Homework Overload!

The amount of homework students are getting is on the rise. In 1981 6 to
9 year-olds devoted 44 minutes a week on average on homework. In 1997 that number increased to 2 full hours! The amount that 9 to 11 year-olds spent on homework increased from 2 hours and 45 minutes to 3 and half hours. But that means more time is spent on education nowadays and our students are getting smarter. That isn't really true. Students could easily learn just as much while doing less work. After all, most of the homework is just work to keep the students busy, not to teach them anything.

Besides homework many students also have other out-of-school curriculums like ceramics, taekwondo, or music lessons. American students are coming home with more homework, at a younger age. What happened to free time? Due to the amount of homework, students don't have as much time to socialize and spend time with their family.

The students aren't the only ones affected by the homework. Parents are feeling the strain as well. "I didn't feel [stressed] until I was in my 30s. It hurts my feelings that my daughter feels that way at 11."-Parent. The load of the homework turns the home, a refuge from work, into a tense war-zone, and the atmosphere in the home turns tense. The amount of homework leaves students as well as their parents with headaches. Parents often don't know what to do. Should they leave their children to it, and risk a frustrated, sleep-deprived child with a migraine? Or should they help their children with their homework with the possible consequence that their child doesn't learn as much? Should they complain to the teacher about the heavy workload, or should they be grateful that their children are being pushed forward towards success?

The main cause for the large amount of homework is so that the students
will hopefully learn more and get into better colleges and universities.
However the large homework load encourages rote learning, or learning by
memorization, which isn't the most effective way to learn. Through learning by memorization, the student simply knows what the answer is, but doesn't
understand. Through "meaningful" learning the students learns the concepts
and understands the subject. The student will then use his/her knowledge and
understanding to find the solution/answer.

Due to all of those reasons I feel that schools should reduce the amount of homework of homework given to students. Doing so will also reduce the student’s stress allowing them to perform better in school, because overworked students will eventually collapse under the strain of the homework, while if they are not overworked they will be able to perform at their full capacity. That way the schools still get the high grades they want. So unless schools want students to work inefficiently and don’t want students to enjoy the freedoms of childhood, I feel that they should think twice before giving homework.

Information from:http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,990065,00.html

Picture from: http://blocs.xtec.cat/tick6/files/2009/03/homework.gif