First off, good job for only being in seventh grade! I'm very impressed.

I'm not sure I completely agree with your point of view. (Though I get tons of HW as well since I'm in High School) Yet you were very persuasive and you cited good facts.

The only thing is Homework is a time where we really soak in what we have been taught that day, and ten minutes is not enough. In college, the common rule is each class you take, you double the studying for that night. For example you take a two hour class and you study that night for four hours. Ten minutes of Homework (or whatever short amount) will not help a student learn or prepare for college.

In my sad attempt at an analogy I will say this. I play the piano. I play two hours a day (though I only have to play an hour) and I’m really good. I have only been playing for two years and I have played with a few symphonies (I guess that’s how you spell it) and won several competitions. I take long piano lessons, but, for a big part of my time “I am my OWN teacher.” That is where the learning happens. We shouldn’t complain homework it’s too much. We should over achieve!!

Oops…I wrote too much. This was amazing. Great job J

Okay. As I said, simply curious. 

Exactly. And I try to consider things from both points of view as much as I can. Even with a graduating class of 36 and few options for classes (I go to a reeeally small school), only a few kids in my class share schedules, which would make it so confusing for the teachers. It's so much easier for them to assign homework when they feel it's fit, even if that doesn't make us happy.

This was an extremely well-written article. I can't believe you're only in 7th grade; you write just as well, if not better than most high school students I know. The only thing I don't agree with is the obesity part. If a student isn't doing homework, they're more likely to be on Facebook than running around outside. But that's just my opinion. If they want to give us less homework, thats quite alright with me :)

fabulous job, really. :)

Thanks :)

Well, about other things... I mean, I practice music and then sometimes I have play rehearsal or something. And I shower, and eat dinner, and try to squeeze in some chill time but it doesn't always happen...

And yeah, now that I think about it a bit more, it would be harder in high school, what with people not really having the same classes.  But in my middle school, everyone takes the same classes except language (either french or spanish, in addition to latin) and math (enriched or standard). So it wouldn't be that difficult for the teachers to figure out a way so that we're not still up scribbling essays at eleven pm.

In that case, I apologize for assuming, and my kudos to you for not procrastinating; I'm genuinely impressed. 

I will agree that that is a lot of time to be spending on homework in middle school, but I must ask what else do you do that you're up until midnight. (I completely believe you. I'm simply curious.) 

Another angle on this to consider: how are the teachers supposed to consider other teachers' assignments? Sure, they can talk to one another about it, but not every kid in a grade has the same classes. It would be hard to keep track of each class taught and what other teachers are assigning each of their classes. 

What do you mean, I wouldn't have studied before Wednesday night? I pride myself on doing things when they are assigned, not the day before they're due.  And I always start studying for tests two to three days before them.  I don't procrastinate, I don't text or use Facebook, and I rarely watch TV.  But still I am kept up until after midnight pretty much every day of the week.  And I'm in middle school.

I understand it might be different at your school, and it will definitely be different in college.  College is one thing; you're right, it is preparing us for adult life.  But three to four hours a night, in middle school, for someone who rarely procrastinates and gets straight A's, is ridiculous.

Well said! I love this article!I think every word of this is true!

But, I think homework increases child obesity.Kids are stuck in a classroom doing work all day,then they come home.They want to go play outside,bt they can't because they have alot of homework. Homework should be banned, or at least limited. :)

Maybe. But isn't the purpose of high school to prepare us for "the real world," especially college? College professors are going to care even less than high school teachers care.

Don't get me wrong; I've had ridiculous amounts of homework to do in one night, but I understand that that's mainly because I procrastinate. I've chosen not to have a study hall in school, and I understand that I could use that time to do homework instead of being a teacher's aid. When I'm up late finishing a project, I understand that it's because I didn't work on it when the teacher assigned it a week ago. 

I can tell that you have a lot to do, but when were each of those assigned? Seeing as you know it now, they were assigned at least on Friday. A weekend is plenty of time to write a three to five page paper, and you should still have plenty of time to hang with friends. That would give you Monday and Tuesday for your composer paper, which should also be adequate time. Even if you hadn't had this homework schedule, I'd bet you wouldn't have studied for your test before Wednesday night anyway. And then you have from Thursday until that paper is due to work on that. And again, a night to study Latin, whenever that is. See? You have plenty of time to do all of that.

But don't you think that teachers SHOULD consider what other teachers assign? I am currently in eighth grade, and I have a math teacher who gives us, every day, about forty to fifty math problems as homework; "extra" problems that are not extra at all (they are mandatory); monthly projects, daily quizzes, extra worksheets... it's just too much.

Another thing: I have an English paper due on Monday.  Three to five pages.  I also have a report on a composer due on Tuesday, a science test on Thursday, a rough draft of a research paper due the week after next, and a Latin quiz.  Teachers should work together when deciding how much homework to assign per night.  Do it any other way, and studenst will be overloaded with work. (Trust me, I speak from experience.)

I understand and agree with most of what you are saying, but I also think you need to consider that, for the most part, teachers don't assign homework knowing what other teachers will assign. Also, most teachers won't pile on lots of hard homework in one night. Usually, they'll give you several nights to complete it. How you spend your time is up to you. As a sophomore, I understand getting more homework than you know what to do with, but I also understand that usually when I have too much homework, it's because I procrastinated. I think most kids blame teachers for all of the homework when, if the kids paid attention in class and didn't procrastinate, it doesn't have to be so much and so tough.

You also have to consider what else you are doing while working on homework: Are you on Facebook? Are you texing? Are you IMing? Writing this article? Reading other stuff? Zoning out? Because all of that will add a lot of time to your homework that shouldn't be counted in the "Ten Minute Rule."

I will help with the REVOLUTION!!

I know that sometimes when I say "LESS IS MORE" it's because I am a lazy student. True, so who is better quailiifed to have an opinion??

Parents and teachers put too much emphasis on tests instead of actual learning. Most things we learn are for the test, no one remembers the lesson in another year.

At my school SO much is about test scores and GPAs it defines a person. Most people hang out with people that have similar grades because those are the ones in your classes. It's almost as if there is a caste system and its very difficult to rise in rank. Those in honors or IB look down at those who are not even if they are smarter... and they have a life not just a number.