Too Much Homework

The controversial topic of homework and to clarify, this question: do students get too much homework? comes up all the time in many conversations among students and adults. Many people say students get loads homework creating difficulty with finding time for other activities because the homework takes hours to complete. On the other hand, many other people say students need more homework each night.

Countless teachers give homework with the intention that students will use it to help them better understand the lesson or practice for a test. The teachers believe it is valuable for the students to complete their homework, while many of the students believe otherwise, that it wastes their time.

The students argue that homework takes a substantial number of hours to complete each night. For many students, especially those who have AP classes, will spend upwards of two or three hours doing homework each night. Many students with multiple AP classes spend four or five hours completing their homework. “I spend at least two hours doing homework every night and that is on the easier nights,” Marisa Gaboury, Jenison High School student mentioned.

Although the teachers believe homework is helpful, the students beg to differ. The students usually believe it is a waste of time. Students believe it provides an insufficient supply of support because figuring out how to complete the assignment, at home without a teacher, or it will be uneasy for them. Maria Hoezee, a student at Jenison High School says “homework is not helpful because I don’t know how to do it, so it makes me even more confused. So it is not helpful.”

Students also spend lots of time doing homework on the weekends. Mycah Kasper says she gets more homework on the weekends than on a normal weeknight. “I usually have to study on the weekends for big tests coming up. I also have to work on packets for math a lot on the weekends,” Kasper, a student at Jenison High School said. The whole purpose of weekends is to have a break from the long week of school.

“I usually have to study on the weekends for big tests coming up. I also have to work on packets for math a lot on the weekends.”

Homework holds back students from doing the activities they love. Students have to manage school, work, sports, spending time with family and friends, let alone time to sleep, and homework on top of all of that! That is a lot to accomplish on each teenager’s plate each night. Gaboury says, “For my mom’s birthday we all wanted to go out to eat together. I couldn’t go with my family because I had too much homework to do. I had to stay at home.”

Although many teachers believe homework is helpful, considering the thoughts of their students would be helpful for each student to better manage their time. It would also be a great idea for the teachers to limit homework because when they do have to assign homework, the students are fine with it because they rarely get homework from that teacher.

As you can see, students do get loads homework each night. They rarely have enough time to do their homework each night, let alone the activities they love. For example, hanging out with friends, going to sporting events, and spending time with family.