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A Compilation of the Negative Effects of Homework

by Apr 17, 2016Homework Help

Everything we do has two sides to it, negative and positive; even the daily homework. Whatever you study in school has some simultaneous work that can be done at home. There have been many debates about the effects of homework everywhere. But lately students have started developing more feelings towards the negative effects of homework. They’ve even started detesting school. They have a lot of reason for disliking it which may or may not be true. While it has been widely accepted that homework gives a lot of stress, it also has many benefits.
The positives of doing homework-
Here is a list of all the reasons that trump the negative effects of homework and make both, students and parents love it.

  • It helps build concentration.
  • Parents can learn about the school work their children do.
  • Teachers can understand better the difficulties students face in the study material.
  • It helps with time management.
  • It helps in learning how to prioritize work.
  • Students can learn better when they do extra assignments given from school.
  • It helps in their exam preparation.
  • It promotes good study habits and keeps students from wasting their time.

The negative effects of homework-
A lot of students and now more parents have started believing in the negative effects of homework. Here is a list of some of these important effects.

  • It can quickly become burdensome

One of the important negative effects of homework is that it can become very burdensome and students can lose interest in the subject. They may become so irritated by all this extra work that they will start doing it not with any willingness to learn but just to finish it. Their approach to the work will be inappropriate where they absentmindedly just copy whatever it is that they have to.

  • It takes up family time

Sometimes there is so much homework with such little time to finish it that students cannot spend any time with their family. And it means not only missing family movie nights or dinner, but it also encroaches upon their domestic responsibilities. They cannot help their parents prepare dinner or fetch something from the store. They might not find time to spend with their siblings or visit grandparents too.

  • Develop hatred for the subject

This is one of the harshest of negative effects of homework. Students might have been in love with this particular subject because they enjoyed how little effort it took and easy it was. However, once the burden increases, the subject tends to lose its charm and only becomes a weight that everyone hates to deal with.

  • No time of self

After spending about 7-8 hours in school, children come back home tired. They would like to indulge in something stress free or relaxing. They might want to pursue a hobby or learn a new skill. But homework takes away all this time. It just becomes an extension of school and hinders their growth and development. This could make people check out Reasons why homework is bad for students.

  • Disturbs the sleep cycle

If homework is given over the weekend, students have time to relax and finish it over two days. If, however, it is given today and is due tomorrow, they might have to stay up all night. When I used to get homework for different subjects with short deadlines, I never had enough time during the day to finish it. I couldn’t get enough sleep because the homework had to get done.

  • Parents can get involved

When a lot of homework piles up that students just can’t finish themselves, their parents try to do it for them. This not only defeats the purpose of doing homework but also encourages both parents and students in carrying out such practices. The student has been given homework so he/she understands the school work better but this fails to happen when parents do it for him/her.

  • It can be meaningless

A lot of times homework is a mere repetition of what’s being done in school. In such a case it is an unproductive activity that consumes a lot of time. I personally found this as one of the big negative effects of homework. If I am studying something in class, how is it going to make me smarter if I do the same thing at home? It is only beneficial if homework makes students learn more.

  • Dependency factor

The essential idea of homework is to inculcate values of being independent and a problem solver. When research assignments are given, students learn to look for information beyond their text books. However, children from well-to-do families have access to such resources like personal tutors or coaching classes that give them spoon fed material just so the homework is completed in time. This in no way makes them independent.

  • Physical difficulties

Homework not only adds to the mental stress students go through, it also creates problems for their bodies. They may start experiencing pain in their hands because of the amount they write. Staying up late at night and studying under night lamps can ruin their eyes. Sitting at their desk in a bent posture for hours at a stretch can cause back problems for them when they grow up.

  • Cramped learning

Since students have homework from many different subjects to finish, they cannot dedicate enough time to any of them. Instead of learning the maximum from one or two subjects, they learn minimal from all of them. This leaves them with incomplete understanding of what they do and weakens their foundation for the rest of their life.
It is a nice thing, in fact something that instils discipline in pupils which are prime reasons for starting a practice like homework; to learn maximum in minimum time. Homework acts as a catalyst in the process of a child’s growth. The negative effects of homework cannot be ignored. Anything becomes bad when handled out of proportion. And it is no good if it takes away the childhood from children because then what are we left with?