The Homework Debate – Is It Time to Get Rid of Homework?

Posted October 2, 2006

Category High School, Homework, Middle School

Where do you stand on the homework issue?

You may have noticed that there is a lot of talk surrounding the topic of Homework. A number of books(see below) have recently appeared criticizing homework claiming that kids gain nothing from doing the tons of homework they are assigned. Some even go so far as to say that homework is waste of time. These books draw on research that suggests that, for lower grades (1-6), homework does little-to-nothing to help improve grades. However, for the upper grades there has been some research that shows that homework can help with standardized testing scores — though there isn’t much research to thoroughly prove anything.

The books:

The Homework Myth
by Alfie Kohn
The Case Against Homework:
by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish
The Battle Over Homework
by Harris Cooper

The books come at a crucial time, as parents have been saying that their children have too much homework, and that the increased amount of homework is putting stress not just on the students, but on the families too. An article on Newsday.com says that since 1981, time spent on homework is up 51 per cent.

Author Bennett agrees that too much homework hurts the whole family. “It takes away from family time, puts parents in an adversarial role with kids and interferes with the child’s ability to play and have other after-school activities.”

Parents also reported that they hate having to play the bad guy, as more often than not they have to police their children into completing assignments. Or they say that they have to devote hours of their own time in helping their kids with their homework — and that the amount of homework is destroying kids motivation and passion for learning.

But there has to be some good points to having homework, right?

Historically, teachers and parents alike have historically touted homework as being necessary to the development of good study habits, to building character, to teaching discipline, and boosting achievement. These things may be true, but author Kohn notes that they have “never been demonstrated empirically.” Kohn cautions that homework is behaviorally conditioning our children to not think for themselves, to just be obedient and do what they are told.

However, Kohn does say that homework has one solid benefit — mainly, if it is used as a tool to develop a love of reading. He also says that the point of education is to turn children into independent, critical thinkers that are responsible, happy people.

Where do you stand on the homework issue?

brooke

bannnnn homework please its killing me to much stress and we ALREADY have enough education we have 6 hours at school we need family and qulity time
ALIEN HEAD.

Homework is really a waste time.
perkele

homework is a waste f time… yea i helps with some understanding sometimes but i understand alot more during class i do at home with a textbook! plus with sports and afterschool activities it gets in the way.
I h8 H/W

I’m i Yr 7 and I rarely get H/W but if I do I get about 4 hours!! I feel that when your 12 you need ti hang out with mates to socilise with people our age Ba Homework
Pat

I’m really surprised by the language in this blog. Some of the spelling is so poor that I can’t understand what is being expressed. Young people: life is yours to grab hold of. Improve your minds, your communication skills – change the world! If school isn’t working for you read the classics, discover. Turn off the TV and media, get away from Facebook and YouTube – all this turns your brain into mush. You were created for so much more and there IS a plan for your life, don’t lose hope!
Tim

You guys can barely spell anything! The least you can do is run a spell check over what you typed! Anyways, what I think about homework is that, you should have some but not too much. I found out that when I have some homework, it helps me remember what I learned in class. But on the other hand, if I have to much homework, I become far too lazy to do any homework. Yay, go procrastinators. just kidding.
Ben Dover

Anyone who likes homework is the biggest POO ever, all homework does is waste good time, cause a lot of stress and deatroy your health so yeah
1234

i love homework
234

kids arre just lazy bums do your homework!!!
cool cat(homework stinks!!!)

I curse the name of the inventor of homework!!! He/she is evil,and deserves to be dipped in POO!
2345

I loved school when I was little. The only homework we received were art projects and sometimes a short math worksheet. I moved to a new school in 5th grade, and suddenly I had at least three hours of homework a night, plus long-term assignments. My backpack was so heavy that I developed a back problem. My homework seemed completely pointless and I would be reduced to tears every night. I had no friends outside of school because I had no free time. I am a natural learner and when I was only four or five I studied things that interested me, such as astronomy and gardening. As my homework levels increased, I have had no time for anything else. Homework should be banned or at least reduced so that kids have time to be kids!
just some random 8th grader

I thought the purpose of school was to learn. I am a student who rarely gets below high 80s on his tests and when I do, its because of any major assignments like projects that take up all of my time, so it may come as a shock to you that all of my averages are in the low seventies. Can you take a wild guess on what the reason for this is? Thats right, I only do about 1/3 of my homework. If i did none I would fail so thats why I even do the 1/3. I honestly dont see the point in homework. If I can ace any test I’ve learned the topic of and am given a nights warning I havent reveiwed the topic in the past 2 years, then why should it matter if that worksheet is done.At first I didn’t mind it, a sheet a night wasn’t that bad, but it kept getting worse over time until I would have at LEAST 3 hours a night. This gave me HUGE amounts of stress which manifested itself in the form of nausia and massive breakouts. So… yeah, I support the homework ban.
dmitri

that we should not have any homework because it takes oway from you’re family
Sophie

i say get rid of homework! you’ve just had a hard day at school and you want to relax but you have to do your stessful homework
Kev

