Why Excess Homework is Bad for the Brain

School is a crucial aspect of children’s lives. If they are unable to go school each day to acquire the skills required to be successful in life, then they will be at a disadvantage. While school is an important part of youth, it is also important that the child takes a break from education. Without a break, young brains may fry.

Homework is a common part of children’s lives. Science has now shown that the benefits are not as big as we think.
“Young, growing bodies were designed to run and have lots of physical activity, Pam Norman, a former home school teacher, said. When we take one of those children and force them to sit in a chair and be quiet for several hours each day, we cause them to have problems such as ADD and ADHD. Then when we add hours of homework onto that so they don't even have free play.”

Researchers did a study on high school students getting homework. When it came to stress, more than 70 percent of students said they were “often or always stressed over schoolwork,” with 56 percent listing homework as a primary stressor. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor. Too much homework is bad for your health but if you have very little homework the outcomes are healthier mentally.

“Homework can be good. Too much homework is when it becomes a bad thing. For me, homework helps solidify concepts that I learned by forcing me to revisit the material,” Julia Plante, a college student at Trinity University, said.

Homework can help children learn and revisit material, but too much can lead to stress. Children should have school work- not homework, because homework takes a lot of valuable time away from studying.

Homework can be beneficial, but the system needs a better balance between school work and studying at home. Too much homework can cause problems, but giving less homework would benefit students.  

​~Dylan Nunez- Journalism I writer