Homework Woes

The concept of homework has long been debated. Students do work at school and then go home only to do more work. However, it may be more than just students complaining about work. Homework may be beneficial as it provides more practice, but it may be negatively affecting students more than people think.

Research has proven that homework can be beneficial for students’ education. The High School Journal has recorded data, showing that students who spent 31 to 90 minutes on homework per day scored about 40 more points than their peers who spent no time on homework each day.

Now, although homework can be beneficial and helpful towards students’ education, it can also be detrimental to their mental health.

Too much homework can cause an extremely unhealthy amount of stress. Quintin Pascua, a sophomore at James Campbell High School (JCHS) said, “I spend at least eight hours on homework per day,” but adds, “homework is the major factor that’s putting stress on me.” Pascua also has to do chores, such as taking out the trash, doing the dishes, and vacuuming. He also has younger siblings that he needs to help his parents take care of, especially during pandemic quarantine that requires his parents to work from home.

Ava Gostage, another sophomore, gave an example of one of her usual homework assignments, “It’s usually about a 40-page chapter that we have to take notes on. And then on top of that, we have to write summaries and reflections, finish processing activities, any extra work that she assigns, and that’s only a B. If we want to get an A then we have to do even more work, like extra processing activities.”

Both Pascua and Gostage agreed that with the amount of homework assigned, it’s causing them a lot of stress, and Pascua even stated he believes it’s having a negative impact on his mental health.

Maddycin Mamasig, a freshman, even went as far as to say that, “I cry over homework once or twice a week at the least, and I think that a lot of other students can relate to it.” Frequently crying over something such as schoolwork is something that probably shouldn’t be happening.

Mamasig also mentioned that she has extracurricular activities, such as dance three times a week, that can last up to four hours. With this, homework, and chores, it can become extremely overwhelming.

However, Mamasig does admit that homework can be helpful, as the extra practice can be good for them. At the same time, she said, “If it’s an overwhelming amount of work, it’s repetitive and overdone, causing stress.”

Now although students claim that they have a lot of homework, a lot of teachers have actually agreed that they don’t assign homework, and some don’t even believe in homework. They also propose that there may be other reasons that students feel like they have a lot, when they may not.

Jennifer Hashimoto, Advanced Placement (AP) teacher said, “I think homework is good in certain situations.” She gave an example for her own class, as she teaches AP World History, and explains that students need to have content knowledge before coming into class. She also shares that as long as any homework is purposeful, then it’s significant as it provides good practice.

Concerning the amount of time it takes to finish homework, Hashimoto proposes the idea that it may not take as long as students are claiming. “Sometimes in the past, when we ask them ‘what are you doing for these three hours it takes you to read this one section?’ A lot of times, yes, maybe it’s three hours for them to complete it. But also in those three hours, they’ve chatted with their friends, they’ve watched a couple of videos, or went on social media. So it’s about using your time efficiently.” So, it’s not that they’re necessarily lying about the amount of time, but they may not be on task for the whole entire time.

On the other hand, Janice Duldulao, an English teacher, said, “Homework to me, is only given to you unless you didn’t finish things that are in class. So I don’t necessarily really believe in assigning homework.” 

Jo-Hannah Liz Valdez, a math teacher, also said, “I don’t think that homework is significant, just because we assign so much more homework than before. And I know the rationale is that they’re always learning, they’re always practicing. But I’ve never met a person who’s always practicing their craft that often. If we even look at Olympians, yes they have their hard training schedule. But if they over train then there’s more injury, they’re more likely to not do well because they’re overworked and they’re tired. So why is it not the same with students?”

Something that all three teachers do understand, however, is that students have chores and other things outside of school and homework. Especially because of COVID-19, they’ve all shared their concern about students having to watch over siblings or grandparents.

So considering this, what is the true reason that students are taking so long on homework? Is it teachers assigning a lot of it, or perhaps is it students getting distracted? And, how do we lessen the amount of stress that homework has been giving students?

Students need to understand that it is beneficial, but maybe need to manage their time better so it’s not taking them “as long.” At the same time, teachers should understand how it may be impacting students, and some are already aware. Overall, students and teachers should try to find a good balance so that students can excel, without their mental health suffering because of it.