The effect of homework on kids in the U.S is devastating, how does this happen?
Homework in the U.S is at an all-time high and is affecting kids across the country both physically and mentally, it's time to slow it down.
Dear future president,
It’s eight o’clock at night and you finally were able to settle down from a long day's rest, maybe it was your parents bickering in the room above you, maybe it was the fact you were mowing the lawn, or maybe you just had a bad day, and you then realize tomorrow is Monday and you haven't done your homework.
Homework has been fooling us for years, and only in recent studies by such as the TIMSS (Trends in mathematics and science) which has shown the true results of homework in the U.S.
59 different countries were allowed to show multiple schools of their education system of to partake in this study back in 2007. It was able to show that only 12% of fourth-grade students in the U.S got no homework on daily basis. This is small compared to the world average of 21%. Even the Netherlands had a full 20% of fourth graders not doing any homework on a daily basis. Even when a significant more amount of students didn’t do any homework the Netherlands were still able to make the top ten average math scores across the world.
Empirical studies were able to see that large amounts of homework lead to obvious things like sleep deprivation but also perceived stress and physical health. Excessive homework hasn't even had any proven benefits of academic health. Homework can be good for kids, but only if tailored correctly.
Homework is a thing that needs to be resolved, whether that means to get rid of it completely or giving out less. This may be possible in the near future if we can get teachers to stop the countless hours of homework they give most kids in the U.S.
Sincerely,
Brendan