When I started 6th grade, I immediately got a posture problem because my backpack was too heavy. As I got older, I got more and more homework, that brought me to tears almost every night, because I just could not do it. I even remember one night, I never got a chance to sleep, because of all the homework I had. That is really bad for a child’s health. My little cousin, Tim is in 8th grade. He has so much homework that he only has 30 minutes of free time on the weekend. This is just not right, it puts too much stress on kids and they miss family and events. It is unfair, and should be reduced, at least a little, for the health concerns and their own family.
Deniz

well, I don’t think homework develops character, nor love for reading! On the contrary, the pressure of the unwanted work just makes any school-related work to be pushed away, so the kids develop a psychological block to school work, and with the added need to fit in, conditioned by time spent working on homework or extra assignments instead of just being a child, they tend to get isolated or stop doing homework in order to be “cool”. What results is a generic kid that has poor social skills, a habit of not thinking for himself and doing nothing more than what is asked of him, so his personality and untampered talent is lost, or misdirected. Or on the other hand, a total opposite who refuses education, and act out though violence or other types of rebellion.
54635233513534343131313131

i <3 this. good topic. i <3 this
mikayla

i think that homework wastes the majority of kids’ time, i think it should be extra credit work. that way it is there to help you learn the material and give your grade a boost of you need it. i think that making it mandatory wastes time for the people who don’t need help learning the material and do well on tests, projects and such.
mikayla

Also now days many of the kids in high school (especially the ones who come from families that aren’t blessed with an abundance of money) already have jobs if they are old enough to work. If you want to teach us to be more responsible projects are enough.
http://www.oxfordlearning.com/2006/10/02/the-homework-debate-is-it-time-to-get-rid-of-homew/#comments smily

@afa
m8 shut up i dont do home work i can get a b with out it
Andy

@234
You had to say that dude.
starbeyondawsome

i hate homework at my school if your absent you have to still do all of your homework from that day i mean i have to e-mail my teachers to see if i had homework from that day then if i miss character education and gym then i have homework for those classes to witch is seriously stupid sometimes i wish that i could just snap my fingers and my homework is done so i could hang out with my friends more than i am now i mean allot of people don’t have homework cause they can do it before the teacher gets to that assignment during class which makes no since. And if i don’t get my homework done i do it that weekend or do little pieces during the week, i mean just get rid of this pointless homework it just wastes time of our lives
john

having homework is really bad because we already did enough work at school and homework requires paper too so it is a waste of trees and time.Or maybe the teachers just like giving people detentions…
Mrs. P

Alright kiddies, here’s the rub: nightly homework SHOULD be a way for you to practice what you learned in class on your own. Class-time is for learning and guided practice; homework should be a time for you to put this learning into independent practice. I completely understand that “busy-work” (work for the sake of being a grade to enter) is ridiculous and discouraging, but unless we have a longer school day, light homework is necessary. That being said, when I was in high school I pulled many an “all-nighter” in which I did not sleep at all. This over-kill was a very stressful part of life for me. However, I still had time to hang out with friends, play sports, do theatre, and even date. I signed up for a high-rigour programme so I knew what to expect. Because of this work, I went to college and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.98 GPA. College was EASY because of the hard work I did in high school. I am now a middle school teacher and try to think about my students’ well-being as I plan homework. My homework assignments require between 15-20 minutes of hard work. The students have 3 other teachers they receive similar homework from which means that they have up to 1.5 hours of homework nightly. Our school day ends at 3:45 (2:45-3:45 is study hall for most students anyway)This means that they should have time to walk home, settle in, and be done with their homework around dinner time (6:30-7:00) leaving plenty of time to hang out with friends, family, etc. I have to say, though, when I see my students on Facebook at 11:30 pm and then hear complaints about how they HAD to stay up so late because of my homework, I have a hard time feeling sympathy. Also, homework inevitably means more writing. Based on the horrendous spelling I have witnessed in the student comments, I’d say this is necessary. Be responsible! Stay in school! Do your work!
Cami

I think that homework should be banned. Even my mom says so. She says when I get home from work I can relax and not have to worry about anything overdue or due the next day, but for kids its even worse. Kids already have enough stress on their shoulders about drama, friends, classwork, and even family, now when they get home they have to worry about homework too. School would be fun if they had no homework. If I look at the board and see that there is absolutely no homework, that just made my day, I’m happy for the rest of the time. If there is so much homework that I have to stay up until 2 in the morning, I would be pissed, wouldnt you?
http://thebigcomix.blogspot.com Some Random Guy

homework is dumb
Lollipopgirl1234

I hate homework I have 5 things due on Friday and I’m only in grade 6!! What are those teachers thinking anyway?
Sam

TOO MUCH! I need to go home and relax after 6 HOURS at school. Then when I get home I still have the weight of having MORE WORK, after such a long day. Plus, it stresses EVERY SINGLE STUDENT out! And you don’t want us kids to have a bad memory of school.
Sam

Finally adults are realizing what kids have been dealing with all these years!
http://vip pratik sharma

