A middle-schooler from South Dakota has this to say about homework:
Homework: It’s Not Worth It
Homework: it stresses you out, causes writer’s cramps, and simply takes up your time to relax and be yourself. Teachers assign homework because they believe that it builds character, academic skills, and work habits. What homework really builds is an immense pile of textbooks and paper resembling a mountain. For middle school students, homework should be less than one hour per night, but the average middle-school student has 1-2 and a half hours of homework. If you have less than an hour of homework each day, you really don’t know how blessed you are.
Research says this: Homework demands limit the amount of time students spend in sports and community projects. Too much homework may cause students to dislike the subject, or even learning. Students may also get confused by their parents’ teaching methods because they may be different from the teacher’s teaching methods. Homework also may (believe it or not) encourage cheating.
“In 1950 when the U.S became nervous over Russia’s launching of Sputnik, the amount of homework started to increase in schools all over the U.S.” Says Harris Cooper, psychologist. So, it really wasn’t all about “responsibility” or “academic skills,” was it? It might be the jealousy, or competition. Who knows, but we do know that it certainly wasn’t a coincidence that the amount of homework began to rise for students. In the 1980’s report, Nation at Risk announced that students needed to improve their reading skills, this caused more homework. The idea was to be economically competitive with the Japanese.
Another one of the things that makes teacher give out homework is the No Child Left Behind, which wants children to be proficient in school. Well, they got what they wanted, but this law made kids turn into slaves. Literally. You work until twelve at midnight. You fall asleep. You wake up, and realize you didn’t finish your homework. Your teacher yells at you and gives you more homework. Well, there goes your grade. You fail your class and feel like a loser. You get stressed out from all the demanding teachers. All this happens from one little homework assignment. It just isn’t worth it.
Stop Homework 