Receiving homework frequently may not seem fair, but it does help students progress with school. Teachers should only assign homework once or twice a week for this reason. Teachers should take into consideration that students have other classes, need to maintain a stable mental health, and have additional activities in their daily life before assigning them homework.
It’s obvious that most students don’t enjoy having homework because they would rather spend their time doing other activities. For example, students prefer using their time to practice their extracurriculars like sports, singing, playing an instrument, or painting. Some students already do not have enough time to do these activities because they have a one hour commute to get home after school, which limits the amount of time they have to do what they have to get done.
“I think having homework is stressful because we all just got out of school and we still need to get home and continue to do more work. I know it helps me get better at the subject, but I also want to have time to do other things I enjoy doing. I think we should only receive homework every once in a while,” states Lalo Yohannes (28’)
Additionally, if students get homework from two or three classes, then they will have to spend one to two hours working on homework every other night.
The University of San Diego states, “Students regularly report that homework is their primary source of stress.”
The University of San Diego informs how a frequent amount of homework affects students’ stress levels in a negative way. If students’ stress levels are affected, then it doesn’t allow them to focus.
Additionally, teachers who assign frequent homework will have to use up more of their time to grade the assignments before the grading periods end, which could also stress them out. For example, AP teachers will have a higher number of assignments to grade rather than middle school teachers because students need homework to practice to have a higher probability of getting a 4 or 5 on the AP tests.
On the other hand, teachers assign homework consistently because it benefits their students by helping them to understand the subject matter better.
“Homework helps practice the unit students are learning in class. Having homework helps practice which trains the brain to be able to do it naturally. For example, I practice playing the accordion a lot to be able to play well,” expresses Mr. Arias, math teacher at Preuss.
Being able to practice by doing homework over and over again will help students improve their understanding of the subject in class. Having a higher understanding of school subjects is beneficial because then students can be more comfortable with the unit and pass unit exams. While having more homework may have its benefits, having less homework has more advantages like less stress, and more free time.
Preuss teachers should still assign homework consistently, but they also need to be able to allow their students to have days off of homework. It will be beneficial to both students and teachers mental health, and everyone will get free time they deserve.
