Homework. The word that all students dread to hear. Kids already have school work for seven to eight hours during the day. Who wants to do even more work when they get home?

A study by Stanford University showed that 56 percent of students stated that homework was “stressful and created anxiety.” Overall, homework is viewed negatively and can affect the majority of students in damaging ways. For example, if someone has a sport or activity after school, they will not get home until later. Then, they have to worry about their homework. This results in them getting to bed late and waking up all tired. Freshman Cece Weldon expressed, “If you have sports or anything after school, it can take up your whole day, which leads you to have no time to spend for yourself or with family.”

Yes, homework can be helpful when students have a test or quiz coming up. It can be used as practice to ensure they know what they need help with or do not need help with. 

“Good examples and visuals for students make it easier to understand concepts,” Freshman Annie Bennett stated. She also said, “Some advice I would give to students that struggle with homework is if you are having trouble, talk to your teacher about what you need help with and assign specific work to help with what you need. One way to balance your homework is to do your hardest classes before practice and dinner, then work on your easiest classes after it.”

Teachers today mainly worry if students get their homework done and turned in on time. When actually, teachers should worry more if the student knows what they are learning. To make homework more effective, Weldon also expressed, “Homework should only be mandatory if you need the help.” Assigning homework to students that do not need help is damaging. It takes away the time they can spend with their family and friends.