Homework Or Busy Work

Homework or Busy Work? The homework issue today continues to be a controversial topic. I spend the majority of my time outside of school completing homework assignments. I don’t think I learn anything from my homework when I am frantically trying to get it done so I can go to bed at a decent hour. I do homework simply because I have to, to keep my grade up, and simply to get points. I am a junior in high school. I am a three sport athlete and am typically involved in two sports at once. My schedule each day consists of going to school, going to practice, sometimes multiple a day, and then going home and doing the homework I had been assigned that day until I go to bed. I know there are other kids like me that are in many extracurricular activities

For example, in my situation I have a tough time finding time for myself, friends, and family due to the amount of homework I complete daily. Etta Kralovec and John Buell (2003) state that every parent wants to teach their kids valuable life lessons and skills. Homework is putting family time on hold and interrupting the time children have with their parents to develop these skills (pg. 40). Children are having a harder and harder time finding time to connect with their parents due to their load of homework. Our youth today are becoming overwhelmed due to teachers constantly piling homework on students. As quoted by Marian Wilde (2016) “Professors Gerald LeTendre and David Baker from Pennsylvania State University state that research has found that ‘more homework does not correlate with higher test scores’”(Para. 19). Students are getting too much homework, too much to the point where it is becoming ineffective. As Professors LeTendre and Baker state in their quote, more homework is not going to help students get better test scores, so piling homework on students is ineffective. Students are overloaded with work, and to fix it teachers need to either cut down on the homework given or offer time in class to get help

Heather Krause (personal communication, February 19, 2018), a guidance counselor at Mankato East High School states “there are some times that some of the work assigned could be perceived as busy work, especially if the teacher did not preface their intent behind their assignment. If the student does not see value in the assignment (helping them learn), they will definitely see that as busy work”. I find this statement to be true. I, for one, am more likely to do an assignment I see as helpful first and do the assignment I may not see value in last. I also will probably try harder on the assignment I see as helpful rather than the assignment I don’t see any value in. H. Krause (personal communication, February 19, 2018) also states that “there could be a negative impact [from homework] if a student faces burnout from what they perceive as too much homework, and they just shut down and quit doing it”. You can see the effects of burnout a lot in high schools. Most students start the school year off strong and work hard to complete all of their homework, but as the year goes on and the homework starts to pile up students start to get overwhelmed and stop trying. I agree with H. Krause (personal communication, February 19, 2018) when she says “homework is a necessary component of learning work, but once a student has mastered a particular concept, the rest