We need less homework

Ask any high school student, and they will tell you that they have stressed out over homework. Undoubtedly, stress is caused by doing things that we don’t like, being overworked or anything else that is potentially harmful, but the point of life is to hurdle over those stressors and conquer them. However, when things are unnecessarily stressful, that’s when it gets kind of lame.School is about learning and preparing yourself for the real world. The real world requires knowledge and education, does it not? Then why is the United States, a world superpower, barely able to make it into even the top 30 nations in student performance? According to the most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), from 2012, the United States is averaged at 28th in student performance. Meanwhile nations like Finland, which scores an average of 6th place, have a very unique education system based around simplicity and catering to the youthful mind. According to the Youth Suicide Prevention Program, it has been shown that increased stressors, a big one being more difficulty in school, increase the chance of suicide. Undoubtedly, more work at times does correlate with better education, but youth health should be more important than letter grades. It has also been demonstrated by nations like Finland that it is completely possible to have effective education as well as healthy students. There is no question that increasing workload, homework specifically, has relations to stress and anxiety. Therefore, decreasing workload should decrease anxiety, correct? If the same work at home is applied differently, and unnecessary work is removed, then we could allow students better mental health to allow them to focus and properly prepare them for the future. Homework must be properly applied, and properly researched for best results. Letting individual teachers decide what is learned at home just isn’t effective enough, as it is too inconsistent and disorganized. We need to implement a proven-to-work, properly researched and completely effective method of education; although having 20 minutes versus 30 minutes of homework may seem like a miniscule part of our education system, it does matter. Why is it so difficult for the United States to look at the results of countless studies and change the education system to better suit what is effective? Why is change coming so slow? What is preventing us from making the world a better place for the youth of today? It is really getting ridiculous, as there is absolutely no reason to be holding back the education system. Most anyone would agree. Do you?