Too Much Homework?

Homework, to many people, is the epitome of the harrows of school. With hours of homework almost every night, sports, and other activities, such as band or choir, most students have no other time in their already busy days for hobbies or spending time with family and friends. Has homework become so overwhelming and ineffective that it’s now become a nuisance? Or is it still the academic tool students need to further their education?

In recent studies by the National Center for Education Statistics, grades 9-12 students, on average, spend 6.8 hours on homework a week, with 41.9% of students having homework 5 or more days per week. Many are concerned with these numbers, and what so much homework can entail for students. Which brings another question, is this amount of homework worth it? Is the homework truly effective?

According to an article and study by the University of Virginia, there’s no substantial difference in doing homework or not when it comes to final class grades. That being said, this same study also found that doing homework had a positive impact on standardized test grades. These results seem to imply that maybe the amount of homework isn’t the problem, but perhaps the content of the homework. The homework being sent out helps with temporary information for upcoming tests, but it can’t replace in-class teaching that helps students to fully retain the information given.

In another article by the American Psychological Association, the same idea, that homework needs to be focused more on quality than quantity, is present, but a rule of thumb known as “The 10-Minute Rule,” is also mentioned. “The 10-Minute Rule” is a widely accepted theory concerning the amount of time spent doing homework. It follows the idea that students should do no more than 10 minutes of homework a night per grade, meaning that kids in kindergarten shouldn’t go past 10 minutes of homework, first-graders shouldn’t go past 20 minutes, second-graders shouldn’t go past 30 minutes, and so on. Studies have shown that if these limits are breached, students tend to experience more physical and mental problems such as headaches and stress.

And until the problems surrounding homework are discussed and taken into consideration by schools and individual teachers, these problems will linger and students will suffer for it.