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Ashley Detki
Mrs. Pettay
ENG 112
8 March 2015
Rethinking learning
Salman Khan, author of The One World Schoolhouse, asks the question best:
Why has it been accepted as gospel for so long that homework is necessary? From the
first scene of a classroom, every student must confront homework. It spans across the
entirety of the time they spend in school, and it forms the background of primary school
education. Debaters, on both sides, seem to argue about its benefits. Homework, for the
remarks of this paper, is defined as out of class work, excluding studying and projects.
The debaters of homework have formed strong cases for both sides. Evidence exists that
clearly demonstrates correlation of homework with positive and negative effects.
Homework, however, has a stronger case against it. Homework is a fractured tool of
learning that brings about tension, higher student stress levels, and no proven increase in
academic potential or ability.
Proponents for the use of homework in schools boast of the self-responsibility that
homework invites. Erika Patall, an assistant professor of educational psychology at the
University of Texas furnishes this idea in her article, Help Children form Good Study
Habits when she insists that used correctly, homework encourages goal-setting and
follow-through (Patall). She continues on to outline how homework paves the way for
learning how to overcome difficulties and even argues that [kids] are more likely to
believe that they can overcome challenges while doing homework, take more

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responsibility for learning, and ultimately do better in school. Patalls argument for
homework, on a basis of responsibility, sees a great amount of supporters. A writer at The
Atlantic Paper, Jessica Lahey, agrees that the autonomy brought on from homework
encourages kids to be able to face challenges head on. Lahey emphasizes how homework
produces desirable difficulties, which leads to children who are better equipped to deal
with real life challenges (Lahey). Proponents of homework are right to argue that
homework helps cement responsibility, but the induced responsibility may not be proper
or beneficial to the student.
Self responsibility plays a large part in education, especially as students reach
the upper grade levels. The burden to achieve is high, and it contradicts the argument in
favor of homework. Supporters of homework claim that homework instills responsibility,
but this claim rests on the assumption the all responsibility is healthy. According to a
study conducted by Stanford University- on a sample population in top achieving
schools- the ramifications of this self-responsibility and discipline is more than just time.
Fifty-six percent of students claim that homework is their primary source of stress, while
less than one percent claimed that homework was not a stressor. The type of stress
outlined in this Stanford research lead to reductions in health, such as sleep loss (Parker).
High levels of stress have been known to lead to headaches, exhaustion, and stomach
problems. In my personal experience, I have found that the stress aroused by homework
often correlates with how healthy I am. During the winter of junior year, when I was
undertaking three AP courses alongside an academy curriculum, I had the worse stress of
my life. Consequently, I happened to be sick four times that winter. My ability to ward off
sicknesses was simply overtaken by my stress induced exhaustion. The stress of

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homework, counters the call for so-called responsibility. When the student is too
overtaken by the consequences of the responsibility, it ceases to fulfill its purpose. The
student, regardless of the responsibility and discipline level, will fall sick to the stress of
homework, or fall behind in the work.
Not only does homework have the potential to create a harmful burden of
responsibility it may also hinder a students independence. In some cases, homework may
set up students to become dependent on their parent. In her article, Dont Bother,
Homework is Pointless, author Sarah Bennett argues that homework creates a pattern
of dependence. She notes that although homework may instill responsibility, many times
students will pass it off to their parents, and consequently, they learn nothing. Therefore,
the purpose of the homework has failed, and the student is left ill-equipped (Bennett).
Bennetts argument, coupled with the fact that homework has no proven evidence to
endorse its use, highlights the exaggeration placed on the benefits of homework. In Alfie
Kohns The Homework Parent Trap, he reveals that there is no research that correlates
homework to superficial measures. The author remarks that homework has not been
proven to increase responsibility or good work habits. Proponents for homework fail to
consider this lack of evidence. Homework is not a confirmed source of good behavior.
Instead, homework produces toxic burdens.
Although homework may have estimated beneficial results, the consequences far
outweigh them. Homework overburdens children, while instilling an inability for
autonomy. Moreover, standardized tests and student behavior have little evidence basis in
this homework debate. While striving for an environment of independence and learning,
homework itself has undermined the goal. Students are only finding that they have less

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time for family, a greater level of stress, and hours of homework. If we have to spend
twelve years of our lives in school, we should spend it learning lessons that count.
Homework, in the end, is not necessary.

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Works Cited
Bennett, Sara. Dont Bother, Homework Is Pointless. New York Times. New York
Times, November 2014. Web. 14 November 2014.
Kohn, Alfie. The Homework Parent Trap. New York Times. New York Times,
November 2014. Web. 14 November 2014
Lahey, Jessica. Autonomy Works Best for the Classroom. New York Times. New York
Times, November 2014. Web. 14 November 2014.
Parker, Clifton. "Stanford Research Shows Pitfalls of Homework." Stanford University.
Stanford University, Mar. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
Patall, Erika. Help Children Form Good Study Habits. New York Times. New York
Times, November 2014. Web. 14 November 2014.