Homework is a resource used by most teachers in the United States. There is much controversy about the effectiveness of the impact on homework, whether if it does more harm than good, or more good than harm.

In doing research we found that homework can cause stress that could possibly lead to depression because it makes many people feel overwhelmed and feel like there’s so much pressure being put on them by their family or others to do good in school so they can have a good life.

Many people say “practice means perfect”, but how much practice is needed to achieve perfect? Teenagers struggle to prioritize their time due to the many important commitments they make such as sports, jobs, school work and family time. Family time is often left behind due to the excessive amount of homework teenagers have to do. In the article “Excessive Homework Strains Family Life” Wendy J. Ponte states, “Few ambitious teenagers these days can spend significant amounts of quality time with their families—because of how much homework they must complete.”

According to a student at Lincoln High school they state, ¨keeping up with at least four classes of homework a day and having a job Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday while also doing sports (club or school) Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday (the days I’m not working) is very stressful and a lot of the time, I don’t even get it all of done. It adds on stress to things that I have to do to help out my family and It affects social life as well. Doing all the stuff I’m doing and still having a lot of homework keeps me very busy, catching up on all of it when I have free time from work and sports. Being focused on that caused me to stop talking to a lot of people that I was close to because I was always ´too busy.´¨

According to the textbook Child’s Psychology the author states, ¨regular social interaction plays a critical role in brain development. Children who get plenty of opportunities to interact with friends and family can gain valuable social, conflict management and impulse control skills. When homework reduces this time, children’s social development may suffer.¨

Sandra Levy the author of Is Too Much Homework Bad for Kids’ Health? states, “Researchers found that spending too much time on homework meant that students were not meeting their development needs or cultivating other critical life skills. Student were more likely to forgo activites, stop seeing friends and family, and not participating in any hobbies.”  

According to www.kidzworld.com the author states, “Homework gets in the way of family time. If a student cannot attend a family event or spend time with family because he or she must complete a homework project, he or she is being prevented from forming meaningful connections, engaging in stress-relieving activities, and possibly even exploring new experiences.¨