Homework in schools has become a growing conversation topic in the last few years. Many educators and parents have conflicting opinions about whether elementary school children should be given homework.

TIME Magazine states “For decades, the homework standard has been a ‘10-minute rule,’ which recommends a daily maximum of 10 minutes of homework per grade level. Second graders, for example, should do about 20 minutes of homework each night. High school seniors should complete about two hours of homework each night. The National PTA and the National Education Association both support that guideline.” Although these organization support homework, there is opposition from parents and educators.

TIME Magazine also reports that an elementary school in Massachusetts recently announced that they would be doing a pilot program with no homework. Instead of giving students homework, they are extending their school day to allow more in-class learning. In an interview with the local TV station, the principle of the school said “We really want kids to go home at 4 o’clock, tired. We want their brain to be tired. We want them to enjoy their families. We want them to go to soccer practice or football practice, and we want them to go to bed. And that’s it.” This school, and many other educators believe that it is good for the children to spend more time with their families and be outside than doing more of the work that they had done in school for most of the day.

Harris Cooper, a Psychology professor at Duke University, discovered a relation between homework and students doing better in school. His research found both positives and negatives to homework. The positive side was that it made students more likely to study and gave students a better attitude towards school. He also found that homework has a more positive affect on older students in the Middle and High School level, rather than elementary school age. He found that in younger students it can cause them to have a negative view towards learning, and it limits their time to go outside or spend time with their families. He says that elementary school students would benefit from having homework, but they should not be spending two hours on homework like a highschool student.

From a personal standpoint, I have a brother in second grade that spends hours doing homework. After being at school for 7 hours day a doing worksheets, he doesn’t want to come home and do more worksheets. He has a very negative view on school and it affects everyone in the house because he throw tantrums about it and needs someone there to ensure that he will complete it.

This topic will continue to be controversial, and it is very likely that there will be a lot of debate and research about whether homework is actually beneficial to Elementary school students.