Is homework harmful or helpful? That is the question that education experts have been grappling with for years. Initially, some homework was thought to provide students with time to do more practice. After years of study and assessing the impact of homework, experts, and respected education organizations such as the National Education Association (NEA) are now in agreement about one thing: Homework is bad! Here is a closer look at why students should not be given homework.
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Is homework good or bad? While school is very important in helping students gain important skills in life, it must be carefully balanced to ensure they also get time to develop socially. Multiple studies have found that many students get too many homework assignments resulting in stress and other health problems. Here are some statistics about why homework is bad for students.
Why Homework Is Bad Statistics
There are many studies and statistics available on why is homework bad, here are some below:
In one of the studies done by Stanford Graduate School, 56% of students consider homework their main source of stress. Only 1% of students, according to the study, consider homework not being a stressor.
The National Education Association (NEA) and the National PTA (NPTA) recommend only 10 minutes of homework for kids. Anything beyond there is considered harmful.
In another study published in the Journal of Experimental Education, researchers concluded that anything beyond two hours of homework every night for college students is detrimental.
In his book, The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing, Alfie Kohn indicates there are no facts about homework and how helpful it is. He established that most schools give students too much homework because their schools have decided it is necessary, not because doing so meets specific needs.
Many psychologists have even come to a conclusion that the negative effects of homework call for the need to ban homework for good. You may take a look at their arguments here and decide, whether you are ready to support this idea.
Reasons Homework Is Bad
The growing list of homework statistics and facts about homework being bad has made experts in education start looking deeper into the problem. What are the negative effects of homework, especially when you give too much?
- Causes a Lot Of Stress to Students
Giving students too many assignments result in high levels of stress. When a student is bombarded with many lessons in school and expected to continue at home with more homework, he/she is likely to feel stressed if unable to complete the assignments. This could get worse and become a major source of anxiety. - Homework can Be a Burden
Most studies exploring homework and stress have found that most students consider homework a major burden. With all the homework assignments, students are left with no time to do other tasks. Even when they get some moment, they are tired and would rather relax. - Homework is Counterproductive
Instead of improving students’ achievements, a lot of homework can negatively affect educational achievements. One of the negative effects of stress on students is that it pulls down the performance academically and socially. This means that when a teacher gives a lot of homework to a student, it works against the main goal of molding the student’s skills. Well, why give homework when it will, in reality, pull down the students’ performance? - A Major Cause of Poor Health
Does homework cause stress? As researchers sought to answer this question, it emerged that homework indeed causes more damage. As students struggle to complete multiple homework assignments, they take many hours at night, get stressed, and do not have enough sleep. Other health-related conditions included headaches, exhaustion, stomach problems, and weight loss.
Why Kids Should Not Have Homework
For institutions dealing with kids, the effects of too much homework are even more severe compared to high school learners. Indeed, trainers should look for creative ways to engage learners and ensure they can easily identify with what they learn and find every subject fun. Here are the main reasons why kids should not have any homework:
- Your Kid Should Read for Pleasure
If your kid is busy doing homework, he/she will not have time to intensify the horizon of knowledge. Instead of giving a lot of homework to the kid, teachers should allow the child to read good books for pleasure, practice poetry, paint images of familiar objects, and follow their own talent. - Kids are Always Learning
If you thought that a kid could only learn through doing homework, you are wrong. In the 21st Century, kids are learning progressively. Using the smartphone, computer at home, and reading platforms such as kindle, kids are always learning. For example, if you want the kid to practice using specific words; why not let him/her look for such words on the smartphone and write sentences about them? Why not get help from a homework writer? Well, it is time to get smart and let kids be kids. - Your Kid Needs Ample Time Outdoors
While the time that a kid takes learning is crucial, so are the outdoor activities. Education experts have demonstrated that giving kids more time outdoors is helpful because it allows them to experiment with what they have learned in class.
Take the example of a topic in science, such as parts of a plant. Giving the kid a lot of assignments will yield a lot of homework stress. Instead, the teacher should consider asking kids to identify plants in their compound and on their smartphones. And you know what? The kid will find the topic fun and will even tell the guardian when being driven to school: “That tree looks like the one I read about yesterday.”
Homework Is Bad…. Ample Free Time Makes Learning Fun
From the above discussion, there is no doubt that there are many reasons why homework is bad. Homework statistics and facts have demonstrated many reasons why homework is bad. It causes stress and could result in serious health problems.
The better way to help your kids is getting smart. Teachers should make subjects more interesting and associate them with the students’ environment. This will make students learn continuously in class and even when playing outdoors.
If you are a college or high school student and have homework problems and are looking for a good help homework solution, do not let stress become part of your life. Consider using affordable help for your homework. The experts will help you complete the assignments fast and professionally!
