7 reasons homework should be banned | Vera Huang - Grade 9 - Taipei Teen Tribune (2024)

Homework takes up a big part of children’s lives. The 21st century has been a homework-heavy era. Kids spend days and nights on book reports, math problems, literature essays, and science posters. Therefore, homework is an inevitable part of the educational experience.

After decades of debate, people still argue over the necessity of homework. For some people, it is seen as “wrecking kids” or even “killing parents.” These people are right. Without homework, the life of both students, and even parents, would be way better. Here’s why:

1. Students are given way too much homework

Homework is an important part of being successful both inside and outside of the classroom, but too much of it can actually hinder success. Students who spend too much time on homework are not always able to meet other needs, like being physically and socially active.

The National Education Association and the National Parent-Teacher Association have agreed on a “10-minute rule” which is the standard amount of time students should spend on homework. The rule states that students should spend 10 minutes a night, per grade level working on homework.

However, a study by the University of Phoenix showed that (mentioned in the above link) students ranging from grade 9 to grade 12 are assigned 210 minutes a night. These students are dealing with increasingly large amounts of homework – spending nearly twice the amount of time on homework

If there’s fewer homework or no homework at all, students will be more willing to finish their given assignments and have a greater sense of accomplishment. .

2. School is a full-time job

In Taiwan, for most kids school starts at 8 a.m. or even before that, and ends at about 5 p.m or later. That is around 9 hours of work that kids are pouring into their education every day. Add in the extracurricular activities that kids have to do in order to compete and survive in society, such as going to cram school, learning musical instruments, and playing sports, students can easily spend more than 10 hours a day for school-related activities.

3. Homework stresses students out

Homework is stressful. Based on a survey conducted by Stanford University, 56 percent of students consider homework a primary source of stress, while less than 1 percent of students said homework was not a stressor.

Also, more than 80 percent of students show symptoms of stress, such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss, and stomach problems. All of these bothersome stress and health issues are all thanks to homework.

Obviously, no homework equals no stress. Without homework, students don’t need to drain all their time sitting in front of their desk being burnt out and worrying about whether or not they turn in all of their assignments. Therefore, having no homework is an absolute paradise for students.

4. Homework provides no real benefit

Teachers believe that the more homework they give, the faster students will improve and remember what they have learned. However, that is not the case. Usually the more homework students get, the less they want to engage in learning. This makes homework a devil pushing students into a corner of stress, not a tool for encouraging them to learn more.

Spending too much time on homework is linked to a decrease in academic performance. Although homework might be a big factor in getting higher grades, it mostly has diminishing returns.

5. Too much homework means not enough time for yourself

Spending too much time on homework means that students are not meeting their developmental needs and other critical life skills. Students with too much homework are more likely to avoid participating in outside-of-school activities, such as sports, musical instruments, and many more.

Plus, if students spend all their time doing homework nonstop, they might not be able to learn essential skills for their future, such as being independent, learning how to cook, time management, or even socializing with others.

Many students feel forced to choose homework over discovering and developing other talents or skills. But with no homework, they could put more time into their own interests, such as dancing, playing video games, and painting and at the same time be able to fit into the society when they grow up.

6. No family time

The main issues for parents these days is that they don’t spend that much time with their kids. The second their children get home, kids start working on their homework and projects and barely have time to talk to their family simply because they’re too tired. Family time, shared evenings, weekend outings, and dinners are missed by those that are constantly spending time on homework. On the other hand, without homework, there would be more family bonding time, which makes families closer.

7. Normal sleep cycle

When students are tied down with loads of homework and projects, they tend to have irregular sleep patterns which can affect their biological clocks and hurt the quality of their sleep. For example, they stay up until two in the morning, just to finish one report. Then, once they get home the next night, they pass out and then wake up late at night to do their homework again. These cycles occur again and again in students’ daily life.

According to a Chinese study carried out in 2010 that found a link between excessive homework and sleep disruption, children who had less homework had better routines and more stable sleep schedules. Hence, without the main culprits to students’ weird sleep routines, children can have a more regular sleep and longer routine.

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Supporters of homework are actually driving kids away from learning, making them less successful in and out of school, and destroying their childhood by intruding on weekends, vacations, family meal times, children’s sleep time, play time, and down time.

Most students feel a burden with all their unnecessary homework. They soon feel numb and unmotivated rather than experiencing an engaging school life.