Homework. A word that many dread. Is it actually worth the work? Does it actually help? Are you getting too much of it? Well, dive in to find out.
Homework does indeed help students build abilities that involve studying that can in fact help when going into a career (The Pros and Cons of Homework). On top of this, a study showed that students who got homework outperformed about 69% of their peers who didn’t get homework (Homework).
However, homework hasn’t always been as welcomed, per se. In fact, a magazine called Ladies Home Journal announced that homework had a negative impact on students’ mental and physical health, and that caused California to ban students under the age of 15 from having homework between 1901 to 1917 (Homework).
Homework was again banned in the 1930s, being seen as child labor with another argument that children needed time to do household chores. This was revoked in the 1950s when the US was concerned about keeping up with the Soviet Union’s technological advancements during the Cold War (Homework).
The National Education Association and the National PTA recommend a thing called the “ten-minute rule,” which basically is just a suggestion that a student should have ten minutes of homework per their grade, meaning third graders would have thirty minutes, and our poor seniors would have 120 minutes, or two hours (Cox). Additionally, The National Center of Education Statistics found that the average high schooler has 6.8 hours of homework a week (Lathan).
There are definitely downsides to homework. For example, students who spend too much time on homework can experience physical things such as sleep deprivation, headaches, and even weight loss, on top of having the ability to lower mental health (Cox).
All this as well as homework cutting into leisure time, which is a need for children because it allows them to learn non-academic skills, exercise, relax, and explore the world around them (The Pros and Cons of Homework). Not only does it cut into leisure, it can also add weight to people’s already packed schedules, such as watching siblings, going to work, or even just having a bad home life (Lathan).
What Do THS Students Think?
Freshman Grayson Gallagher said that “yes (with a smiley face),” homework is important.
He expanded, saying that “I do think it is [good practice], but you have to deal with more work in a short amount of time,” and that homework opens the realization that “your time isn’t always your time.”
Grayson said that homework gives the “same stress that you’d get as an adult.”
He confirmed that homework cuts into leisure time “sometimes, but you should make time.”
Grayson believes that “yes,” homework is overall worth it, and that he’s “weird and actually likes homework.”
A freshman, going anonymously by Two-Time, had different views on homework, saying that the importance of homework “depends, homework no, studying yes.”
They said that “no,” homework is not good practice.
Two-Time proceeded to nod about homework causing extra stress, then said that homework cutting into free time “depends on how much homework.”
They shook their head about homework being worth it.
As a middle ground, sophomore Anna Sieroslawski said that homework being important “depends on the
assignment.”
Elaborating, she said that homework “can be” good practice, but “yes,” it does cause excess stress.
Anna determined that “yes,” homework does cut into other activities.
Overall, she said that “it can be [worth it] sometimes, you can benefit from it, but it does take a lot of time.”
Maybe this taught you something, even if it’s just how much you still hate homework. Even so, you’d be able to give a new, probably better, excuse for disliking it.
Citations:
Cox, Janelle. “How Much Homework is Too Much?” Graduate Programs for Educators, https://www.graduateprogram.org/blog/how-much-homework-is-too-much/. Accessed 9 October 2025.
“Homework | Pros, Cons, Arguments, Debate, School, Education, & Students.” Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/procon/homework-debate. Accessed 9 October 2025.
Lathan, Joseph. “Is Homework Necessary? Education Inequity and Its Impact on Students.” University of San Diego Online Degrees, https://onlinedegrees.sandiego.edu/education-inequity-and-homework/. Accessed 9 October 2025.
“The Pros and Cons of Homework.” Oxford Learning, https://oxfordlearning.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-homework/. Accessed 9 October 2025.
