Should Elementary Students Have Homework

A federal survey found that over 70% of American teachers give homework to students. Most of which is internet-based and needs to be turned in the next day. This dispute of whether elementary students should have homework or not has been going on for a long time now.

Elementary school students age from 6-13 years. These children are mostly dependent on their parents to help them with their homework. A survey shows that 43% of the parents admit to doing their child’s homework for them, which results in a negative impact on the child’s attitude towards studies.

Finland, a country known for the least amount of homework with less than 2.8 hours of schoolwork a week, followed by South Korea with 2.9 hours.

Homework has its pros and cons. These ongoing arguments and debates have put forward a number of reasons why students should have homework and why they should not. The amount of homework is the issue, not the actual homework. If it is less time consuming and allows the students to have some free time with their family and some extracurricular, then it’s good.

Why Elementary Students must have Homework

There are many benefits of providing homework to students:

1. Doing homework on a daily base can help students to prepare for their tests more efficiently. If they do not do well at a test they’ll be able to know where they lack and can work on their liabilities to do well at the final exam.
2. Moreover, it can bring parents and children together. In today’s modern world where everything is online, parents can help their children with homework which also allows them to become more involved in their child’s education.
3. Doing assignments often can also help the students with understanding the topic more efficiently. If they face any difficulty, they can ask the teacher to explain it again.
4. Homework can also create a sense of punctuality. Children would be more punctual on turning the homework in on time.
5. After elementary school, when students move to high-school, children would get some homework or essay assignments for sure. So doing some from a young age will prepare them in advance.

Why Elementary Students Shouldn’t have Homework

Just like benefits, there are some disadvantages of daily homework which can stress students out.

1. Daily homework with a deadline for the next day can be very stressing for elementary students, causing them to stay up late at night to finish their assignments.
2. A study by Stanford University tells us that 56% of the students consider homework as a primary source of stress.
3. Too much internet-based homework leads to too much screen time. Technology has effects which causes headaches and lack of sleep.
4. Excess homework sometimes also leads to cheating. 90% of the middle school students admit they copy someone else’s homework.
5. Students who have a larger amount of homework often do not have time for extracurricular activities, which is necessary to refresh the mind. Inactivity in children is often the cause of child obesity.

How much Homework Per Grade?

Students spend more than 120 minutes doing homework every night. Research from Brookings Institution and the RAND Corporation concludes that in the past 20 years homework has increased for elementary students having effects on their achievements.

It is suggested that a total of 10 minutes of homework a day must be given to first graders and an additional 10 minutes per grade level. Homework must not be assigned per day as it becomes a routine and it’s frustrating for children.

Conclusion

Many students suffer from rising levels of stress and anxiety when dealing with homework. Problems like these can lead to severe health issues for kids.

Students must get some homework once a week or at weekends so as to maintain their positive attitudes towards studies. It will also ensure that kids are engaged in some school tasks.

Too much homework can add to stress for both children and their parents. Teachers must know how much homework is too much. They must try to make homework interesting for students rather than making it more complex.