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Mrs. ******

Honors English 10

22 Oct. 2008



Body:


To eliminate homework completely would be unnecessary. Rather it should be limited to where the relevant information has been successfully comprehended, without the unhelpful struggle to complete the assignment. This, of course, applies in various ways to the different grade levels. While it’s clear that homework is a part of the learning process, Cooper says that too much homework can be counter-productive for students at all levels (“Duke Study: Homework”). Over the years, nightly assignments have shown the greatest increase in grades kindergarten through sixth. Research reveals that elementary students have no true benefit from the extra homework besides possibly gaining a few minor to basic skills. Concentrating on one subject for an extended period of time is also more of a challenge for younger students. It was found in a study that children are less able than teenagers or older children to tune out distractions in their environment (“Duke Study: Homework”). Having less effective study habits, they may not comprehend how the answer to the question came about. Middle-school students stop comprehending and gaining any sort of benefit after 90 minutes has passed. And as students advance in grade level, sports and clubs begin to gain a greater importance, leaving less study time. Alfie Kohn comes right out and says that “there is absolutely no evidence of any academic benefit from assigning homework in elementary or middle school.” However, as we approach high school, homework becomes more meaningful, yet the correlation is weak and tends to disappear when more sophisticated statistical measures are applied (Kohn, Alfie. “Rethinking Homework”). The people with the greatest number of extra-curricular activities, high school students have the heaviest heap of hideous homework. Many of them have jobs as well. High school students find no benefit in studying more than two hours per night. Although some teachers may argue that a greater amount is needed for college preparation, studies disprove this argument. Alfie Kohn gives a counterexample in his book The Homework Myth: “For one thing, the amount of homework students had in high school physics courses was not related to how successful they were in physics when they got to college.” This concept applies to generally every subject. So how much should we end up assigning per night for each grade? Cooper recommends that we add ten minutes for each grade. For example, first grade students would have ten minutes per night then second graders would receive twenty, and so on. We’ve seen the harm that large quantities of homework instill in our schedules, but it gets worse. What about the emotional and physical damage?

What about it? Can homework really impair our physical and emotional well-being? First off, students are getting less and less sleep. Their teachers tell them to get eight to ten hours every night. But doesn’t this sound a little contradictory due to the fact that they are the reason for their students’ sleep deprivation? Kids between the ages of five and twelve need ten to eleven hours of sleep each night; teens need 9.25 hours. According to the national sleep foundation’s 2006 Sleep in America poll, 80 percent of teens don’t get the recommended amount of sleep. At least 28% fall asleep in school and 22% fall asleep doing homework (Bennett and Kalish). These statistics alone are screaming at us! Students are losing necessary bits of sleep, and their stress levels are rising. Sure a little stress can be good, but too much, like war, is good for what? Absolutely nothing. For one, stress causes depression. Homework is already something that students don’t enjoy; depression only makes it more difficult to complete this abhorrent task. The American Psychological Association revealed that typical schoolchildren today report more anxiety than did psychiatric patients in the 1950s (Bennett and Kalish). Homework “removes joy from high achievers,” says Kohn. The students who take time to do non-obligatory homework are usually the ones who need the extra practice least. Stress can also lead directly to physical illness. Stress works against the immune system. Students miss school because they become sick due to stress, then they miss homework assignments, only creating more homework and more stress. The cycle appears endless. Gina Nick did a study on Sickness Syndrome and concluded that “stress, both physical and psychological, is an unfortunate component of daily life and one of the primary causes of Sickness Syndrome.” Sickness syndrome has symptoms of depression, anxiety, weight control issues, fatigue, and many more unhealthy traits. The number one cause of illness in students: lack of sleep. The number one cause of lack of sleep in students: stress. The number one cause of stress in students: homework. Everything is clearly linked.

We’ve seen the links between quantity of homework and condition of the students, but what about the link between students and their homework and its effects on family dynamics? What about it? Effects are negative, for the majority of the time, on the relationships within families. Many parents lament the impact of homework on their relationship with their children; they may also resent having to play the role of enforcer and worry that they will be criticized either for not being involved enough with the homework or for becoming too involved (Kohn, Alfie. The Homework Myth). Arguments also emerge when parents dispute over who’s turn it is to help little Billy with his three hours of math homework. Homework becomes a source of power struggles and is disruptive to building a strong family, including putting strain on marriages (Rushowy). Parents are busy with their own work they bring home, let alone throwing away three or more hours helping Billy. Want another negative point? Lack of time for parents to aid their children results in hiring tutors; tutors are economic burdens for the impoverished (“No to Homework?”). Flinging more money to aid Billy in the thing that’s ripping their family apart is utterly the last thing his parents want to do. Suppose Billy’s parents are rich. The loss of money may not be as of great importance as it was before, but there is still the loss of family time. What now? Good question.