I hate homework
sydney

Homework does not give us kids enough time to do the things we love. I in general think we should have no homework except for a project every 6 weeks. Homework to me is a waste of time, it does not even help us. if we have struggled in school homework only makes it worse. sure it may help in the upper grades such as high school , and middle school but in k-6 we need less homework. I’m 10 and even I know that! if you could help that would be great.
sydney

@Sophie
u r right girl!
bob

no more hw
qwerty

Homework is the only thing I don’t like about school. If I don’t understand something, how am I supposed to magically know it by doing homework? Then I tell my teacher that I didn’t understand one question and I get 0 out of 5 points on the assignment, because it’s an “effort” grade, even though I did the rest of the assignment. Also, I get about 40 to 60 questions out of the book for algebra, a 3 page essay in language, 3 book assignments in history, and a chemistry page in science. And I’m only in the 8th grade. It’s ridiculous. And I have it easy. Some kids have football or extra-curricular activities after school. They get home at seven and have the same amount of homework. Then they fail the class and get kicked off the team. How can you be successful in life if everything is based on education?
qwerty

@Mrs. P
In my high school, study hall is not worth any credits, so most kids don’t even get a study hall.
zach

this has proven that homework infact does not work as every child here can not spell, ergo homework is a waste of time @Pat
carolyn

i honestly think homework is a waste of time and that we shouldn’t have to work for hours at home when we already work for hours at school whats the point of school if we have to do most of the work at home i believe homework should be banned because i barley have the time to hang out with my family and friends any more.
unknown

as much as i despite homework, i would rather keep up with the class and know whats happening then be left behind with no idea whats going on

everyone loves their gaming time but you just have to give that extra few hours to your education to get a good job and set yourself up for life
idog

homework should be banned its a waste of time ur here me you chumps!
Homework Good and Bad

I agree with #6. We need some but not too much!
Antonia

Ban homework. Its a waste of time, stressful, brings hell upon us if we don’t do it, hard, takes away our freedom, makes us have a lack of sleep and all the rest. I have had so many detentions just cause id forgotten it at home, even not done it well enough! And some teachers give us homework when it isn’t even a homework day! If teachers are gonna abuse there homework setting, then they don’t deserve to have it! Can’t you give us kids a break! I hope that by the time my baby brother is in school homework won’t exist, because I don’t want him to go through all the hassle and stress us kids have to go through now! Now I’m up late at night because I have 5 online math homework’s to do and I have to do them by tomorrow or I will have my parents called up. And no, I don’t have to do them all by tomorrow because I leave it to the last minute. I have actually been trying to do these homeworks for the past week, but they are too hard. Every time I do them I get 0 and 0 doesn’t qualify as me doing it, so the system makes me do it again. And to top it all off I told my teacher that I didn’t understand but he said that I had to do them (and if I’m honest, my teacher is rubbish!! He sets us homework on our non homework days, he gives you detentions for merely forgetting your books and he doesn’t care about if we didn’t understand our homework) Now, tomorrow me and a whole bunch of my maths class are in a detention for half an hour after school just because we don’t understand our work. And I’m gonna be in more trouble for not doing it cause i don’t get it. Another thing for you adults, I dread going to school sometimes cause I’m not on top of my homework. I pretend to be sick so I don’t get in trouble. And I’ve asked a couple of students and they say they do that too. Is giving us homework really worth is missing days of school? I think not. I hope that you come to your senses and see that it is wrong. You can’t expect us to forget what we learn or anything stupid like that! Please here our voices cause we are talking! And for all you know, riot could break out to get rid if homework!! Do whats right before we take it into our own hands.
Baaaa

I go to school from 9.00am to 3.00pm and I have extra lesson until 6.00pm but I always have my homework done in time.
Tiannah

Thanks for all your comments. Right at this moment in time I am using them for my… HOMEWORK!! I have to write a debating speech on why homework should be banned and what you have all said has been very helpful. I am in year 8 at the moment and over the most recent holidays I had to take homework to my Nan’s so that it could get done which lead to less time bonding with her. I really think that homework should be banned because one of my friends was diagnosed with anxiety/depression which she thinks could be linked with the rise in homework which she had gotten.
rachel

When I was in school I had home work and some of it was very legitimate and
helpful. If the class was going to discuss chapters the teacher didn’t sit
there while we read, we read it for homework.
I spent many nights memorizing vocabulary, practicing math, and all of that
was helpful.
That being said 10 minutes and night per grade leaves a 12th grader with
2 hrs of homework every night. Add to that most high schools have a different
teacher for each class, many teachers do not communicate with each other, and
don’t factor in the time spent on long term project into the 10 minutes
and the student ends up with 4 hrs.

In college I was told to spend 3 hours out of class for every hour in class.
I wondered more tha once if the educators that trotted out thatline FAILED math!
Even if this was not applied to elective classes most college students have
minmum 4 core classes english, math, science, history. Many have more, but
best case scenario – 4 classes at 3 credit hours a week each,
That is 9 hours of homework each week for each class. 9 hrs a week x 4 classes
is 36 hrs. A student could study 5 hours 7 nights a week and still not get in
the 3 hours for every one in class. And taking 4 core classes a semester the
student will be in college for 6+ years!