Does the insatiable urge to tear apart an endless tsunami of words on paper ever sound familiar? The name given to this self-distressing torture is duty. Most students have wondered at least once "how to study when you don't want to" and have searched for a lot of information on how to simplify this process. You would think that students leave the classroom with a sense of accomplishment gained through the power of knowledge, but instead, they leave with their backs on the verge of breaking due to the heavy burden of homework. Although homework has many positive aspects, with the main goal being to bridge the gap between a student's learning at school and at home, research has proven that the downsides of more than two hours of homework Duties often outweigh the benefits. Homework has a very negative impact on students' lives. It is therefore necessary for schools and teachers to take measures to reduce the workload, because homework is a huge source of stress, plays the main role in wasting free time and is often counterproductive. , which makes students dislike learning. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay First of all, homework is a major source of stress for students of all levels, taking a toll on their mental and physical health. In a 2013 Stanford University study, 56% of students said homework was their biggest source of stress. Students were asked if they experienced physical symptoms of stress such as lack of sleep, headaches, nausea and low energy levels. 80% of students admitted to experiencing at least one of these symptoms, and 44% reported experiencing three or more. Imagine a situation where you wake up at six in the morning, sit in a classroom for seven hours while being bombarded with information from all directions! The individual has tests, homework, projects, quizzes, the list never ends! By the time we get home, we're about to collapse from exhaustion. We lie down to take a nap but having a million tasks on top of personal commitments and extracurricular activities planned for the day brings us back to reality. In fact, as a 16-year-old student who has experienced similar situations, it is clear that all of this is undoubtedly true. The struggle to balance homework, extracurricular activities, and social time is insane. As a result, this stress creates unnecessary anxiety and, contrary to popular belief, degrades academic performance. We can therefore assume that homework is the primary cause of stress for the majority of high school students. Although a little stress can motivate children to achieve their goals, we see from above that too much stress has a very negative impact on their lives. Second, in addition to being a source of stress, homework is a primary factor in the lack of free time. Personal time is essential for students to refresh their minds. Not being able to do this is like being locked in a prison. According to a survey conducted at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, 84 percent of Fire Stream students agree that homework takes away time from activities they are passionate about, like sports, extracurricular activities and hobbies. Imagine how discouraged and troubled one would feel having to abandon their passions for the sake of grades? In fact, Dr. Updale, a researcher at Queen Mary University of London,said: “Children need space for themselves, free from the imperative to perform. In the jumble of undirected activity, they may discover interests that will last a lifetime. This is especially true for high school students who are at a very important stage in their lives where this extra time is crucial to discovering who they are and what they would like to pursue in the future. How can society expect an 18 year old to choose a career if they are not given the time? In addition to free time, homework also takes away from family time. In an article published by the New York Times, a mother talks about the impact of homework on her family. “The stress that homework puts on families starts early. My kids aren't even in high school yet and I'm not looking forward to this change. I don't want them to give up everything they were doing. Already, homework difficulties dominate many of our evenings. To better understand the severity of this situation, let's assume that one is a high school student who does at least 2.5 hours of homework every day. One of them has two hours of extracurricular activities two days a week and works part-time three days a week. Imagine how exhausted, stressed and frustrated one would feel trying to balance all these responsibilities? The difficulties students face in completing their homework are incomprehensible. In short, children should have time to be children. No one has the right to deprive students of the sweet childhood memories created during their family time and free time. Finally, the main reason why schools should reduce homework is that it is counterproductive. This is demonstrated by research conducted by Gerald LeTendre and David Baker who examined data from The International Study of Mathematics and Sciences. The study analyzed schools in 41 different countries and collected data on student performance from grades 4 to 12. The results implied that there was no connection between homework and test scores. For example, it has been found that in countries like Japan, the Czech Republic and Denmark, where students achieve the highest grades, they receive very little homework. On the contrary, the United States, Vietnam, Greece and Iran, whose students obtain low average grades, receive a lot of homework. Similar research was conducted by Dr. Harris Cooper, director of the educational program at Duke University, who came to the same conclusion. Dr. Cooper himself pointed this out. “Even for high school students, overloading them with homework is not associated with higher grades.” Additionally, he mentioned that if homework exceeds the 10 minute rule, meaning homework increases by 10 minutes for each grade level, then the work is extremely inefficient. Additionally, in addition to getting good grades, the purpose of homework is to encourage learning and increase interest and enjoyment in certain subjects outside of school. However, research has shown once again that this is not always the case. Denise Pope, an education researcher at Stanford, conducted a study on the effects of homework. His results revealed that there was no connection between the amount of homework students received and how much they enjoyed it. Pope said: “This type of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead encourages doing homework simply to get points. » Imagine the boredom one would feel spending hours and hours on something that doesn't even interest them in the slightest. Even if they did, the interest would be suppressed due to the repetitive exercises and the, 36(3), 181-193.