on tests and quizzes, and they will have more trouble understanding material.
In 2002-2003, a study was made by the University of Michigan, and the conclusion was that students in the 2002-2003 school year had twice as much homework as kids in 1981-1982. The amount of homework that kids and teenagers have has changed so much since then. That, and the fact that if kids are spending so much time on homework, they don’t have time to do anything else that is fun and relaxing.
Sofia Ketels, 7th grader, says,”I think kids have too much homework. It’s a little like they (teachers) think we have no life.” Homework is a big cause of stress, it takes away sleep, and can lower grades. It’s okay to have some, but too much isn’t okay.
Yet after all the research and studies, the fact still remains that kids these days have too much homework.