The Homework Revolution | Teen Ink

The Homework Revolution MAG

June 12, 2009
By SpaceKing800 GOLD, Glen Rock, New Jersey
SpaceKing800 GOLD, Glen Rock, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 228 comments

Favorite Quote:
"We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but is somewhat beauty and poetry"- Maria Mitchell


A young girl sits at her desk, reviewing her homework assignments for the evening. English: read three chapters and write a journal response. Math: complete 30 problems, showing all work. Science: do a worksheet, front and back. French: study vocabulary for tomorrow's test. It's going to be a long night.

This describes a typical weeknight for students across the country. Now is the time to start a homework revolution.

Do students in the United States receive too much homework? According to guidelines endorsed by the National Education Association (NEA), a student should be assigned no more than 10 minutes per grade level per night. For example, a first grader should only have 10 minutes of homework, a second grader, 20 minutes, and so on. This means that a student in my grade – seventh – should have no more than 70 minutes of work each night. Yet this is often doubled, sometimes even tripled!

There are negatives to overloading students. Have you ever heard of a child getting sick because of homework? According to William Crain, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at City College of New York and the author of Reclaiming Childhood, “Kids are developing more school-related stomachaches, headaches, sleep problems, and depression than ever before.” The average student is glued to his or her desk for almost seven hours a day. Add two to four hours of homework each night, and they are working a 45- to 55-hour week!

In addition, a student who receives excessive homework “will miss out on active playtime, essential for learning social skills, proper brain development, and warding off childhood obesity,” according to Harris Cooper, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University.

Everybody knows that teachers are the ones who assign homework, but they do not deserve all the blame. “Many teachers are under greater pressure than ever before,” says Kylene Beers, president of the National Council for Teachers of English and the author of When Kids Can't Read What Teachers Can Do. “Some of it comes from parents, some from the administration and the desire for high scores on standardized tests.” Teachers who are under pressure feel the need to assign more homework. But why aren't teachers aware of the NEA homework recommendations? Many have never heard of them, have never taken a course about good versus bad homework, how much to give, and the research behind it. And many colleges of education do not offer specific training in homework. Teachers are just winging it.

Although some teachers and parents believe that assigning a lot of homework is beneficial, a Duke University review of a number of studies found almost no correlation between homework and long-term achievements in elementary school and only a moderate correlation in middle school. “More is not better,” concluded Cooper, who conducted the review.

Is homework really necessary? Most teachers assign homework as a drill to improve memorization of material. While drills and repetitive exercises have their place in schools, homework may not be that place. If a student does a math worksheet with 50 problems but completes them incorrectly, he will likely fail the test. According to the U.S. Department of Education, most math teachers can tell after checking five algebraic equations whether a student understood the necessary concepts. Practicing dozens of homework problems incorrectly only cements the wrong method.

Some teachers believe that assigning more homework will help improve standardized test scores. However, in countries like the Czech Republic, Japan, and Denmark, which have higher-scoring students, teachers give little homework. The United States is among the most homework-intensive countries in the world for seventh and eighth grade, so more homework clearly does not mean a higher test score.

Some people argue that homework toughens kids up for high school, college, and the workforce. Too much homework is sapping students' strength, curiosity, and most importantly, their love of learning. Is that really what teachers and parents want?

If schools assign less homework, it would benefit teachers, parents, and students alike. Teachers who assign large amounts of homework are often unable to do more than spot-check answers. This means that many errors are missed. Teachers who assign less homework will be able to check it thoroughly. In addition, it allows a teacher time to focus on more important things. “I had more time for planning when I wasn't grading thousands of problems a night,” says math teacher Joel Wazac at a middle school in Missouri. “And when a student didn't understand something, instead of a parent trying to puzzle it out, I was there to help them.” The result of assigning fewer math problems: grades went up and the school's standardized math scores are the highest they've ever been. A student who is assigned less homework will live a healthy and happy life. The family can look forward to stress-free, carefree nights and, finally, the teachers can too.

Some schools are already taking steps to improve the issue. For example, Mason-Rice Elementary School in Newton, Massachusetts, has limited homework, keeping to the “10 minute rule.” Raymond Park Middle School in Indianapolis has written a policy instructing teachers to “assign homework only when you feel the assignment is valuable.” The policy also states, “A night off is better than homework which serves no worthwhile purpose.” Others, such as Oak Knoll Elementary School in Menlo Park, California, have considered eliminating homework altogether. If these schools can do it, why can't everyone?

So, my fellow Americans, it's time to stop the insanity. It's time to start a homework revolution.



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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 821 comments.


on Feb. 7 at 11:14 am
EpsteinIsland, Cripston, District Of Columbia
0 articles 0 photos 12 comments
So correct these kids need to be put back to work in the mines and factories. Homework just gets in the way. These kids need to learn real skills and work.#sendthekidstothemines #startUSsweatshops

gabs_w SILVER said...
on Apr. 13 2023 at 7:51 pm
gabs_w SILVER, Portland, Oregon
9 articles 0 photos 94 comments
This is so important! Teens today are spending hours on busywork that does nothing to help them later in life. I understand that there are some things (eg. essays and projects) that will need to be done at home. But should people really be losing sleep over random worksheets? Great job writing this!!

on Dec. 11 2021 at 8:07 pm
WolfGurl PLATINUM, Not A Real Place, Indiana
20 articles 5 photos 177 comments

Favorite Quote:
Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened. –Anatole France.

