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Jennah Chu

English 3H: Block 5

Ms. Storer

November 26, 2019

Homework, Less is More

Imagine someone up late at night, eyes wide open from the amount of coffee one drank to

stay awake, frantically typing in the middle of the night in front of a bright computer screen, not

only struggling to stay awake, but to complete their homework. According to Stanford

University, in poll of 2,116 high school students in California, “82% agreed that they were often

or always stressed by schoolwork” (Pope 4). Although homework can be beneficial towards

helping improve student achievements, too much of it is proven to be disadvantageous by being

harmful to our health, depriving students’ time with others, and encouraging cheating.

The most glaring problem with the massive homework loads teachers tend to assign is the

damage it can do to a student’s health. One may argue that the use of homework will benefit

students for their futures in college. According to research published in the High School Journal,

"[100 students] scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers,

who reported spending no time on homework each day on average” (Maltese 64). This shows

one of the beneficial effects on homework and how it can help students get ready for their

futures. Although this shows that homework is beneficial, the side effects on a student’s health

says otherwise, for with great achievement comes hard work, even if this means taking a toll on

one’s health. High-achieving high school students state that homework is also proven to lead to

“sleep deprivation and other health problems such as headaches, exhaustion, weight loss, and

stomach problems” (Parker). Due to homework, the outcome is the effects of the students’ health
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which is worth much more because it can put the students at risk for medical problems in the

long run. This is significant because students sacrifice their health to complete their homework

everyday by pushing themselves which leads to stress, sleep deprivation, and other side effects.

This proves the harmful effects that homework has on students because health should not be

something worth sacrificing for a couple assignments especially if it is almost every day for long

hours.

Homework is also proven to be disadvantageous because it deprives students’ time with

others, such as family and friends. Based on my experience of being a high school student, I do

not have a lot of free time on my hands due to the excessive amount of homework, that turns into

busy work, that is assigned to me. Homework made me feel like a caged bird in my room. My

hands are usually occupied typing or holding a pencil and frantically writing, struggling to finish

my homework for four to six hours a day. Due to this, I barely have any time to spend with my

family and friends. There have been times where my parents had to cancel our family-day plans

or when I would have to cancel plans with my friends because I had to stay at home and

complete my homework. Normally homework takes me about six hours per day to finish (around

two hours per class). According to a survey conducted by the University of Phoenix College of

Education, “For high school students who typically have five classes with different teachers, that

could mean as much as 17.5 hours each week” (UOPX News). Students normally do not have a

lot of time to spend with family, friends, and others due to the long hours they take to complete

their homework. They do not even have time sometimes to enjoy their weekends because they

probably are trying to finish all their homework due during Monday and Tuesday. This proves

that over excessive homework deprives students from the time they could be spending with

others because of the long hours that assignments sometimes take to complete.
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Finally, homework proves to be disadvantageous because it encourages students to cheat.

According to a survey by the Educational Testing Services students have admitted on cheating

on their homework, “Excessive homework leads to cheating… 67% of high school students

admit to copying someone else's homework… Even parents take shortcuts on homework: 43% of

those surveyed admitted to having completed a child's assignment for them” (McClure).

According to the Josephson Institute of Ethics who interviewed 20,829 middle and high school

students in 1998, one of the high school students admitted, “Since I can't do it all, we have to cut

somewhere” (AdCouncil). Excessive amounts of homework lead to bad habits such as cheating

because students just want to finish and minimize the time to complete their assignments.

Cheating seems like the logical solution to one’s homework load because it is sometimes simply

impossible to get everything done on time. My sister used to receive answers for her homework

from my mom back when she attended private school. Usually she is independent and knows

what to do for most of her assignments, but when she attended private school, she was given too

much homework and she often had to stay up very late to complete them. My mom would get

worried and stay up with her to help her finish her assignments, often giving her the answers, so

she could go to bed. This is significant because my sister was probably around fourth to fifth

grade when this happened and elementary students should not be receiving over excessive

amounts of homework that force them to stay up late. This proves that too much homework leads

to cheating not only in high school, but in all grade levels because it minimizes time on

assignments.

Due to the research and evidence towards the effects of homework on students, too much

homework is disadvantageous. Even though it can be beneficial towards helping improve student

achievements, too much homework is proven to be disadvantageous by harming students’ health,

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depriving students’ time with others, and encouraging cheating. If students are given less

homework, they will have a positive mindset to learn, for less is more.
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Works Cited

“20 Pros and Cons of Homework.” Vittana.org, 2019, vittana.org/20-pros-and-cons-of-

homework.

AdCouncil, "Cheating Is a Personal Foul: Academic Cheating Background," glass-castle.com

(accessed Aug. 16, 2018)

Bidwell, Allie. “Students Spend More Time on Homework but Teachers Say It's Worth It.” U.S.

News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 27 Feb. 2014, 3:27 p.m.,

www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/02/27/students-spend-more-time-on-homework-

but-teachers-say-its-worth-it.

Is Homework Beneficial? - Top 3 Pros and Cons.” ProConorg Headlines, 27 Sept. 2018,

www.procon.org/headline.php?headlineID=005411.

Maltese, Adam, et al. “When Is Homework Worth the Time?: Evaluating the Association

Between Homework and Achievement in High School Science and Math.” The High

School Journal, Jan. 2012,

www.researchgate.net/publication/236805115_When_is_Homework_Worth_the_Time_Ev

aluating_the_Association_Between_Homework_and_Achievement_in_High_School_Scie

nce_and_Math.

McClure, Robin. “Why Parents Help Too Much With Their Kid's Homework.” Verywell Family,

Verywell Family, 12 Sept. 2019, www.verywellfamily.com/do-you-do-your-childs-

homework-617225.
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Parker, Clifton B. “Stanford Research Shows Pitfalls of Homework.” Stanford News, 16 Apr.

2016, news.stanford.edu/2014/03/10/too-much-homework-031014/.

Pope, Denise, et al. “Stanford Survey of Adolescent School Experiences Report.” Challenge

Success, 2017,

static1.squarespace.com/static/55a558bbe4b066864fb69179/t/59f2309c692670b730d9ee81

/1509044391664/MCHS+CS+Survey+Report+2017.pdf.

UOPX News. “University of Phoenix Survey Finds That American K-12 Teachers Assign Less

Homework Than Often Perceived.” University of Phoenix Survey Finds That American

K-12 Teachers Assign Less Homework Than Often Perceived, University of Phoenix

News, 29 Aug. 2017, www.phoenix.edu/news/releases/2017/08/uopx-finds-teachers-

assign-less-homework-than-perceived.html.