Clover 1

Kaila Clover
Ms. Hoogewerf
Writing for College Success
30 November 2015
Homework or Busywork?
Student success is a big deal in public schools. Students are being pushed harder to do
well on standardized tests, prepare for high school, and take SATs, all while taking advanced
classes. But a question arises: is too much homework being given to students?
Everyone wants their child to be a success story -the media pushes that expectation upon
people all the time- but very few parents, teachers, and school faculty take the time to examine
how students learn. Children learn social behavior at a young age, so letting them interact with
each other during recess at school and with their family members at home is vital. Unfortunately,
this precious learning time is being robbed and restricted by the demands of homework. Parents
and teachers often argue that the amount of homework children have today is the right amount,
though they rarely ask the students themselves how they feel about the workload. Even though
students need homework to help them prepare for college and future careers, they should not be
given more than 10 minutes per grade level, as overworking children at a young age negatively
affects an adolescents well-being and leaves less time for family, friends, and extracurricular
pursuits.
The struggle to get homework done is a constant problem for children. Unfortunately,
homework will oftentimes cause stress. According to research from Stanford University, Fiftysix percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stressforty-three percent
viewed tests as a primary stressor, while thirty-three percent put the pressure to get good grades
in that category. Less than one percent of the students said homework was not a stressor
(Parker). Other problems can stem from constant stress, such as sleep deprivation, weight gain,
exhaustion, and weight loss. The study also examined the stress homework placed on families
and found that as a parent's confidence in their ability to help their child with homework went
down, the stress in the household went up.
Stress is not the only issue stemming from a large homework-load that many students
suffer from. In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep
deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced
health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach
problems.
Students often spend hours of time working on homework, plus they take part in
extracurricular activities outside of school. If all of their time is being consumed by trying to
finish an assignment they are having trouble with, that leaves little to no time to pursue activities
they enjoy.

Clover 2
Children learn social behavior at a young age, so letting them interact with each other
during recess at school and with their family members at home is vital. Students who are part of
school clubs or athletic and sports teams are shown to work better in group environments than
students who do not.
a)
b)
2.
a)
b)
B.
1.
a)
b)
2.
a)
b)
The counter claim to the argument against homework states that students need homework to
prepare them for the real world, so that they will know what will be expected in the future.
Homework is a great study tool to help students practice and apply the content they are learning
in-class.
1.
a)
b)
2.
a)
b)
Homework can help teachers see which students need more help than others.
1.
Students who genuinely need help will be easily assisted if their homework is not correct
or if the student skipped problems they had trouble with.
a)

Clover 3
b)
2.
a)
b)
Children deserve the chance to just be children without the pressure of tons of homework
weighing upon them. As discussed throughout the body of this argument, homework is not
beneficial to students when it begins to disrupt their learning ability and negatively affect their
health. This being said, homework is beneficial when it helps students practice and remember
important concepts without demanding strenuous work effort. Although students do need
homework to help them prepare for college and future careers, they should not be given more
than 10 minutes per grade level, as overworking children at a young age negatively affects an
adolescents well-being and leaves less time for family, friends, and extracurricular pursuits.

Works Cited:
Parker, Clifton B. "Stanford Research Shows Pitfalls of Homework." Stanford News Report.
Stanford University, 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.
<http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/march/too-much-homework-031014.html>.
Wallace, Kelly. "Kids Have Three times Too Much Homework, Study Finds- CNN.com." CNN.
Cable News Network, 12 Aug. 2015. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/12/health/homework-elementary-school-study/>.
Wilde, Marian. "Do Our Kids Have Too Much Homework?" GreatKids. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov.
2015. <http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/homework-is-too-much/>.
Cooper, Harris, et al. "Relationships among attitudes about homework, amount of homework
assigned and completed, and student achievement." Journal of educational psychology
90.1 (1998): 70.