Homework: All pain and No Gain
Homework: All pain and No Gain
The Issue
The issue regarding homework is not that it is being handed out but the fact that the average student spends about seven exhausting hours at school and comes home to have to complete more schoolwork. Students are simply overwhelmed and overworked both mentally and physically. Homework only adds stress to their daily lives. This issue can be fixed by either giving assignments out, not making them mandatory and giving the opportunity to those who choose to do it or not giving homework at all. The hours students spend in school should be sufficient enough to complete work that would otherwise be given for homework.
Don't get me wrong education is incredibly important in shaping the future leaders of America but with the chaotic lives of an average student homework is simply unnecessary, busy work. Most students do not get home for hours after the ending of the school day, and there is no time to shower, eat, socialize, do homework and get a healthy amount of sleep. There are simply not enough hours in the day. I know from personal experience that after softball practice or a game it was particularly hard for me to accomplish everything I needed to regarding schoolwork and what I had to do at home. There were days that I would sacrifice sleep in order to complete homework assignments or study for tests but it came to the point where I no longer allowed myself to do that because I would go to school the next morning and be incapable of staying awake. Frankly I believe that an active participant and listener in class is better than someone who completes homework assignments and is absent minded in the classroom.
Multiple investigative results have proven that homework causes nothing but stress and anxiety for students which can be extremely detrimental to their health. Which is more important handing out homework for the sake of putting grades into a report card or a school full of healthy and successful students?
As one study showed "nearly one in three teenagers told the American Psychological Association that stress drove them to sadness or depression--and their single biggest source of stress was school. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a vast majority of American teenagers get at least two hours less sleep each night than recommended--and research shows the more homework they do, the fewer hours they sleep." (Abeles, Vicki. "Is School Making Our Children Ill?") Why are we allowing this to happen, it is not healthy and is not producing better results?
The typical argument supporting homework is that it improves test scores and builds a better work ethic for students. However, as researched and stated by Alfie Kohn, the author of 14 books on education, parenting, and human behavior, "homework has no statistical relationship to achievement in elementary school. In high school, some studies do find a correlation between homework and test scores, but it's usually fairly small...not a single study has ever supported the folk wisdom that homework teaches good work habits or develops positive character traits such as self-discipline, responsibility or independence."(Kohn, Alfie. "The Case Against Homework." )
It is in fact possible to have an education system which breeds successful graduates without giving out an excessive workload. All in all homework is unnecessary, invalid, and irrelevant in guiding young individuals to be successful in their future. There has not been any sufficient amounts of research developed that support homework but the opposite can be said about the argument against it. Multiple studies have proven the inimical effects homework has on education and health and it is time to take a stand. Help me make a change in the lives of students across the country by signing this petition! Every signature counts.
Business Law Spring 2016 This media presents images, text and or video acquired through my secondary research performed for the Civic Action Project. Citations follow. The purpose of this media production was to learn to present my point of view on the topic and develop an understanding and process for citizen participation and advocacy.
The Issue
The issue regarding homework is not that it is being handed out but the fact that the average student spends about seven exhausting hours at school and comes home to have to complete more schoolwork. Students are simply overwhelmed and overworked both mentally and physically. Homework only adds stress to their daily lives. This issue can be fixed by either giving assignments out, not making them mandatory and giving the opportunity to those who choose to do it or not giving homework at all. The hours students spend in school should be sufficient enough to complete work that would otherwise be given for homework.
Don't get me wrong education is incredibly important in shaping the future leaders of America but with the chaotic lives of an average student homework is simply unnecessary, busy work. Most students do not get home for hours after the ending of the school day, and there is no time to shower, eat, socialize, do homework and get a healthy amount of sleep. There are simply not enough hours in the day. I know from personal experience that after softball practice or a game it was particularly hard for me to accomplish everything I needed to regarding schoolwork and what I had to do at home. There were days that I would sacrifice sleep in order to complete homework assignments or study for tests but it came to the point where I no longer allowed myself to do that because I would go to school the next morning and be incapable of staying awake. Frankly I believe that an active participant and listener in class is better than someone who completes homework assignments and is absent minded in the classroom.
Multiple investigative results have proven that homework causes nothing but stress and anxiety for students which can be extremely detrimental to their health. Which is more important handing out homework for the sake of putting grades into a report card or a school full of healthy and successful students?
As one study showed "nearly one in three teenagers told the American Psychological Association that stress drove them to sadness or depression--and their single biggest source of stress was school. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a vast majority of American teenagers get at least two hours less sleep each night than recommended--and research shows the more homework they do, the fewer hours they sleep." (Abeles, Vicki. "Is School Making Our Children Ill?") Why are we allowing this to happen, it is not healthy and is not producing better results?
The typical argument supporting homework is that it improves test scores and builds a better work ethic for students. However, as researched and stated by Alfie Kohn, the author of 14 books on education, parenting, and human behavior, "homework has no statistical relationship to achievement in elementary school. In high school, some studies do find a correlation between homework and test scores, but it's usually fairly small...not a single study has ever supported the folk wisdom that homework teaches good work habits or develops positive character traits such as self-discipline, responsibility or independence."(Kohn, Alfie. "The Case Against Homework." )
It is in fact possible to have an education system which breeds successful graduates without giving out an excessive workload. All in all homework is unnecessary, invalid, and irrelevant in guiding young individuals to be successful in their future. There has not been any sufficient amounts of research developed that support homework but the opposite can be said about the argument against it. Multiple studies have proven the inimical effects homework has on education and health and it is time to take a stand. Help me make a change in the lives of students across the country by signing this petition! Every signature counts.
Business Law Spring 2016 This media presents images, text and or video acquired through my secondary research performed for the Civic Action Project. Citations follow. The purpose of this media production was to learn to present my point of view on the topic and develop an understanding and process for citizen participation and advocacy.
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Petition created on May 25, 2016