Homework seems to have become troublesome for numerous students. When homework starts to consume students’ personal time, it can become a source of stress.
Many students claim that they spend several hours on homework every night, even after having done school work all day at school.
“I typically spend around 2-3 hours a night doing homework,” freshman Lauriana Guillory said.
Many also feel that it can be a struggle to maintain a healthy balance between her homework and personal life, limiting her time with her family.
“It takes up too much of my life,” freshman Penny Weldon said.
Weldon has found herself in a situation where she can’t use homework to study because she doesn’t have enough time to do it, causing her grades to drop.
“Homework negatively affects my grades because I often can’t get it done in time,” Weldon said.
Not having enough time to complete homework can cause students to sacrifice their sleep for their assignments to get done on time.
A study by Oxford Learning shows that homework can have many negative effects on a student’s health. “Too much homework can result in lack of sleep, headaches, exhaustion, and weight loss,” a researcher from Stanford University said.
“I usually stay awake until midnight if I have homework to complete,” Weldon said.
The school day is about 8 hours long, yet students may have to continue working when they get home.
“We should be able to finish our work in the 8 hours we spend at school, not have to spend our valuable time at home to do it,” Guillory said.
Though homework can have various negative effects on a student, its original purpose was to benefit students and develop their learning. A study titled “Stanford research shows pitfalls of homework”
conducted by Denise Pope Senior Lecturer at the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University recognizes both the drawbacks and benefits of studying outside of the classroom.
“Any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development,” Pope said.
