And the Award For Having the Most Homework Goes To…
“I’m handing out homework and it’s due tomorrow.” Those are the last words a kid wants to hear after a long and exhausting school day. Every day, students carry home massive backpacks loaded with homework. Whether it’s a science lab, history notes, math problems, or writing an essay that must be completed by the next morning, kids are staying up late and skipping breakfast to finish their work on time. Although homework may have its place, it is causing too much stress for kids.
If only my dog ate my homework every night …
It’s back to school time and the first thing a student thinks of is more homework. Well, what if I said that there would be no more homework? “The Banks County Middle School in Homer, Ga., stopped assigning regular homework in 2005. Grades are up and so are the statewide test results,” says Anne Michaud, an editor for Newsday Opinion.
Homework can cut back on family time, like game night and gathering up in front of the television watching “American Idol,” or even eating dinner together with the family. Many teachers don’t even take the time to look over and check the homework they assign, the most they do is “spot check it”. Wouldn’t you want be taught by an actual person, rather than answering boring questions on a sheet of paper? No kid wants to spend their weekends sitting at their desk looking out the window wishing they could be doing something else…that should be saved for adults. “Even though homework supposedly helps us, we shouldn’t get too much of it,” says Dobbs Ferry Middle school student, Gabriella Matteis. If students get any more homework than they already receive, their hair would start turning grey.
Homework…Punishment?
Some say that eliminating homework can be debatable or even wrong. Aside from all the pressure and stress that homework has put on kids, it also can be good. According to an article by Michaud, “In the year of 2010-2011, schools in Irving, Texas stopped counting homework as part of student’s grade. After six weeks, more than half of the high school students were failing a class.” This probably happened because the kids didn’t care or put in much effort about what they wrote on their assignments, that it rubbed off on their class work and what they did during school. Also, when you take home work to do at home, it gives you an understanding of how much you learned in class and what you need more help with. Homework can also be a good study guide for tests. Jill Rosenblum, an English teacher at Dobbs Ferry Middle school, says, “Homework does have a place in a student’s learning process; however, irrelevant or too much homework for no reason is certainly not in a student’s best interest.”
What do I think about homework? How do I say this respectfully…I hate it, and most other students would agree with me. I mean what average teenager does? Just hearing the word homework makes me squirm in my seat. However, I think teachers should give work to bring home when the work can’t be accomplished during class. Cutting back on homework can unquestionably make a difference in grades and test scores, but whether it’s beneficial, or useless and unnecessary, is still undetermined.