Gonzales 1: MENTAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS 1

The Effect Homework Has On Students’ Mental Health

Tyra Gonzales

Ms. Acosta

Northwest Career & Technical Academy

March 5, 2021
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Abstract

Due to the recent change in today’s society, students’ were switched into online school.

Some students have transitioned smoothly into the online world but a lot of students have fallen

behind. As many students’ struggle to keep up with their work, they are faced with the many

effects that come with it. With students’ logging on at early times of the day then not being able

to catch a break until the end of the day takes a negative toll on their daily lives. In this paper, the

effects of homework will be discussed and what can be done to help students.
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With the transition into online learning, teachers have begun to give out additional

homework which has caused over 56% of students' stress levels to rise, according to Harvard

University. Many students spend hours a day on their computer. From the time class starts at

7:30, to the time class ends, which is around 1, that is already 5.5 hours of screen time. Then,

students have to stay online to complete assignments that are due that day at 11:59. If teachers

gave students less homework, or even no homework, there would be a drastic uprise in students’

mental health. Although some may say that homework has no effect on students' mental health,

homework is the main issue why students' mental and physical health is low because students'

lack of sleep and motivation, their stress levels increasing, and having their grades drop.

To begin, students who suffer from a lack of sleep have a hard time focusing on daily

activities, causing their mind to drift. Students spend most of their time on a computer finishing

assignments that are due that day. According to Allie Bidwell, “For high school students who

typically have five classes with different teachers, that could mean as much as 17.5 hours of

homework each week” (Bidwell, 2018). This is not including those with extra classes and

honors/AP classes. When students finally finish their homework and find the time to rest, it is

already the middle of the night while still having to wake up in the morning. With the loss of

sleep this all affects the mental health of students degrading their ability to work and motivation.

According to the CDC, teens need about 8-10 hours of sleep, but with the excessive amount of

homework given, students are only getting around 5-6 (CDC, 2020). If students were to receive

more time to sleep, then there would be a dramatic change in brain activity during school. With

the increased amount of brain activity this means that there would be more focus in school and

more time for students to do other things in their lives.

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In addition, students have increased stress levels. Students these days have filled days

involving school, work, family, friends, and extracurricular activities. A Stanford study found

that “too much homework is associated with: Greater stress: 56 percent of the students

considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data,” (Stanford, 2014).

With the high levels of stress, it highly affects the brain. If there is an overwhelming amount of

stress, it can start to kill brain cells and can have a shrinking effect on the prefrontal cortex. The

prefrontal cortex is used for memorization and learning (Prefrontal Cortex, 2017). With the effect

on the brain, it can start to affect the students’ school work and social life. Many people have

noticed that the effects on the brain have brought students’ to enter an unhealthy lifestyle. Many

students’ have seen to keep to themselves and avoid interactions with others. If teachers were to

give students less work, the outcome would be students having less screen time allowing them to

spend time with their family and friends.

To add, with the lasting effects of homework and how it affects students’ mental health.

All outcomes point to students’ grades dropping. When students start to see their grades drop

they begin to lose hope. As assignments are piling up, students lose track as their assignments are

due that night at 11:59. With everything that changed this year and the transition into online

schooling, students are receiving more homework than they did in in-person classes. Many

teachers give out more homework in the thought that students have more than enough time since

they are at home. But, it is shown that it is the opposite as students spend about 5.9 more hours

on homework according to a Harvard study (Harvard, 2014). As the assignments pile up,

students are able to do less and less causing them to be counted as missing. With the overload of

missing assignments and poor motivation to finish these assignments, students' grades will
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continue to drop affecting their future school life. If students start to see their grades continue to

drop it can increase stress levels, then proceeding to affect the students’ mental health in an

unhealthy way. The only way to help students in balancing their school life and personal life is to

give out less homework.

Some people may argue that homework leads to higher test scores. Duke University

professor Harris Cooper supports Ravitch’s assessment, saying that, “Across five studies, the

average student who did homework had a higher unit test score than the students not doing

homework” (Fuglei, 2017). Now in some cases this can be true if students’ complete all their

homework. Many students these days find the homework unnecessary and are still able to pass

without the homework. But, if the students fail to complete the homework, their grade will be

lowered anyways. So, if there wasn’t the amount of homework assigned, students wouldn’t feel

that they are falling behind.

In conclusion, homework is the main issue why students' mental and physical health is

low because students' lack of sleep and motivation, their stress levels increasing, and having their

grades drop. Children who have to spend most of their time on a computer leaves them with

limited healthy outlets to turn to. With the excessive homework given, it puts children in an

unhealthy state of mind that can easily be fixed, especially with the circumstances going on now.

This is why teachers should give little to no homework to students to help benefit mental health

levels.
 Sources

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Worth It. US News & World Report. Retrieved from

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ork-but-teachers-say-its-worth-it

N.a (10 Sept. 2020.). Sleep in Middle and High School Students. Cdc.gov. Retrieved from

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/features/students-sleep.htm

Rebecca Bernstein (26 Jul. 2016.). The Mind and Mental Health: How Stress Affects the Brain.

Touro University WorldWide. Retrieved from

http://www.tuw.edu/health/how-stress-affects-the-brain/

ResilientEducator.com (21 Nov. 2013.). How Homework Benefits Students: The Homework

Debate, Part Two | Resilient Educator. ResilientEducator.com. Retrieved from

https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/the-homework-debate-benefits-of-hom

ework/

Stanford University (10 Mar. 2014.). Stanford research shows pitfalls of homework. Stanford

News. Retrieved from

https://news.stanford.edu/2014/03/10/too-much-homework-031014/

Sop (3 Jan. 2017.). Prefrontal Cortex | The Science of Psychotherapy. The Science of

Psychotherapy. Retrieved from

http://www.thescienceofpsychotherapy.com/prefrontal-cortex/