Homework invades teens’ lives

Teens enjoy hanging out with their peers and relaxing. They like to go shopping together, go to movies, play sports, or just hang out and have fun. Many teens also enjoy participation in extracurricular activities such as joining a sports team or club. Teens have fun in clubs and get healthy when they join sports teams. They’re healthy and happy. What could possibly go wrong?

“Well, by the time they get to high school, they’ll be so overwhelmed with homework that they don’t have time to do anything else. As a parent and teacher, I have heard teens complain about too much homework. Even though homework is a good practice for students, too much homework can have negative effects,” says Nadeem Abbas.

“One negative effect is that homework takes up all our time. We don’t have any time for ourselves. We don’t have free time for extracurricular activities and hobbies. My hobby is collecting stamps. I really enjoy it and I find stamps very interesting. If I had too much homework, I would probably have to give up this hobby simply because I don’t have time to do it,” says Syed Aamir, a student.

“No doubt many teens everywhere are giving up their hobbies just to get homework done. Some people have very good hobbies that can help them learn about different places and cultures. But in order to get their homework done, they can’t have their hobbies get in the way. Nowadays, teens tend to drift away from their families. With the tons of homework they have in high school, they might not have family time at all,” says Samar Hussain, a father.

“Personally, I think families are very important. I’m very concerned that some teens don’t have time for their families because of homework. If you’re a parent, I think you should be concerned too. Too much homework can also result in stress. Stress is bad for a teen’s health. In my opinion, a good way to deal with stress is just relaxing. A good way to relax is hanging out with friends. But that’s hard to do because they have too much homework,” Iman Reza, a mother.

“Parents may protest but that’s why we have summer vacation and all the other breaks. Well, many teachers are so worried that students will forget what they learned that they assign homework for teens to do over the breaks,” says Mashkoor Naqvi , principal of a higher secondary school.

“Many teens also stay up late in the night to finish their homework. They can’t get enough sleep. If they can’t have a good night’s sleep, it’s going to be a big problem. Not only is it bad for their health, but it’s also a distraction at school. Being a tutor I can say they won’t be able to pay attention in class and won’t get a good grade,” says Husnain Mahir.

“The goal of homework is to give students extra practice, but it isn’t helping them if there is too much homework. There are some solutions to these problems. First, by reducing the amount of homework that teens usually get would help a lot. Another solution is allowing teens to get enough sleep, even when they’re not done with homework. Their health is more important. Also give them a break once in a while, with no homework. Let them relax. Homework is good, but too much homework may have some negative effects,” says Rizwana Ali, an educationist.