Homework is given to students daily. It is said that doing homework further helps students understand the topics that they are learning in class. It helps develop a better knowledge of the standards and possibly improves grades and mastery. Conflictingly, homework might be worse for teenagers than some adults realize.

          After being at school for 7 hours a day, sitting in a desk listening to a teacher, kids are tired when they get home. Being at school is draining alone; your mind is always running and trying to learn new things. Then when students get home, they have x amount of hours of homework to complete. This is extenuating on a child’s mind. Homework causes a big decrease on good mental health, and is a big reason a lot of students “burn out”. When you are solely focused on getting these good grades, it can become stressful to try and complete everything on time. A student will either put in extreme amounts of time and effort to finish, or simply not do it.

          When a child is putting all of their mental energy into school, they are missing out on other essential parts of life. “I get home from school everyday and I’m tired, but I don’t even have time to relax because I have to finish all of my homework before I go to work. If I don’t finish before work it just doesn’t get done.” – Carly Bertling, 11th grade. After spending hours on end trying to learn subject matter, the day has been used up simply by working and learning. There is no outside time to be with friends, participate in extra-curricular activities, and sometimes it can prohibit students from working. “I don’t really hangout with my friends except on the weekends because I’m so busy,” says Carly.

          While there are some negatives to homework, there are also positives. When teachers give students homework, it is not just busy work. Doing work on the topics after school helps students continue to use their minds to further understand what they are learning in class. They are engraving the topics in their heads so that they will remember what they’ve learned when it is time to test on a subject. Teachers also do not have a lot of time in the year to teach everything a student needs to know; this is another reason homework is given. Giving homework teaches students how to set priorities, it helps teachers determine how well the lessons are being understood, it teaches students how to problem solve, and gives students another opportunity to review class material.

          There are many arguments to give or not to give homework. Each side is typically biased to the pros of their own side, so it is hard to determine which side is more correct without research and evidence. Mental health, however, is just as important as education and should be regarded as such.