Buried Alive: The Constitution of Homework

The clock strikes midnight as the stressed-out student looks upon the mountains of homework still waiting to be accomplished. Does this seem relevant to your life? Many students suffer from having to do many hours of homework at night, every single night. While the act of homework can create closer teacher-student bonds and help students work through difficult concepts, plethora amounts and hours of school work can create loss of sleep and exercise as well as cause a lack of comprehension as a result of cheating. Sending kids home to do more work does have some benefits, but the logic of it is lost when the repetitive act becomes quite harmful to kids. All in all, the doctrine of homework is in dangerous need of revision.

Students spend 8-10 hours a day at an educational facility, using all their time sitting down, writing and taking notes. The only time they are allowed to move is during passing periods and gym class (which is only required to take for one year). Not only do they not get exercise, they also never have the chance to go outside. After school , they go home to relax for maybe an hour or two, eat dinner, and then theoretically go back to school for 3-6 hours by doing mounds of homework provided by their hardworking teachers. According to Technology, Inc, “The pressure of having to complete homework every night is quite daunting for most children and they need time to refresh their minds and bodies.” So, in a week, these students work for their grades five days for about 16 hours a day(not including weekend work)with minimal exercise and time for themselves. These events don’t leave much time for the most essential part of keeping your brain cognitive; Sleeping is vital to keep our brains at their maximum potential for learning and developing new skills. Enforcing the theory that students are less likely to complete homework, or cheat to finish it, because they don’t have the time required. “I end up going to sleep at midnight-2 and I have to wake up the next morning and complete it because I get so tired and so drained… I’ll read the same page five times… I’ll wake up at five or six to jump back on it and go to band at 7:30 to practice my instrument,” Josh LaBauve, junior at Deer Park High School said. Josh is involved in all advanced classes, is ranked in the top 3% of his class, participates in National Honor Society, Student Council, Spanish National Honor Society, Special Olympics, Rise Club, heavily involved in his church, is Secretary of the AP Scholars club, Vice President of Mu Alpha Theta, and Vice President of band. Many Students that have this amount of homework and extracurricular activities they participate in, will not be able to comprehend the work given from the teacher, resulting in potential and most likely cheating. The fact of the matter is, when students are constantly busy with the work their school provides them, there is no time to develop other skills or relationships in their lives outside of the classroom.

We will concur that there are some beneficial factors to doing homework. Students believe that homework does help them through confusing and challenging curriculum. When focusing on a particular difficult subject, having the practice at home assists in advancing the students’ understanding. “I don’t like it, but it really helps if you don’t understand something,” Melaina Bagget, junior at Deer Park High School said. Melaina is involved with both Choir and Church, as well as taking all advanced classes. Should students experience the point of difficulty to where they cannot complete their homework efficiently or correctly, they can always go to

their teacher for advice or help. In short, doing homework also helps teachers and students work closer together. Students that have questions, concerns, or confusion about their curriculum can go in for tutorials before or after school. Technology, Inc. also offers the advice that students, “can discuss their assignments or any problems that they are having with parts of their textbooks” with their teachers. Conferring with students allows teachers to understand their personal ways of learning; whether visually, auditory, or hands-on participation. Not all methods of teaching reach every child, and in many cases, kids fail assignments or tests due to poor communication or insufficient notes and class discussions.

We understand homework could have beneficial effects to students by giving extra practice for difficult subjects and creating closer bonds between students and teachers. However, the negative effects outweigh the positive. Students obtain little exercise as well as sleep, and they have minimum motivation to complete any work, resulting in cheating, and or, no comprehension of the subject. Students are victim to hours of homework as well as potential stress due to not being able to finish it all. Not every assignment helps all students to reach their highest potential in learning, therefore, the entire philosophy of homework is in desperate need of revision.