Walking into school does your mind ever go to, “Why is this teacher assigning homework, couldn’t we have done this during this class?” Most classes in high school are about an hour long, and block schedules provide even more time. That should be way more than enough time to get your work done and be taught the lesson. While many educators think homework is beneficial, homework should be optional and not required outside of school hours
As teenagers we have enough pressure balancing school, work, friends, family, and extracurricular activities. We do not need outside classwork to complete at home, but according to the National Center for Education Statistics the average U.S. High School students have around 6.8 hrs of homework per week. Here at Mount Vernon High School I’d say this is pretty accurate.
Social and emotional growth is also important for our development and it is important that teenagers have down time to participate in extracurricular activities, hobbies, and family/friend time. Homework isn’t allowing high schoolers to be high schoolers, like not being allowed to attend sporting events because you have a math assignment or a paper to write. These experiences show us what real high school is about, the fun of high school and the bad. High School students should not miss out on these important experiences because we have an assignment about Napoleon due the next day.
Homework can also increase stress, anxiety, and mental overload causing headaches, less sleep, and a declined quality of life. Not to mention the stress on a parent who has to help their child with the work. Parents are also struggling with their kids learning new teaching methods, adding more stress. And of course they say, “That’s not how it was taught to me.”
Those that support homework or extra work outside of school could argue that homework supports the learning from the classroom. Practice can be helpful, but when it is mandatory every night it creates unnecessary added stress.
Learning should be finished when the bell rings at the end of the day. To reinforce learning, educators and schools should offer different methods during the school day to enhance the learning experience. Provide students with a study period, time management class, or “Homework Hour.”Instead of having a whole 7 period schedule we end the day at 6 periods and the last one is a built in study period with your homeroom teacher. And hey, for those that want to study or keep learning at home, more power to them. Keep homework a choice not a requirement.
