Homework's Effect

           Do you think three hours homework is good for children? Every country has a different education system and each school has a different teaching method. There are many schools give too much homework. Some people say homework is good for children and some people disagree with it; they say we must decrese homework. It’s not fair to give them much homework to do after school. “Harris Cooper is a professor of education and psychology at Duke University who is an expert on homework. He said there is very little evidence that most homework in elementary school helps kids learn.” (Strauss, 2009, parag 12-13).

            In some ways homework is good for students to review what they learned at school in daytime, but it shouldn't be too much. I think they learn fewer things from doing homework. I think it's waste of time. Students need free time do what they want to do, not die doing homework. They need to find what they really like and delelop passion.

            First, students are children, not study machines. They need study hard of course, but they also need a break to relax their brain. Students spend seven classes in school in China, and after class there are three hours study by themselves in class. When I was Junior high school student, I often didn’t have that mood to study by myself. I remember clearly when I was sitting their wasting my time. I just needed keep quiet and wait for the time to be over and go home. Many families will send kids to private school to study more and more than other kids. I think the parents are crazy; are they going to kill their kids? Of course all parents hope their kids get good scores in class and get ready to go a top university. But score is not everything. A kid's personality and health are more important than a score.

            Second, Schools already steal seven or more hours a day from kids’ life; if they can’t do what they to do in seven hours, it’s not kids’ responsibility. A teacher must teach students during class, not make lots of homework to finish that they didn’t finish at school. It may make students hate study. Students can do exercise, watch TV, ply video games and play piano after class, and go to school happy the next day. I think limited homework is ok. “Researcher Cooper says studies show that up until fifth grade, homework should be very limited. Kids in middle school shouldn’t be spending more than 90 minutes a night on homework. In high school, the limit is two hours” ( Strauss, 2009, parag 31-33).

            Finally, some people said homework is good, and we must increase homework. One author says that without homework, student doesn’t study at home. (Laurensia Kids, 2008). However when students study at school for seven or more hours a day, their brain almost panic, and they can’t learn more. And the quality is not as good as usuall. Then why not let our poor kids have enough breaks and let them study hard in class? I have a friend when I was Senior High school. He never studied extra, but he paid all of his attention during class. And when we had an exam, his score was great. He said he just spent a maximum of thirty minutes to finish his homework and no more time wasted on homework. We should focus on quality, not quantity.

            In conclusion, I haven't seen a study that proves that more homework helps them more. Let’s not give children too much pressure. They already have much pressure during the class. They can do well during class without homework, or just a little homework. I really don’t think homework is neccesary. We must give a child enough space to grow as a wonderful person, not just study machine.

 

Laurensia Kids.  (2008, August 25).  Homework? good or bad? Retrieved July 17, 2009, from http://laurensiakids.blogspot.com/2008/08/homework-good-or-bad.html 

Strauss, Valerie.  (2009, January 27).  The Homework Debate. The Washington Post. Retrieved July 14, 2009, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-d yn/content/article/2009/01/26/AR2009012602012_pf.html