Public and Private school students should not be assigned tons of homework. Many students are already in school from Monday through Friday for 7 hours a day. Students should not be getting as much homework outside of school because of their health. Their health can be disrupted by constant sitting and lack of physical activity. Homework takes up too much time outside of school, which could take away time from family, friends, and other social interactions. Teachers should lift the amount of homework they give to students outside of school.

As mentioned earlier many students are already in school from Monday through Friday for 7 hours a day. Those hours are equivalent to a full time job. Teachers should not be adding more school work on top of those 7 hours. So students should take a few breaks,  although working is important to do, taking breaks are just as equally important. As mentioned in the wellbeing thesis “Microbreaks, lunchtime breaks and longer breaks, have all been shown to have a positive relationship with wellbeing and productivity. By taking regular breaks you can boost your performance(The Wellbeing Thesis,).” However, the article also mentions a study that was done in 2016 by Korpela, Kinnunen, Geurts, de Bloom, and Sianija. They discovered that when humans detach from work to take a lunch break this increases their energy level at work and reduces the exhaustion rate. A year later they realized it also increased their stamina(The Wellbeing Thesis,). Although, students should be taking time off to relax and take their mind off of working up their brain. Younger students have been known to frequently struggle with staying focused which distracts them and defeats the purpose of studying. Karrie Godwin, a psychologist, with his team did a study in 2016. They measured the attentiveness of elementary students during one of their class periods. Karrie discovered over a quarter of the class time was spent with the kids being distracted in class. They didn’t focus on the task at hand or on the teacher. “Shorter lessons, however, kept student attention high: Teachers found it more effective to give several 10-minute lessons instead of fewer 30-minute ones.” (Terada, Youki, Students)

Students should not be getting homework outside of school because of their health. For instance, students spend over six hours constantly sitting in class, which reduces them from physical activity.  Also some homes can not provide help for children, causing friction and distance between the parents and children. As University of Minnesota Extension states “Sometimes when you get involved in your child’s education, tension rises.” Many parents want the best for their children by wanting them to achieve above and beyond, this may cause pressure on the students when it comes to success and pleasing their parents. “Homework is a challenging factor influenced by students’ learning styles, preferences, and motivation. These are some of the reasons why parents and caregivers need to accommodate individual needs and preferences with the desired outcome being success at school.” (Silvia Alvarez de Davila, Sometimes) A lot of homework can increase stress levels resulting in burnouts, which is the opposite effect of helping. Healthline talks about “The researchers reported that family fights about homework were 200 percent more likely when parents didn’t have a college degree.” and “Some parents, in fact, have decided to opt out of the whole thing.” Some parents would just tell their children not to do their homework because of all the problems the students' assignments bring. Studies show that some highschool students were receiving too much homework resulting in overburns. This has been occurring so much to the point where the burnouts would be affecting their health.A study shown in Stanford University discovered that the students with higher achieving communities that spend most of their time on homework experienced more stress than the average student. They also experienced physical health problems, a lack of balance in their lives, and alienation from society. Also “More than 80 percent of students reported having at least one stress-related symptom in the past month, and 44 percent said they had experienced three or more symptoms.” (Levy, Sandra, The) Students could invest in physical activity to keep mind fresh and running. Terada mentioned something along the lines of having breaks regularly though a day at school can give the mind some breaks and not only for an inactive time but this could lead to increasing their productivity and supply room for creativity and social skills. (Terada, Youki, Regular) Terada also explained that doing some physical movement can increase blood flow which also causes the brain to get oxygenated. Physical activities also boost “neural connectivity and stimulate nerve cell growth in the hippocampus, the center of learning and memory. So exercise actually changes the structure of our brains, with a number of benefits: improved attention and memory, increased brain activity and cognitive function, and enhanced mood and ability to cope with stress.” (Terada, Youki, How)

Homework takes up too much time outside of school.  Students could be learning other skills instead of repeating what they just learned about in school. Teachers do not always have time to grade homework because they are busy with planning out lessons for the next assignment. Some Teachers also assign homework because that is what they were taught to do, and they typically do so without considering that some of their students do not have internet access. A math teacher named Anderson usually assigns his students approximately 30 math problems a night. He began to realise this was not taking them anywhere and would not help them prepare for college either. He decided to scrap some of the problems and brought them down to 12. This later on resulted in the 25% of their grade for homework to shrink into 1% of their grade. He spent the extra class time teaching them how to work through the problems. This has great benefits for the students and their grades. “In certain circumstances, I guess homework can be good. But I prefer to skip good and do great.” Scott Anderson, Juda High School. (Walker, Tim, In)

Teachers should at least consider this idea and take it into consideration for their students, test it out, and see what these effects may lead to. Lightening the homework load could cause students to have better social skills, a better family life, more free time for developing and discovering new talents, and give a child a healthier lifestyle.

Cites

“The Importance of Taking Breaks.” The Wellbeing Thesis, 14 Jan. 2020

Terada, Youki. “Research-Tested Benefits of Breaks.” Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 9 Mar. 2018, 

FentonRevised Kevin 2015 by Silvia Alvarez de Davila. “Minimize Conflict over Homework.” UMN Extension,

Levy, Sandra. “Why Homework Is Bad: Stress and Consequences.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 22 Aug. 2019,

Merri, Rosenberg.  “When Homework Takes Over.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Apr. 2004,

Walker, Tim. “A High School Teacher Scrapped Homework. Here's What Happened next.” NEA,

Kim P, personal finance expert at CreditDonkey. “Negative Effects of Homework.” CreditDonkey, 26 June 2020,