PUBLISHED: 3:27 PM on Wednesday, January 3, 2007
The homework problem
Imagine a place where kids could actually enjoy being kids. Kids and teens should be able to do things like socialize, go to the movies, and even just relax at home. Well, there is one thing in the way of that: homework. Tons and tons of homework, day after dreary day. Students have fought against homework for years, but even though students are fighting the only thing that is happening is more and more homework, until kids have no time to themselves. Teachers shouldn't be allowed to give out homework.

The time teens spend on homework is so absurd; they have hardly any time to themselves. Marianna, an average student in high school, spends five hours a day on her homework. She gets out of school around 3:00, so by the time she gets done, it is 8:00 at night. Also, everyone has daily things to do like chores, pets, etc. Any person would have a hard time trying to fit in sports, let alone a social life. Dr.Goldstein and Dr.Zentall, doctors focusing on the psychological and emotional sides of youth, think that 75 minutes a day should be spent on homework, with five sets of homework a week including math, reading, language arts, history etc. Well, that is not going to happen. It would at least take two hours at the very minimum. High schoolers are probably staying up till dawn, studying for some overreaching test. Middle school students will stay up just as late. Students go to school for six and a half hours a day, and if they have at least two hours of homework, then that is a total of eight and a half hours of school work a day! Every student needs sleep to be prepared for the day ahead, but most don't get sleep and just float through school without a clue what is going on in the classes. Sleep is very important, but with all the homework, teens aren't getting enough.

What is the true point of homework? Some say that it is important because homework is the intersection between home and school, letting students remember what they learn. Others say that homework isn't important because it is just school at home, not letting kids have time for other things. To me, homework is too excessive and counter productive. All homework is, is school at home. There are so many complaints about homework, for instance: too much, too boring or overreaching, parents are too involved or negligent, so why even have homework? Also, it takes time away from being with the family. Like watching moves or just playing a board game together. The point is homework isn't that important.

What is the benefit of overloading students? Now days homework has reached an all time high. Most of the things they learn go in one ear and out the other. When kids go to school, they listen to what the teacher has to say and all. But when they do homework they just do it, they don't even pay attention to what they are doing because they are concentrating on other things. So when it comes time for a test they hardly remember anything for it. I remember when my classes gave me so much homework I had hardly any time to even think, so a lot of things I didn't catch because I was concentrating on other things I had to do. So when it came to test day, I did not do so well. Also, teachers sometimes give out too much homework even though they don't know it. Have you ever had a teacher give you homework and say it is only a little that it would take only thirty minutes? But teachers don't see that there are seven periods of class, each teacher saying he same thing. So all together it's about two hundred and ten minutes! Also most things always take longer than teachers tell you. Overloading kids has no real purpose.

Parents always say "enjoy being a kid because it doesn't last forever!" but we can't enjoy being kids when for most of our childhood it is school and homework. I'm not against school, but I'm against homework.

Five days out of the week the same routine: wake up, go to school, does tons of homework and go to bed. So kids can't really enjoy being kids when they have no time to be kids. So teachers should not be allowed to give school work out of school.

Editor's note

This and the following essays were written by eighth-graders at Floyd Dryden Middle School. Students of Samantha Davis wrote the persuasive essays, then chose their top picks for publication.