HomeWork Overload

Homework Overload

“One of life’s most painful moments comes when we must admit that we didn’t do out homework…” says Merlin Olsen. When kids are already spending eight hours a day in school, it is not right to put the pressure of more homework on them.

Students nowadays return home from school with 3-4 hours of homework or more, to complete. Too much homework stops children from enjoying life outside of school.

When too much to homework is assigned, it places and unneeded stress on students. “…the past decade has seen an increase in interest in school-related stress by both scholars and clinicians.” (D'Aurora & Fimian, 1988) A survey of children by Pediatrics for Parents says that the number one stress in their lives was grades and homework. Another contributing factor to the stress created by homework is the inability to complete or understand it. When this happens, children turn to their parents or guardians for help. Parents are not always able to supply the help that the children need and homework becomes "…the source of considerable friction between teacher and student, child and parent, and teacher and parent." (Cooper, Lindsay, and Nye 72) When this happens, it is extremely frustrating and upsetting. Experiences like this can have a negative impact on how a child will view school and work in general.

After spending so much of their day in school, students need a break from learning. Instead, they are forced to complete homework. Experts say that, "Schoolwork should be done at school under the direction of professional educators [and] where all students have equal access to educational resources." (Stager 62) Children spend their time in school learning new information and practicing old, therefore when they go home they should be able to relax. Unfortunately, they do not get that chance because they are busy doing more work. Getting up early and working in class all day is tiring, after returning home, a student needs rest, both mentally and physically.

Homework takes time to complete, which means too much homework can take up time that should be spent with the family and doing other activities. It is believed by many people that, “Too much homework may interfere with other activities and opportunities for learning. Today's busy families may have limited time together. Some families see homework as an intrusion on family time.” (Rogers) Children need to spend time with