Letter: Students would benefit from less homework

1
322

While homework gives students practice with class material, the amount of homework assigned to students is absurd and isn’t very effective.  

It may seem like homework would engage students in learning and participating in class, but instead (it) does the opposite. Lenore Skenazy refers to an essay written by M.Ed. and ET/P Lynn Collins, who believes that homework – especially the amount given – drives adolescents’ instinctive enthusiasm to learn down the drain. Children from kindergarten to twelfth grade already spend 6-7 hours in school doing work that they then are assigned more of for homework, and a great quantity of it. The amount of homework that gets assigned increases stress levels and overwhelms students. This affects their work ethic and motivation to learn because they focus on completing the work rather than attempting to learn and apply the material correctly. Consequently, Allison Bates’ article The Homework Debate: The Case Against Homework mentions how author Nancy Kalish believes that homework is more of a busy type of work and chore rather than a learning experience. 

Furthermore, teachers don’t need to completely get rid of homework, but if they were to lessen the amount they assign it would benefit the students in understanding the material in a less burdensome way. This in itself would enable them to have more time at home to enjoy themselves and their families, sleep, exercise, and be healthy. So, overall, the thought would be these advantages would result in a better understanding of the material, better grades, and increased engagement in learning. If teachers truly care about their students’ overall well-being, not only including education but also their home life and physical and mental health, they will consider reducing the quantity of homework. 

Grace Hart

Pascoag

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Oh hi there 👋
It’s nice to meet you.

Sign up to receive awesome content in your inbox, every week.

We don’t spam!

1 COMMENT

  1. Why are there so many water trucks in the last few days going up & down Rt. 7 in North Smithfield And Burrillville , Thought maybe you would know.

Leave a Reply