By Maggie Boersma
Homework has done a lot to help students and to improve their grades, and it is important that schools keep assigning it. Students need homework to review classwork and to study for assessments.
Homework improves students’ grades. Students who have trouble on tests or in class work have a chance to redeem their grades through doing work at home. Homework is usually worth about 10-30 percent of grades in class. While this may not seem like a lot, the large amount of homework in classes makes it a lot more influential on the final grade of a class.
An article from The Center of Public Education’s website stated that, “homework helps students develop responsibility and life skills and the ability to manage tasks and that it provides experiential learning, increased motivation,… and academic benefits.” Students with different conditions may be distracted in school by the noise or the constant stimuli, and homework gives them the chance to practice important work while having the ability to concentrate.
It’s a known fact that some students don’t always do their homework. This is detrimental for both them and the teacher. They do not review the material or retain their knowledge when they skip their homework. They also get in trouble in school, because they have not completed their required work.
While homework can sometimes be stressful, its effects can often be seen in school. A study from Duke University showed that there is a direct correlation between students doing their homework and doing well in school.
“Homework does have a positive effect on student achievement,” according to the study.
If there is no homework, students aren’t practicing crucial lessons for their classes.
Many students view homework as an issue after missing school. After missing school for various reasons, such as sickness or family emergencies, students often find themselves with makeup work. This itself is not a bad thing, however. Students still get the practice they need, and they usually have one or two extra days to make it up, depending on how long the student is gone.
Homework helps students to review important material crucial to passing classes that may be important in the future. Passing or failing classes could mean getting into (or not getting into) college.
By Isabella Jordan
Homework is not helpful and and has no impact on student grades at all. We need to take away homework before it takes away anything more from the students.
Homework has no effect on student grades. Most homework consists of pointless repetition to make sure the students get can understand the lessons, but by the fourth example most students understand the lesson and know how to use it. Homework just creates more repetition on what the students learn to a point where it’s unnecessary. However, it can be hard to even remember the repetitive lessons if the student doesn’t understand the material at first. Especially if the student’s parents don’t understand the material themselves.
How are children expected to know the material if their parents don’t even know the answers to the homework? Blogs.edweek.org, “And many parents—46.5 percent—simply don’t understand the subject matter. Up to a half of the parents.” Around 45% percent of parents say that they can’t help their children with their homework because they don’t know how to do it. When the student realizes the parent doesn’t know it, they realize that lesson is probably not useful to their education. Since they realize that it won’t be relevant, they’ll be less willing to spend a lot of time working on it.
Homework is very time consuming. While students could be using time to hang out with family or friends or play a sport or do a hobby, they can’t because they have to study for school. The average high school student has three and a half hours per night. That’s over 17 hours of just homework per week. For students with more interests and commitments it is harder to time to do homework with all the activities going on in their lives. All of the activities can sometimes build up, causing stress.
Homework is stressful. On the website, connectusfund.org, it says, “If bombarded with lessons at school and even at home, children might lose interest and worse, dread school days.” People can often get stressed by homework because it can seem overwhelming and difficult. The more homework you are given, the more stress there is to finish that homework and do well on it. This makes homework very stressful, which can hurt your health.
Homework is not good for your health. While many students try to finish their homework, they often stay up late or wake up early to get their homework done and ready to turn in. This limits the amount of sleep students get per night. The more homework a student has, the less sleep they will get and the less they will be ready to work for the next day. Not to mention, there is a lot more stress when the student doesn’t do their homework, or if the student misses it.
Finally, homework can make it harder for students to come back to school after a family emergency, vacation, or something else happens so that student can not attend class. The more homework there is piled up, the harder it will be to catch up and understand the current lessons for the class. On top of all the homework they miss while being gone, they have to stay up to date with current homework.
In conclusion, homework is not necessary and a hassle for a student’s academic growth.
“ConnectUS.” ConnectUS. N.p., 05 Sept. 2016. Web. 09 Sept. 2016.
Staff, By Duke Today. “Duke Study: Homework Helps Students Succeed in School, As Long as There Isn’t Too Much.” Home. N.p., 7 Mar. 2006. Web. 09 Sept. 2016.
“What Research Says about the Value of Homework: Research Review.” What Research Says about the Value of Homework: Research Review. N.p., 5 Feb. 2007. Web. 09 Sept. 2016.
Reid, Karla Scoon. “Survey Finds Half of Parents Struggle With Their Children’s Homework.” Education Week. N.p., 20 Sept. 2013. Web. 09 Sept. 2016.