Negative Effects of Homework Essay Example
Imagine coming home from school and not having to worry about anything school-related like homework. Instead, you get to lay down and watch your favorite TV show or movie. Then you get to go hang out with your friends and do anything that you want. If only this were the case for most if not all students. Teachers constantly give homework to students without thinking of how it might affect students. Researchers have proven over time that homework causes stress, lack of a normal sleep schedule, and homework has no real benefit for the student. These research studies show that homework has more negative effects than positive effects people think they have.
One of the main reasons teachers should not give homework to students is because it causes the student to have stress. A research study, conducted at Stanford University, found that the students who spend a lot of time on their homework experience stress. This study found that 70 percent of students felt stressed over school work and 56 percent said that homework was their primary stressor (Sandra Levy 2019). The research study presents a substantial piece of evidence to show why homework causes stress by using statistics. Furthermore, another study said the biggest cause of stress in children is homework. The stress caused by homework exceeds the stress caused by bullying, self-esteem, and parental expectations (Danielle Radin 2018). Based on these research studies, homework should not be given to students because it causes stress.
Another reason homework should not be given to students is because it can cause an irregular sleep schedule. Students who have to stay up late having to do homework do not get the recommended amount of sleep for their age. However, some might say that with good time management students would not have to stay up late doing homework. Nord Anglia claims that homework can help kids develop the skill of time management and use that skill towards doing their homework (2021). However, even if students are good at managing time they may still have to stay up late doing homework because of the amount they have to do. Dr. Craig Canapari, director of the Yale Pediatric Sleep Center, claims “The combination of heavy homework loads is a major cause of sleep deprivation and consequent stress in teens’, but this can be a problem even in younger kids' (2015). Dr. Canapari’s analysis explains that having too much homework and staying up late to finish it can cause disruptions in teens' and younger kids' sleep schedules. In another article by Dr. Canapari, he states that little sleep makes children obese, sleepiness can cause car accidents, and insufficient sleep can lead to mental health problems (2012). Dr. Canapari’s articles show that sleep deprivation from having to do homework late can cause negative side effects.
Finally, students should not be given homework because there are no benefits to students doing homework. There is no evidence that homework has academic benefits for students (Alfie Kohn 2007). No study has shown that homework can make a student smarter or make them high achievers (Justin Coulson 2014). Since there has been no study that correlates homework to academic success, why would homework be given to students especially when the negative effects are overwhelming? Since there are no benefits of doing homework it should not be given to students.
In conclusion, research studies have shown that homework has more negative effects than positive effects. Homework causes students to develop stress, lack a normal sleep schedule, and homework has no benefits. Students that have homework, especially a lot of homework, experience stress. Also, students who have a big workload of homework end up having to stay up late to finish homework, which disrupts their sleep schedule. Furthermore, there are no studies that show homework has beneficial effects. Thus, teachers should not be giving homework to students because there are many negative effects.
