What Does It Mean To Be Kids Essay

A direct statement from education and parenting expert Alfie Kohn states, “Kids should have a chance to be kids [...] it’s absurd to insist that children must be engaged in constructive activities right up until their heads hit the pillow”. Homework (as many people know it) is a way for students to work outside of school if time is limited inside the classroom. However, there are times when students may not have enough time to complete their tasks at school. Many outside factors contribute to this. Perhaps an emergency where a student has little to no choice but to miss their homework. Or some students may be part of extracurricular activities like sports and school clubs, forcing them to panic and then rush their homework with the limited

A debate page from ProCon.org mentions, “Homework also helps students develop key skills that they’ll use throughout their lives: accountability, autonomy, discipline, time management, self-direction, critical thinking, and independent problem-solving. Freireich and Platzer noted that ‘homework helps students acquire the skills needed to plan, organize, and complete their work.’” Although homework develops skills such as time management and critical thinking, alternative activities also strengthen these crucial life skills. Extracurricular activities like sports and academic school clubs aid in the broadening of these life skills. However, homework takes out the available time needed to be left to participate in these activities. Instead, schools should encourage students to indulge in extracurricular activities where they have the freedom to develop these skills. Students will also have the chance to strengthen their communication skills. Such activities offer students to interact and communicate with each other and to share and express their thoughts. They must be allowed social lives and to socialize with friends and family. Excessive amounts of

In a ProCon.org debate between the advantages and disadvantages of homework, it mentions, “A poll of California high school students found that 59% thought they had too much homework. 82% of respondents said that they were ‘often or always stressed by schoolwork.’” It is without a doubt that it takes hard work and sheer effort for students to be successful in school. However, some students may find it exceptionally strenuous to keep up with the demands that school gives the students; with a major stressor being homework itself. And high expectations lead to stress, negatively affecting one's mental health. Mental health is necessary for one to work and function properly, but excessive homework does not help; rather, these excessive amounts worsen it instead. Similarly, not only does homework affect students, but it negatively impacts parents too. According to Points of View: Homework Ban Policies, research was gathered to conclude that “ [...] fights over homework were not uncommon and rose significantly in households where the parents did not have college degrees. In other words, researchers concluded that household stress went up and parents' confidence in their ability to help their children with their homework went down.” With arguments occurring in families simply because of trivial matters like homework, it proves that because