Does Homework Help or Hinder Academic Success Essay

The debate about homework has been going on for a long time. Some say too much homework is bad, but there are different views. There are some people that believe that there is a minimal relationship between homework and if it helps or hinder academic success. A little amount of homework is said to be linked to better school results as well. Homework may also have a small effect on how a student does in school on a test. Homework may hinder academic success due to lack of sleep, stress, and no fun in between work, but at least 2 hours may prove to be beneficial to healthy homework habits. There are two sides to this debate, one side that says that too much homework hinders academic success and the other saying that it doesn’t affect it at all. Too much homework takes away free time for children. Once children get home, depending on how much homework they get, they have to work on all their homework. For example, children need time to themselves to play and just have fun not do work all the time. Jessica Lahey the author of the article â€Å"I Hate Homework. I Assign It Anyway. † states, â€Å"Children need time to themselves to play, read and imagine. † (Page 2). This displays that there are some people who do agree with the fact that kids should have fun and play. They shouldn’t be bombarded with homework. Children should also be able to spend time with their family. Yes, they do see their parents’ everyday but they do not really get to spend time with them because of all the homework given to them. The article, â€Å"Homework’s Diminishing Returns† by Harris Cooper states, â€Å"Opponents of homework counter that it can also have negative effects like increasing boredom with schoolwork and reducing the time students have to spend on leisure activities that teach important life skills. † (Page 2). Spending time with their parents’ can help them and their children bond together and learn life lessons together. Overall, playing and having fun can really make a child happy instead of being upset about homework. It raises their morale and he or she will become much happier knowing that there can be breaks for fun from time to time. This can affect academic success positively because children will become more content with how things are doing that they won’t mind the little amount of homework as long as they can have a little fun still. Homework can also cause stress as well. At a young age a child should not be stressed. In other words, children could just become tired and tired of staying up all night doing homework. Jessica Lahey, the author of â€Å"I Hate Homework. I Assign It Anyway. † says â€Å"In her film, Ms. Abeles claims that today’s untenable and increasing homework load drives students to cheating, mental illness and suicide. † (Page 1). Children should not have to think about things like this because choices like that can affect their whole life. This will make them do anything to try and get homework out of the way. The stress factor is very large with children dealing with homework and this may cause even students from top schools to become frustrated. Jessica Lahey states in her article, â€Å"Even elite private schools in New York City are vowing to lighten their homework load. † (Page 1). This is very important to note because elite schools are obviously expected to give a lot of homework. If they’re willing to lower their homework then that must mean that even top students probably feel that all that homework is too much for them. The bottom line is that homework can cause children to make bad decisions and create more problems than what they seem to have. It may also hinder academic success because the bad decisions, if made, can cause that child to have too much on his or her mind to even pay attention to how well they’re doing in school. Although, there are bad sides to homework, there is also a good side of it. Two hours of homework can prove to be beneficial towards a child’s academic success. Harris Cooper states in his article, â€Å"Homework’s Diminishing Returns†, â€Å"A little amount of homework may help elementary school students build study habits and learn skills developed through practice. † (Page 1). This showcases that there is a good side to homework. This doesn’t necessarily mean that homework should be taken away completely, but it means that some homework is good for students. Creating study habits by doing some homework can help a student’s academic success because this will help them with future assignments and so he or she can remember what they learn. Some children also seem to like having an ample amount of homework as it doesn’t cause too much stress. Harris Cooper also writes, â€Å"All children can benefit from homework but it is a very rare child who will benefit from hours and hours of homework. (Page 2). This proves that only very few children can really have something to say about how many hours of homework allow them to improve on what they have done in school. While a couple of hours of homework can prove to help academic success positively, too much of it may be moving more towards the negative side. Homework can hinder academic success stress and no fun in between work, but at least 2 hours may prove to be beneficial to healthy homework habits. This shows that there are both sides of the argument shown. There can be less time to have fun, spend time with family; it can cause problems for students as well. Although there are many actions being done based on opinions, this debate still goes on and there may not be a solution at all. Many people have different beliefs on homework and what should be done about it. It may continue on for a while and more questions may branch out from the main question: does the amount of homework determine if it helps or hinders a student’s academic success?