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Jeremy Sun
Ms. Johnson
English III
26 September 2016
Homework: Are We Getting Too Much?
Homework has been long thought of as an effective way to improve on academics, but is
it really working? The answer is no. Many high schools across the nation give their students
more than three hours of homework per night, but their performances do not demonstrate
mastery as completing homework was thought to achieve. Countless studies have shown that
excessive homework actually diminishes its own effects. Excessive homework can actually
negatively affect students because it causes stress, reduces time for extracurricular activities, and
does not actually help.
First, homework causes stress. Stress, being a common mental strain, has extended to the
student body. The age where homework starts to stress children is becoming lower, some
children even reporting concerning levels of stress due to homework in early elementary school
(Cordz). Children should not be stressed at elementary level. Elementary and middle school were
supposed to aid them in building sufficient academic skills that will help them thrive in high
school and college. Research also establish homework as a major source of stress between family
members. Despite this meager support for homeworks academic benefits, interactions around
homework at home are a major source of stress and conflict between parents and children (Katz
406). Many parents have attempted to help their child with homework, but are oftentimes
unsuccessful because they may have learned different forms of the same knowledge or simply

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werent taught it. This leads to frustration and anger which obviously will cause conflict. These
factors overtime can contribute to serious mental health problems.
Secondly, homework takes away freetime. Most importantly sleep time. A study done in
2013 has shown that 60 out 102 students surveyed said that they only have 3-6 hours of sleep on
weeknights and 86 reported that it was because of homework (see figure 1). The average person
requires 8 hours of sleep per day to have maximum performance. If homework is taking away
students sleep, what good does it do? As if taking away sleep time was not enough, homework
also makes students drop extracurricular activities. In fact, 60.9 percent of the students said that
schoolwork or homework frequently keeps them from other things, such as spending time with
family and friends; a similar percentage (60.3 percent) reported having to drop an activity they
enjoy because of school-work and other demands (Conner). As many people have been
informed that colleges look for participation and involvement in students, and sometimes it even
outweighs academic performance. If homework prevents students from participating in sports,
clubs, etc, how will it improve academics?

Figure 2. Student Sleep Statistics. The Tartan. TheTartan.org. 2013.

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Finally, homework doesnt actually help. As much as people want to believe that doing
homework can improve test scores, it doesnt. According to prior researches: There does seem
to be a correlation between homework and standardized test scores, but it isnt strong, meaning
that homework doesnt explain much of the variance in scores (Strauss). Since homework
doesnt help with test scores, there is no reason to pressure them on completion. However, this
does not mean that homework is completely useless. Certain subjects like math and science
require constant practice to ensure accuracy and speed. Still, too much of it can counter effect the
gains from homework. In a study done by Denise Pope from Stanford University: They cite
prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that
90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school (Parker). Most high school
students receive more than they need and oftentimes leads to boredom and loss of interest
resulting in minimal knowledge acquired from homework.
On the whole, even though homework is usually associated with academic improvement,
there is no proof that it is effective. While accounting for a small percentage of grades,
homework may diminish its own effects if excessive amounts amounts are applied. In order to
maximize positive effects of homework, limiting the amount so that it can be completed in 2
hours is optimal. If the method of education was to advance, it would most likely begin with the
reduction of homework and eventually elimination.

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Works Cited
Anne-Sophie, Kim. Student Sleep statistics. TheTartan.org, Carnegie Mellon University,
Pittsburgh, November 8, 2013, http://thetartan.org/2013/11/18/news/sleep.

Conner, Jerusha, Denise Pope, and Mollie Galloway. Success With Less Stress.
Educational Leadership, Ebscohost.com, 2009,
http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=94324dc8-c53d-48a8-81c008594d856d44%40sessionmgr103&vid=0&hid=128&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2
ZQ%3d%3d#AN=45463471&db=afh.

Cordz, Emily. Does Homework Cause Stress in Children? OutOfStress.com, Out Of Stress,
http://www.outofstress.com/homework-and-stress/.

Katz, Idit, Tamara Buzukashvili and Liat Feingold. Homework Stress: Construct Validation of a
Measure. Journal of Experimental Education, Ebscohost.com, 2012,
http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=46e98cec-b59c-4585-9b1c7d366181b03c
%40sessionmgr102&vid=0&hid=128&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d
%3d#AN=78530909&db=afh.

Parker, Clifton B. "Stanford research shows pitfalls of homework." news.stanford.edu, Stanford

News, March 10, 2014, http://news.stanford.edu/2014/03/10/too-much-homework031014/.

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Strauss, Valerie. Homework: An Unnecessary Evil? Surprising Findings from New

Research. Washington Post, The Washington Post, 26 Nov. 2012,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2012/11/26/homework-anunnecessary-evil-surprising-findings-from-new-research/.