Kristin Gardner

Professor Barnes

English 1201 Online

13 March 2019

Annotated Bibliography

My essay will answer the question, how does homework affect students’ mental health?

This question has always intrigued me because a lot of times, it seems like homework is doing

more harm than good. Most teachers give homework because they do not have enough time to

cover the required material in class, or to have students reflect and practice what they have

learned. Not only do students not have a source of help if they have questions on homework, but

it overall just stresses them out. I want teachers to see the other side of the story and hopefully

change their opinion on whether or not homework is actually beneficial.

Cech, Scott J. “Poll of U.S. Teens Finds Heavier Homework Load, More Stress Over Grades.”

Education Week, August 13, 2008, Vol. 27 Issue 45, 9. https://eds-a-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=9&sid=5d0ec07e-8f20-492c-a776-

b1db0aac0a98%40sessionmgr120&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=edsgcl

.183646238&db=edsgov. Accessed 26 February 2019.

In Scott J. Cech’s article “Poll of U.S. Teens Finds Heavier Homework Load, More

Stress Over Grades,” he explains how students are becoming more pessimistic about school and

having homework. Finding this article in the Sinclair Library automatically proves its credibility

and although it was published in 2008, I can still say that this article is reliable because of all the

sources and statistics he used. The main point of this article is that as time passes, students are

getting assigned more and more homework and they also feel more pressure to get good grades.
This can’t be good for their mental state because as they are assigned more homework, they have

less time for other things such as sports and clubs. This time management problem could cause

their stress levels to increase.

The author’s purpose in writing this article is to inform people that homework loads are

increasing and also to provide statistics from studies on things that have to do with homework.

The audience is basically anyone. It isn’t very biased, but it is very informative and anyone could

read it and enjoy it. This was written in 2008, so most of the information is from a while ago,

although it is still credible. The author discusses the studies performed on high school students

and the results of them.

The writer is Scott J. Cech. He is a credible author because he has been on education

week many times. Also, he cites his sources and uses specific facts and details. Again, I know

the source I found it on is reliable because it was the Sinclair Library database. This article is

very relevant because this has been an ongoing issue for some time, considering this was written

a few years ago.

This source will be very useful to me in my final research paper because I can quote his

specific results from the study. This will convince my audience to side with me because I have

evidence to back up my claim that homework is harmful to students. It will answer my research

question “How does homework affect students’ mental health?” because it states that the

pressure of completing homework is very stressful on students.

Mazziotta, Julie. “Is Homework a Waste of Student’s Time? Study Finds It’s the Biggest Cause

of Teen Stress.” People.com; 12/18/2018, pN.PAG-N.PAG, 1p,

https://people.com/health/homework-biggest-cause-teen-stress/. Accessed February 28

2019.
 In this magazine article, Julie Mazziotta elaborates on how homework isn’t necessarily a

good thing. She quotes different studies on how homework is the biggest source of frustration in

teenagers and how the stress and excessive homework leads to not getting enough sleep.

Mazziotta’s purpose in writing this is to convince the readers that homework is not as

effective as we are lead to believe. She backs this up with multiple sources and statistics. The

audience she is trying to reach is students. As well as providing us with information, she also

gives students tips to end the cycle of stress and sleep deprivation. Mazziotta tells us the best

thing to do is go to bed earlier and keep our sleep schedule consistent, regardless of excess

homework.

Julie Mazziotta is a credible author because she is a journalist at People Magazine.

People Magazine wouldn’t let her publish articles if they were not accurate and legitimate. You

can also contact her via phone, email, or social media. Again, this source is reliable because she

backs up all of her claims with evidence from outside sources and the article is up to date.

I can use this source in my research paper by including the statistics that explain how

staying up later to finish homework is actually not beneficial. I can also talk about how educators

are not completely sure homework is effective based on the stats of sleep loss and frustration.

“Better Sleep Council Research Finds That Too Much Homework Can Actually Hurt Teens’

Performance in School.” PR Newswire December 11, 2018. https://eds-b-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=64d2db2c-bcc6-4ca9-8dee-

8557d664d5c4%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=bwh&

AN=201812111630PR.NEWS.USPR.CL99348. Accessed 27 February 2019.

In this article, PR Newswire says that students are spending up to 20 hours a week just

doing homework. This can negatively affect teens’ school performance because they tend to get
less sleep. All of this is a domino effect because homework leads to less sleep, which leads to

stress and less attentiveness in class, which ultimately leads to bad grades and unsuccessful

students. This article proves that homework is the number one cause of teen stress, as of

December 2018.

The purpose in writing this article is to show exactly how much sleep students get and

how their sleep is affected by homework. The audience could be students and teachers. It could

also be parents so they can learn what their child is going through and how stressed they are on a

daily basis.

The writer, PR Newswire, is reliable because it was founded in 1954. They have been

around for a long time, so it must be a reliable source if it has survived for over 60 years. They

have the adequate information to write the article because they cite their information from many

sources. This source is reliable because it is from the Sinclair library database. Also, this was

published within the last 4 months, so it is relatively current with up to date information.

