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Zoe Lenney

Professor Arnold

English 1101

4 December 2020

The Abolition of Homework

All of us have experienced nights where we dreadfully sit down to start our homework,

mentally and physically drained, only to realize that an immense amount of work must be

completed by the following day. Kids spend numerous hours each day working diligently on

repetitive homework assignments. Teachers hand out these assignments nightly while never

realizing how much stress this puts on kids. Students have other priorities that are important but

cannot be fulfilled if all their time is spent on homework. Although homework can be beneficial

in some ways, it has multiple downfalls as well. Students should not be required to turn in

homework in order to benefit their social lives, reduce stress, and strengthen their mental health.

First of all, as schools hand out homework they minimize time for socialization. If a

student does not finish their work in class they are told to finish at home. If that child has after

school activities it gives them less time to work on that assignment once they arrive home.

Vicki Abeles, director and producer, wrote an essay called, “Why Homework Should Be Banned

From Schools.” Abeles explains how she had to pull her kids out of sports to be able to finish

their homework in time. “We cut back on their activities but still found ourselves stuck in a

system of overdrive, returning home from hectic days at 6 p.m. only to face hours more of

homework.” (Abeles) Kids need to spend time with their peers outside of school especially at

such a young age. By pulling kids from after-school activities it does not give them time to

socialize with people. Not only does homework take away time from friends, but it also restricts
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kids from spending time with their families. A vast majority of kids that attend school find their

personality and who they want to be by having social interactions with others around them.

Conversing with different people is a key factor in emotional growth and it enables kids to react

to other individuals and have their own opinion. By removing homework it will create an

additional amount of time for kids and teenagers to spend with their peers and learn more about

one another.

Additionally, if schools did not require homework it could reduce stress greatly. Many

students know how frustrating and stressful it can be when they come home after practice and

begin their homework. Time is something that kids and teenagers lack, and prioritizing school

work over other necessary activities can increase stress. Not only can homework be stressful for

the student, but adults may struggle as well. Younger students tend to rely on their parents to

help them with their homework. Toni Hagris, author and blogger, talks about her struggles to aid

her children with their work. “For me to help them, they first have to teach me their method so

that I can see where they’ve gone wrong. If they don’t fully understand that method, it all falls

apart very quickly.” (Hagris) Teachers teach their students differently than what their parents

learned when they were students. Parents are able to tell their child the correct answer, but if

they cannot show their work the proper way they will be given no points for that problem. Many

late nights are spent with a parent and child sitting at the dining room table. Tears stream down

the students’ face, while the parent is on the verge of going insane because they cannot figure out

the “right way” to solve the problem. Unnecessary stress and arguments could be avoided by not

requiring students to turn in homework.

However, some people might argue that homework can be beneficial and important for

academic growth. Homework can differ from person to person and can provide a schedule to
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daily lives. The repetition of the assignments also gives students extra practice for tests and

quizzes. Information is gathered from these assignments and it is used to find out what material

is challenging for the students. They can then use this information in class and spend more time

on topics that are not fully understood. Superintendent, Derrick Meador, states that “Homework

is an opportunity for teachers to provide individualized instruction geared specifically to an

individual student.” (Meador) While this may be true, teachers should not expect kids to finish

a thirty-minute assignment for every class each night just to get a better understanding of their

needs. Although it may benefit some students' understanding of the criteria that is being taught,

homework might not be necessary for all students to understand what is going on in the

classroom.

Finally, overwhelming amounts of nightly homework can worsen students' mental health.

Mental health can determine how people make choices. When a teenager’s mental health is not

where it should be, the result can be bad decision-making. Clifton B. Parker works for the

Stanford news service and wrote about a study based on the mental health of students by Denis

Pope. “ In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep

deprivation and other health problems.” (Pope) Some students might stay up for hours to

achieve the best grades possible, which might result in going to bed at a later time. Eventually,

kids could develop depression from overworking and trying to live up to the school’s

expectations or battling with sleep deprivation. To fix this problem, teachers should teach the

first half of the class, while the second half is used for homework. This way students have time

to ask questions in person, and are getting the extra practice that they need.

All in all, homework can cause stressful situations at home, worsen mental health, and

decrease the social lives of students. Parents and teachers should talk with their students about
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what their feelings are toward homework. Ask them if it can be stressful at times, or even

overwhelming. This way both the parent and the teacher can figure out what is the best way for

the child to learn. In order to create a healthier and happier environment schools should consider

banning homework overall.

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Works Cited

Abeles, Vicki. “Why Homework Should Be Banned From Schools.” Time, Time, 14 Apr. 2017,

time.com/4740297/homework-should-be-banned-from-schools/.

Hargis, Toni. “A Parent's View of Homework: I Waver between Tolerance and Outright Hatred.”

The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 14 July 2015,

www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/jul/14/parents-view-homework-tolerance-h

atred.

Meador, Derrick. “Purposeful Homework Should Be Standard School Practice.” ThoughtCo.,

ThoughtCo., 22 July 2019. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/FHXTRU360818447/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=ac22

ad2d.

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

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