BBC Young Reporter @ LCS
Is There too much Homework for Young People?
By: Mia
On average, young people spend an hour on homework a day. This works out to roughly be 180 hours a year excluding longer assignments and revision, which understandably, requires more time and of the 365 days in a year 195 days are spent in school.
The question is, when does this work become too much for young people to handle? 70 percent of students said they were "often or always stressed over schoolwork," with 56 percent listing homework as a primary factor for their stress.
Homework has been around for hundreds of years, in a range of forms, whether it was copying up notes or writing up a three- page essay. Roberto Nevelis of Venice, Italy, is often credited with having invented homework. Although some evidence has been found for it going back to the Roman times.
Nevelis set homework for the students who were disobedient, lazy and rude, as a punishment. Another reason he did this was because he felt his teachings were lost after the lectures. Needless to say, sometimes homework can be beneficial, as it solidifies students' knowledge or can prepare them for upcoming assignments. However, most students still feel that this is a punishment from Nevelis himself.
Sometimes homework can be useful, but sometimes it is set just for the sake of it
Homework was added to the school system in 1937 and the last time the school system was changed was in the 1960's. Since then lots of things have changed, like cars and new technology, so why hasn't the school system?
The school system was tailored to the needs of the1960's by making people follow the rules and doing what you were told. This is because factory workers were needed, and these were ideal qualities for a worker.
Now, there is more of a need for creative thinking, so why hasn't the school system adapted?
Is it really beneficial to force students to spend most of their time at school, then spend the majority of their free time working on projects and assignments?