Most students are introduced to homework at a young age, but is all the extra work helping students or harming them?

Recent studies have shown the problems that come with giving students too much homework. These problems can include heightened stress levels, lack of balance in a student’s life, social alienation and even some physical health problems.

National Public Radio, in association with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health, held a poll in September of 2013 asking parents what their child was stressed about. Over 40 percent of the parents cited “academics and schooling” as the main source of stress in their child’s life.

It isn’t just lazy students who struggle with homework. Academic researchers and experts agree that homework can harm a student.

According to a study conducted by Stanford Researcher and Education Scholar Denise Pope, giving a student too much homework can cause many negative effects on the student’s wellbeing.

“56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. 43 percent viewed tests as a primary stressor,” said Pope, “while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.”

These numbers indicate that all students value different aspects of schooling higher than others, but over half struggle with keeping up on homework.

Many scientists and psychologists have criticized the amount of homework that teachers give. Some have even seen a dip in student test scores due to an overabundance of homework.

Educational Psychologist Richard Walker found that in countries where more time is spent on homework, students scored lower on an Australian standardized test, the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, the equivalent to the SAT.

To some, homework might seem like a stronger tool to help students understand subject matter outside of school, but to others homework is a cause of stress and anxiety that interferes with a student’s life outside of school.

Once the school day is over most students want time to relax and enjoy the rest of their day, but unfortunately many have to complete hours of strenuous work that may end up doing more bad than good.

It is hard enough for students to properly balance home, school and social lives, but school might end up taking more out of a student’s day than they might realize.

The stress of homework is much for a student to consistently keep up with on a nightly basis and will end up being totally counterintuitive.