Homework is not beneficial to students; here’s why

by Taylor P.D.

It is a well-known fact that teenagers are not the fondest of homework; I can remember a moment when I felt extremely overwhelmed due to multiple assignments, which led to late nights spent on homework. We should know that it is crucial to acknowledge the negative impacts that assignments can have on a student's mental and emotional well-being. By recognizing these challenges, we can better understand why some people believe that homework assignments are one of the major causes of conflicts that students face.

Homework is often described as schoolwork that a student is meant to complete at home. It’s quite apparent that too much homework can cause much harm to students as well as increase their risk of becoming depressed and developing much stress and anxiety.

First of all, homework puts unfair pressure on students and stresses them out. Research has shown that too much homework can cause significant amounts of stress and can create conflict in a student's performance in school. According to Stanford News, students have identified that homework and the pressure to get good grades are to blame for the increase in stress; mental health experts have suggested that heavy workloads can harm a student more than it can benefit them, according to Phys.

Another reason is that homework isn’t as beneficial to one’s grade or performance in classes as most may think. Studies, from Forbes, regarding homework have had difficulty in proving that homework does help improve a student’s academic performance. This is said to be because homework that involves reviewing material already taught during class isn’t as effective in the improvement of test grades compared to other studying techniques. Although this can be blamed to many different reasons, when you think about the fact that higher-achieving students also experience lower test scores you can attribute that to the work assigned to said students.

Lastly, homework is a factor in the development of sleep loss and many other physical and mental issues like depression, anxiety, and other various conditions and problems that regard one’s mental state. Forbes suggests students have acquired sleep deprivation and other health problems like headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems, due to the work assigned. According to Source Direct, depression in students has been attributed to the long hours that they spend on completing the homework, and sometimes even studying the homework after the fact. This can also be attributed to the many physical and mental problems that were mentioned previously.

Individuals who are opposed to homework not being as beneficial have argued that it improves student achievement, involves parents in their children’s learning, and promotes good study habits. However, it’s important to recognize that these benefits are dependent on the amount of time that is invested on homework. Excessive homework may adversely affect a child’s mental well-being, irrespective of their academic performance.

Some students believe that homework is helpful to improving grades for students, as one AHS student noted. “Homework can help your grade if you don’t perform well on tests or quizzes,” Cristian S. suggested when asked for his thoughts on homework. In other words, if you bomb tests but do all your homework, the latter portion of your grade can balance out the former.

On the other hand, some students believe that the amount of homework given to students should be changed, including teachers, with Coach Burnett expressing that “we should give it once a week,” and that giving homework every day is “a bit extreme.”

Overall, homework is more harmful than helpful to students for the reasons that it can cause depression and anxiety in teens, doesn’t show as much improvement as you might think based on the amount of homework often given to students, and can be a factor in the development of sleep loss, weight loss, stomach issues, headaches, and various other problems. As students, we need to evaluate the impact of homework on our learning experiences, discuss it with our peers, and determine whether it truly enhances our education.