7/27/2019 Essay - "Homework Revolution"
1/3
Derek Gladstone
Homework Revolution
It is commonly known that homework has never found a place in
the heart of all students.Anecdotal information from my peers
suggest that the work given almost daily does not achieve
desired results. In fact, it is evident that homework even has
negative consequences. Personally, I
have lost tons of hours of sleep struggling to finish all my
assignments. This would often resultin me putting less effort on
homework so I could have just one decent rest for the week,
which
would ultimately kill my grades. This problem typically arises
during the years of high school,
and the main cause originates from the advanced placement/honor
classes. In my case, junioryear was the start of this just with the
addition of three AP classes to my schedule, creating a
humongous increase in the amount of homework nightly. An
overwhelming amount of
assignments, which even piles up to over three hours at times,
can directly lead to a lack of sleep,
a loss of interest in the studied subject, and a neglect of
other responsibilities.As mentioned previously, too much homework
causes less sleep, which is extremely
detrimental to a teens growth. In a study on the impact of
school schedule on adolescent sleep,
sixty high school students kept sleep diaries throughout the
school year. The results of the study
indicated that the students lost as much as 120 minutes of sleep
per night during the school week(Hansen). Adolescence is a very
crucial period in which the brain is still developing, and a
lack
of sleep leads to a major degradation of the brain. In addition,
losing sleep affects a studentsability at school as well. According
to the National Sleep Foundation, students need about eight
and a half to nine and a quarter hours of sleep each night. Not
getting the recommended hours of
sleep can restrict ones ability to learn and solve problems...
(Sung). It is of utmost importancethat students have enough time
for rest in order to grow healthily as well as stay alert in
class.
Another issue caused by excessive homework is losing interest in
ones studies. Alex Tu,
a student at Fountain Valley High School, found that she learned
much more in her regular U.S.
History class than in her advanced class because she was not
constantly overwhelmed with work.According to Alfie Kohn, author
ofThe Homework Myth, there is no study that has ever
found a correlation between homework and academic achievement in
elementary school, andthere is little reason to believe that
homework is necessary in high school. In fact, it may even
diminish interest in learning. When students are assigned too
much homework, they tend torush through it without much thought.
Instead of assigning work that is merely time consuming
and useless, teachers should only assign work that is necessary
for efficient practice, and that
would be just the beginning! Homework must not only reinforce
information learned, but alsoadd on interest of the subject for the
students motivation. People work harder and learn more
effectively when it is something they could at least moderately
care about, but if tedious work is
given, then naturally, they end up hating it.Abundant homework
also leads to a neglect of other responsibilities. Obviously, not
all
students spend their whole day working, but instead, on other
unproductive activities such as
texting or surfing the Internet. As much as I agree that
teenagers should control the amount of
time so as not to do this excessively, it is hardly any
justification for assigning a lot ofhomework. A teenager, nor
anyone for that matter, can not be expected to come home and
immediately start working after already spending the whole day
at school. Everyone has other
priorities, whether it be extracurricular activities, spending
time with friends, or a family dinner,and homework certainly can
not be the reason for the loss of a students social life. As
beneficial
as homework may be, these other significant and normal parts of
life cannot be set aside. I
myself have had to prioritize between spending quality time with
family, hanging out with
7/27/2019 Essay - "Homework Revolution"
2/3
Derek Gladstone
friends, and dedicating many, many hours to band practice after
school each day, just like most
other people with their priorities, so I very well know how
important it is to have a balance
instead of the pile of assignments that so often greatly tips
the scale.Some may say that it is the students own fault for making
a heavy schedule, such as the
majority of persevering students. Of course we know how much
stress we get ourselves into.
Even so, we have no choice. We want to succeed and achieve
promising futures by making it intothe best colleges, but this is
not possible when these colleges have such crazy requirements.
Without getting the best education, we would not be able to lead
greatly as workers of the future.
Therefore, unless requirements were relaxed or a smarter system
was created (which would be aneven better solution), students will
continue spiraling down overwhelmed with homework to
meet the status quo.
Homework, the stereotypical element of every students education
that we initially
assume to be beneficial, has been brought to the light. If this
homework system continues thisway, students, one by one, will
continue to suffer from the grim loss of sleep, continue to
lose
passion and motivation for their classes, and continue to hurt
their other priorities. As the future
generations, we must re-evaluate the quality of homework, and
create a new system that is more
effective in enhancing our knowledge and motivation. We must
modernize the educational valueof our studies that will better
prepare the student body. Together, we must revolutionize
homework!