I will use this in my final paper by again, discussing the statistics of the amount of sleep

students get and how it affects their mental state and success. I can say that it affects their mental

well being in a negative way because they get less sleep, causing them to have more stress daily.

Teber, Karen. “Back to School: Good Mental Health Homework.” Georgetown University

Medical Center Georgetown University, August 29, 2018.

https://gumc.georgetown.edu/news/Back-to-School-Good-Mental-Health-Homework.

Accessed February 27 2019.

Karen Teber is the author of this article, posted on Georgetown University’s Medical

Center website. This talks about how going back to school can usually mean depression and
anxiety for students. It also talks less about the effects of homework on students and more about

what parents can do to help and what teens can do to cope with it.

The writer’s purpose is to again, inform us of helpful tips to cope with the mental

challenges that come with school and homework. The audience is students that struggle with

these mental challenges and their parents.

The author is Karen Teber. She has the authority to inform us about our mental state

because she quotes Alfiee M. Breland-Noble, a PhD and MHSc (Master of Health Science). I

also know this is a reliable website because it is from a University. She has enough information

to write this article because she quotes a PhD and MHSc. It was also published recently, again

making it reliable.

I will use the information from the source because I will not only explain that homework

has negative effects, but also some solutions that help ease the stress and anxiety. Also, having

an actual doctor as a source will help my stance and show that I have adequate information to

speak on this subject.

“Homework Anxiety: Survey Reveals How Much Homework K-12 Students Are Assigned and

Why Teachers Deem it Beneficial.” University of Phoenix, Business Wire (English).

02/25/2014. https://eds-b-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=cee4aadb-36aa-4a85-aeee-

a0773d14736d%40sdc-v-

sessmgr01&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=bizwire.c53574967&db=bwh.

Accessed 1 March 2019.

 University of Phoenix, the author of this article, expands upon the counterargument of

my claim. It explains the teacher’s point of view on homework and how they think it is beneficial

to students. Also, they state the outcomes of different surveys of teachers and the percentages.

The author’s purpose is to inform us about the other side (how homework is beneficial).

The audience is the people who think that homework has no benefits, which is mostly students.

They want to get us to see that it is not always all bad and that it can have beneficial outcomes.

The audience is again, students and teachers.

The writer of this article, the University of Phoenix, is very trustworthy. Similar to

Georgetown University, they are a college website which means they only produce quality and

accurate information. Although this article was written about 5 years ago, the information still

holds true despite being slightly outdated.

This source can be of use to me in the long run because it presents the other side of my

argument. I can use a rebuttal to convince readers that my point of view is correct. I can also use

the amount of homework they say students get per night as a stress factor although it may have a

few benefits.

Rushowy, Kristin. “A Burden on Students That Has Its Benefits” Toronto Star (Canada)

8/30/2008 https://eds-b-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=91e447c9-8b11-41fe-b68d-

d36192d2939f%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=6FP0

064792690&db=nfh. Accessed 5 March 2019.

This source talks about the numbers by surveying multiple teachers and professors on

their opinions on homework. Some say that it boosts students’ achievements while others say it
has a neutral effect or a negative effect. They also survey parents to see their point of view. Some

parents say that it benefits their child while others say it leaves less time for other things.

Rushowy’s purpose in writing this was to inform us of the amount of homework given in

different provinces. Also, it was to describe different people’s point of view on the subject. For

instance, students probably say it isn’t beneficial while most teachers think it is. Parents, on the

other hand, could have mixed emotions. The audience is anyone who would like to know how

homework is perceived by different people.

The author, Kristin Rushowy is a credible author to write this article. She is a reporter

who is nominated for the National Newspaper Award for Politics. She covers news in the

Ontario area, mostly politics. This makes her a reliable author to publish this article.

I will use this source in my research paper because again, it is another counterargument.

This will be good so I have enough different perspectives on this topic and let the audience know

that I am not biased.

Vatterott, Cathy. “Rethinking Homework, 2nd Edition: Best Practices That Support Diverse

Needs.” Google Books 2018

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=R1lxDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&d

q=teens+stress+homework&ots=21LtZFlIzR&sig=3ClKaO7qNoCUgjoDFr5oHnOIvug#

v=onepage&q=teens%20stress%20homework&f=false. Accessed 28 February 2019

This book is mostly giving us the facts about homework and how it can correlate with

stress. It talks about how parents and students are affected. It also explains how parents typically

react to homework vs how students react to it.

 The author’s purpose is to inform us of typical homework practices by kids and their

parents. They do not try to persuade us, they just want to inform us and of course, get us to

“rethink” homework. The audience, similar to most of these sources, is parents and students.

The writer is Cathy Vatterott. She is a credible author because for one, she is a published

author with multiple books. Also, she is a professor of education at the University of Missouri St.

Louis.

I can use this source in my paper because it shows us the customs of students and parents

when it comes to homework. I can explain how they usually react to it and their attitudes toward

it. The students usually think that homework is very stress inducing, leaving little time or

motivation for anything else.