Article Summary: The Case Against Homework, By Alfie Kohn

I believe, as a student, that homework is just a tool that teachers use to keep us busy. Being a student who has received homework for various years, I have found that homework causes me a lot of stress (Ethos). Homework causes kids to get very stressed out, it causes stress in their families, and studies show that it does not improve test scores. Harris Cooper, a worker at Duke University (Ethos), found out that, doing more than 60 to 90 minute of homework in middle school and more than 2 hours in high school is associated with much lower scores (Logos). This just shows that homework is a useless item that students are forced to do. Firstly, students have to wake up from seven until two o'clock everyday,

In the beginning of the twentieth century homework was viewed as an exceptional practice that helped students learn through practice and repetition. In recent years parents and educators were concerned that homework is taking away from “social experience, outdoor recreation, and creative activities” These experiences are necessary to a good childhood. So, let’s think about it, is homework necessary for success in school?

One of the most controversial topics in education today is homework. This debate has been going on for decades, as teachers, administrators, and parents disagree on whether homework should be assigned, and if assigned, then what the right amount of homework should be. The time students spend on homework has increased over the years. “High school students get assigned up to 17.5 hours of homework per week, according to a survey of 1,000 teachers” (Bidwell). Recently, more fuel has been added in this debate because younger students in particular are receiving much more homework than before. Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing, states that “The amount of homework that younger kids – ages 6 to 9 – have

Have you ever wanted to just shred up your homework or throw it out the window and have no consequences? Kids are assigned daily homework from the time they start kindergarten at the ripe young age of five. Is it really necessary? Does it even help better learning or even higher test scores? The amount of homework we do wastes time, money, paper, and trees because it’s practically the exact same thing we did in class that day. Homework causes kid’s and teen’s frustration, tiredness, little time for other activities and possibly even a loss of interest in their education. It also keeps everyone up; it has kids and teens staying up until they finish it, the parents trying to help them and the teachers grading it. So, I think that homework is

It’s approaching midnight, the room is scattered with papers, and the only audible sound is the clicking of your pencil on the paper. You’ve been up for hours trying to finish your homework, which all seems so repetitive. You question how beneficial completing this homework actually is. A routine you all know too well. Homework has been a highly discussed topic for years. Everyone questions the benefits and reward. People should be informed about homework and the effects it actually has. Homework just causes stress, doesn't always help us learn the material, and doesn't prove to be helpful in standardized testing.

Teaching responsibility and proper time management is another valid argument for homework. After all, the ability to budget one’s time plays an essential role in higher education and throughout life. Yet, who is truly doing the time budgeting? Especially in elementary school,

Homework has been around for many years, and parents have had many questions and concerns about the impact it has on their children. Kate McReynolds states in her article Homework that, “In 1957, the Soviet launch of Sputnik challenged the intellectual and military might of the United States. The New York Times ran a series of articles describing the Soviet educational system as superior to the United States’ system. Congress passed the National Defense Education Act and America’s youngsters were charged with restoring the nation’s competitive edge” (2). This means that schools are under the pressure to make sure their students excel and work extremely hard. So by doing so, they assign homework, which will progress to other issues for the students.

Also, the quote proves that homework causes disinterest because student slaves away, memorizing worthless facts rather than learning about life and because of those facts can be hard to learn the student doesn't want to try any more. Both sides prove their point, but honestly, what is the better option, having homework and disinterested students who may have a higher achievement or no homework and interested students who may have lower achievement, but in the end because the students are disinterested, they don't want to engage homework, resulting in low achievement while interested students have fun in school and can easily end up having higher achievement than disinterested students. Because of both quotes, homework can become something positive, but it comes with a heavy negative effect, a once eager to learn student that now does not want to learn or teacher can remove homework and teach eager

Mills begins the article by touching upon the effectiveness of a no-homework policy. As explained, “They reported the no-homework policy has taken the stress out of their afternoons and evenings. In addition, it’s been easier for their children to participate in after-school activities” (Mills). Although this method has been expected to be advantageous for all students, this cannot be the case for all situations. For example, children in most schools, regardless of class difficulty, have homework count for at least some portion of their overall grade. If a student were to have a heavy load of assignments in all classes, the no-homework method may provide temporary relief. It would help ease their mind off of the topic and allow them to

Homework was a necessity because it was the only way the students were prepared for class the following day. By the 20th Century the PTA began to push their opinion in the battle of homework. They sought to have it irradiated as it was a distraction from the students learning process (Gill & Schlossman, 2004 pg. 175). There were pediatricians going as far to say that homework was the reason for the rise in health issues and the death toll. At this time educators, doctors, and scientists were all in agreeance that is was essential to educate the “whole child”. Thus, allowing time for distractions, play, and a life outside of school that was enriched. This would develop the child’s well-being in every aspect of life (Gill & Schlossman, 2004 pg. 176). During the Cold War, the issue of homework became a cause for concern. The Russians had achieved more than the American children. This began the achievement for excellence. As the curriculum in school changed homework was reinstated because the students needed to learn outside of school in order to prosper in academics (Gill & Schlossman, 2004

This article interviews Dr. Harrison Cooper, author and professor at Duke, about the current homework controversy. Media, along with many other outlets, discuss the homework controversy: is it unecessary or valuable practice? Cooper says that people's’ views on homework has changed very little and it has proven to be somewhat of a cycle. For example, throughout the 20th century people’s views have continued to flip back and forth for various reasons. Some of the reasons listed in the article is that homework puts too much stress on the child, they need to practice and exercise their brain, and needing to keep up with the Japanese (Walker). However, the actual amount of homework that students get has changed very little. For example, elementary

Well hate to break it to you but in some cases that is not true. First of all, it doesn't really affect that much of a student’s intelligence and homework isn’t really that useful. Example number one, ”In the Netherlands, nearly one out of five fourth graders reported doing no homework on an average school night, even though Dutch fourth graders put their country in the top 10 in terms of average math scores in 2007.” Number two and yes the Pope was involved,”Pope pointed out that students can learn challenging skills even when less homework is assigned.” Number three, ”At a national level, the answer is clearly no. Worldwide, homework is not associated with high national levels of academic achievement.” This evidence proves that some of people's “precious” homework is actually something that doesn't even really help students become any better in class. It is an opinion but homework can’t really help kids do better in school and to be honest how many kids do you think even do their homework and even if they did it probably won’t even help them because they could still have trouble with the

Historically, homework has been an essential aspect of the American educational system because teachers assign homework to enhance students’ learning outcomes. According to Cooper, homework involves tasks assigned to students by schoolteachers; these tasks are meant to be carried out during noninstructional

In recent years, the abolition of homework has been a hotly debated topic in the educational field. During the early 20th century, educators held the belief that homework strengthened students minds and created a sense of responsibility as well as developed good time management skills. However, in recent years, growing concerns that homework interferes with home activities and takes valuable free time out of student’s lives have gotten more and more attention. Research has also shown that excessive amounts of homework has lead to tremendous amounts of stress for students, as well as parents. In China, unfinished and excessive amounts of homework has lead students to commit suicide. Schools assign and expect too

Many students in school struggle to complete piles of homework assigned to them each night. Some wonder if homework is really critical to learning, and many wish homework wouldn’t exist at all. These people argue that homework is overwhelming and it takes away most of their free time at home and is just “busy work”. While some people may feel this way, I personally believe that homework is a key point of learning because it teaches time management and helps solidify what was learned during the day.