Kristin Gardner

Professor Barnes

English 1201 Online

11 April 2019

Mental Health and Homework

I was sitting on my bedroom floor doing my math homework at 11:00 p.m. I had no idea

how to do it! How am I supposed to get a good grade on this? By this time I think that all hope is

lost and I just go to bed. The next morning I wake up tired and inattentive to anything, including

school.

I thought this would be a good topic to write about because I am a student and homework

affects me directly. It has been talked about on the news and social media lately also. This has

always been a topic that interests me. I’ve heard many different arguments about it such as it can

help with a student’s learning and can expand it, but overall it is only a burden on students.

I feel that homework is a heavy load that not all students can handle and quite honestly,

shouldn’t have to handle. I don’t understand why teachers and staff members of a school would

even consider giving students so much work after school when they have already learned while

attending school. Before doing much research on this topic, I know that students get assigned a

lot of homework per night because they have many classes.

Again, I believe that homework is only doing more harm than good on students because it

stresses them out and in some cases, can cause anxiety and depression. I believe that teachers

should consider other options such as having “homework” in class, that way if a student is

struggling, they can get help from the teacher. Some things I know about homework before

doing much research on it are that it can push some students to their breaking point and it
stresses teenagers out. As high schoolers, they have a lot of other priorities outside of school that

take up their after school time and they sometimes have little or no time to complete their

homework.

Although there are a few things I already know about homework and mental health, there

are many things I am still eager to learn. Some being exactly why teachers think it is beneficial

and how students’ mental health is affected. I think I will start finding the answers to these

questions and others when I begin doing my research. I hope to become more knowledgeable on

the subject so I can become more persuasive to my audience.