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself. –Josh Billings

Men are from Earth, women are from Earth. Deal with it.- George Carlin

A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people. —Franklin D. Roosevelt

Never lose. Either win, or learn. - Me

AMEN!!!!

on Jul. 5 2021 at 9:24 am
bookmage SILVER, Montreal, Quebec
6 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Nobody said it had to be a story with an ending all neatly tied up like some ridiculous fairytale. This story's true, and true stories don't have endings, because things just keep going."
-Kate Milford

This is very well written, and you've clearly done lots of research. Great job!

on May. 3 2019 at 5:42 pm
midnightmuser GOLD, Concord, Massachusetts
12 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship."
-Louisa May Alcott

I think a better solution would be to offer study periods throughout the day. I think homework is a way to learn how to BALANCE play and work, and it shows commitment to learning. Then again, I don't think you should have homework until 4th grade, when you're old enough to find that balance.

on May. 2 2019 at 3:01 pm
TorWarn04 BRONZE, Lincoln, Nebraska
2 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
Do, or do not, there is no try.

-Yoda

I agree! Why do homework when (for me it's not always the same) every day, we have 10 hrs of school to do first. That's only TWO hrs to do it, and then if you want time to eat or mess around, you get to sleep late, and wake up at six in the morning, and don't do well. It repeats, and ends with a failing grade and depression.

Eswzem BRONZE said...
on May. 11 2017 at 3:48 pm
Eswzem BRONZE, New Castle, Pennsylvania
4 articles 9 photos 67 comments

Favorite Quote:
“For I have a plan for you. A plan to give you peace not for disaster, but a plan to give you hope and a future.” -Our Heavenly Father

lol :) Yes! A homework revolution!

on Oct. 3 2016 at 12:02 pm
Jtatsu PLATINUM, East Brunswick, New Jersey
26 articles 0 photos 77 comments
It's fine for you to disagree, but it seems as if you're in the minority. While I admit that there are students who don't do their homework altogether, most of what the author said here is the cold, hard truth. I spend hours on my homework every night, and that doesn't even include my community service and my extra curriculars. Other people in sports teams and other high commitment activities have even less time to spend on homework, and I can say for a fact that homework is one of the main reasons students aren't getting enough sleep at night. Simply chalking stress and sleep deprivation for homework to laziness is frankly, untrue and downright rude.

aylinne said...
on Mar. 31 2016 at 2:27 pm
aylinne, Bronx, New York
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
hello people

i agree because a lots of homework every night is just a headache

crys said...
on Jan. 19 2016 at 2:55 pm
At my school, I DO have this much homework. And most of us don't do it, or do it wrong.

on Apr. 17 2015 at 11:43 am
LittleRedDeliriousPrince SILVER, Parma Heights, Ohio
7 articles 0 photos 100 comments
I agree with the opinions stated more than I have ever agreed with anything before. I've never had as much homework as you had listed at the beginning of the article, but some nights I've felt it's overwhelming trying to even fathom how I could finish so much in a night. Sometimes I have resolved to not doing any homework at all some nights because school can give me a headache sometimes, what with a bunch of projects and worksheets and at least one test every week....but most of the time I don't mind. Teachers are just trying to try to educate us as best they can.

Holly458 said...
on Apr. 6 2015 at 9:12 am
This article took me on a very emotional roller coaster. There were ups. There were downs. There were curves, left and right. I cried, laughed, giggled, wept, and threw up. Thank you for posting this. It has changed my life. Hehe

jerome said...
on Mar. 8 2015 at 8:16 am
I feel like home is great, due to the fact that it teaches kids and teens to be more responsible. Yet it's stressfull it teaches kids how to cope with it in real life. In reality people have to learn to do things that they don't like, and Home work teaches kids more about the subject that they cannot learn in a class. So in general HW is a good thing in the end.

homeworker said...
on Feb. 17 2015 at 1:35 am
I felt the need to reply to this, because I am a high school student and I have 4 to 6 hours of homework each night. I think a moderate stance is good, but they are definitely not exaggerating.

Keyla said...
on Feb. 6 2015 at 12:11 pm
I think that teachers should give less homework and have smaller classes to help students understand things better.

Sophiab2356 said...
on Feb. 6 2015 at 12:10 pm
Sophiab2356, Virginia Beach, Utah
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
Lol Yolo

THE PAIN IS REAL


GREG I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER



NEVER LET GO JACK

I think that this essay depends on the school. I also find some of the facts questionable.

SSplox said...
on Feb. 6 2015 at 12:10 pm
I'm in the middle. I agree that too much homework is definitely not good. But i think the author does exaggerate how much homework a student does get a night. So small homework to jog you memory is good, but too much is bad.

on Feb. 6 2015 at 12:10 pm
I always have homework every night. Sometimes I rarely sleep but I still do my homework I think that we should have less homework.

uwotm8 said...
on Feb. 6 2015 at 12:08 pm
I disagree with the author; I feel that she is harshly exaggerating regular homework patterns for American students. Although she uses factual evidence and experts, some of the information is biased (i.e. in Japan there is less HW... but there is a lot more school hours). I am in most advanced classes in the 8th grade and I get about an hour of homework a night, and it is not very difficult to just put some effort. Honestly, I think some students are just too lazy to do their homework.

Chance said...
on Feb. 6 2015 at 12:07 pm
I usually dont have that much homework but when i do i have a history packet that takes a few hours but i can agree with her on some points even tough she didnt state why Japan has little to no homework