Throughout the years, homework has been a concept that has been evolving by teacher’s

contributions. Throughout all of its evolutions, from counting with tally marks to inputing
equations on calculators, it has become what it is today. Although many claim homework is
beneficial, there is evidence that homework affects emotional health, physical health, and
disrupts a kid’s ability to be a kid.

“A poll of high school students in California found that 59% thought they had too much
homework. 43% of respondents said that homework was their greatest source of stress, and
82% agreed that they were "often or always stressed by schoolwork.’”

Throughout my years as a student, I have felt a great toll homework has laid upon me. Of
course, as a preschooler the most complex take home task we had was to stay inside the lines
while drawing. But as years went by, I spent more and more time sitting down staring down at
my paper and pen. I remember that when I was in the third grade, I did my homework as soon
as I got home for about forty minutes, then went to the living room to catch up on my cartoons.
This habit continued all the way to fifth grade, right before middle school. As soon as I entered
sixth, my world was changed. Now I had to read longer passages, dive more indepth in my
projects, and spend more time away from being a kid. This got worse and worse until I entered
eighth grade. This was the final year in my elementary school, it was the year that was
dedicated to studying and preparing for the high school placement test. My teacher disregarded
this test and simply kept on giving homework on top of what we didn’t finish in class. He acted
as if we had no major test coming up. This placed a major weight on all of my classmates. Most
of us started to finish homework at around 11, leaving little time for studying. This led to the
enrollment of preparation classes for the HSPT over the weekend. This drained us of time we
could use to rest, socialize, or even meditate from the week.
Entering high school, I now had seven different teachers whose homeworks were all assigned
individually, with them not having control over how much homework I had overall. To make it
worse, most of my classes were advanced, meaning they left more homework than the regular
ones. This issue has gotten worse each year that I take more and more challenging classes.
Now I have to worry about finishing school at three, going to sports for around three hours,
getting home at seven, taking naps because of the day’s exhaustion, waking up at eleven, and
finishing homework at two am. This lack of continued sleep prevents growing body functions in
a teenager to develop to its full potential, and I have strived greatly to change my schedule. I
have even dropped sports this year in order to focus on a healthier routine. This means that I
will be spending less time with my friends in activities that I enjoy and probably will never take
part in again after highschools such as soccer and football. I have also had to cancel my plans
for the weekend with friends due to exhaust and homework.
The Finnish education system is hailed as one of the best, and it offers better conditions for
students to allow them to be kids. School begins later, around 9-9:45. There is little to no
homework, an average of just 30 minutes each day. There are no standardized tests, placing
less pressure on students improving mental health. And kids start school at seven years of age.
In conclusion, the school system does not allow for kids to experience childhood to its true
potential making them have to spend great amounts of time on homework. This all leads back to
emotional and physical health problems, and how it disrupts a kid’s ability to be a kid.