To me, homework is everything.
Other students, however, feel imposed upon when doing homework. They say things like, “I wish we would never have homework again.”
Don’t they know that homework is actually beneficial to them despite its difficulty?
Even though it can be viewed as a student’s greatest enemy, in reality it is their greatest asset.
The main point of having homework in the first place is to reinforce the new concepts taught that day and help the student develop a deeper understanding of what they have learned.
Taking time each night to do homework helps students review the concepts. It helps long-term retention.
“I understand the importance of it because without it, a lot of us wouldn’t do the ‘extra problems’ needed to get an A, but at the same time, it’s just annoying sometimes, I wish I had time for other things, but first things first,” said freshman Samuel Austin.
Rather than giving students another hour of time that they would most likely use for watching TV, playing video games, or staring off into space, homework ensures an hour of pure education. Laborious time spent doing homework is worth it: improving test scores, improving GPA, and boosting self-esteem.
But homework can be difficult. It is common to have students express their distaste of homework, such as Freshman James Felt, who said, “Teachers don’t consider the amount of homework assigned by other teachers, and when it is all coupled together, students are burdened and swamped by loads of homework.”
However, teachers recognize the importance of homework. “[Homework] must be done because homework helps the learning. Sometimes its super easy and sometimes its so hard. It takes forever to be done,” said freshman John Wong. He added, “but overall homework is about as easy to describe as predicting next year’s weather.”
Not only does homework help a student, it also benefits the teacher. Homework allows the teacher to assess the student’s weaknesses, giving them the chance to improve and acquire skills that can help them while taking a big exam.
Additionally, if teachers were to abandon the idea of homework altogether, they would only have test grades. Students generally earn better scores in the homework category than the test category of their grade rubrics. Removing homework from the grade books would lower students’ grades.
Reducing homework ultimately reduces student achievement and GPA’s.
Although many hate the thought of homework, no one can deny the fact that the benefits out weigh its cons.
