Students have complained about doing their homework since their kindergarten teacher told them to take their coloring sheet home and finish it. The hatred towards homework has only grown as years have passed by and the pile of work has gotten larger. Teachers and parents have always deemed the kids who have complaints about homework as “lazy” or “unmotivated,” but in most cases, that’s not true. The students that are driven and dedicated to their work are the ones most negatively affected by homework. Many students put their whole heart into every assignment they turn in and are hurt by homework assignments. 

Every student spends around 7 hours a day sitting at a desk trying to retain as much information as possible. Finally, after spending a good majority of their day at school they get to go home and spend a few more hours focusing on the same thing. How are students supposed to have time for social life outside of school? How are students supposed to have time for activities they love? How are working students supposed to manage a job plus all these hours of school work? There isn’t enough time in the day to do everything, something has to give.

The time that high achieving students will spend on an assignment making sure there are no mistakes and that it’s absolutely perfect can cause more harm than good. The stress, exhaustion, physical health problems, family conflict, lack of time for other activities, and resentment towards learning are all possible effects that too much homework can have on students. Although that lengthy list of consequences may seem overdramatized, it is the honest reality for many students.    

The negative effects of homework are usually connected to obsessive amounts of it, having a smaller, more reasonable load will not result in nearly as many stressed, tired students. Maybe having eight math problems to do at night instead of 20 or two chapters to read for English instead of seven, a small change in the amount of work can have incredible effects. Homework should be done in a healthy way where students can actually learn something. 

Some teachers, administrators, and parents do have a more positive outlook on homework and its effects. The extra practice, self-discipline, good work habits, and character building are a few of the benefits students may gain from homework. It really comes down to the fact of whether the good could ever outweigh the bad in this situation.  

Students’ mental and physical health should not be determined by the amount of homework their teachers choose to assign. Most students, especially high achieving ones, will say they’re usually stressed out about their homework. Even on weekends or breaks the thought of lingering homework is present and can quickly consume students’ lives. The overall success of a student is not dependent on whether they were assigned enough homework and the narrative that students who complain about their homework assignments are just lazy is far from the truth.