No to Homework?
Elementary to college students everywhere have long complained about being assigned too many homework by their teachers. Despite the students’ loud complaints though, home assignments are still given. According to educators, homework teaches students about responsibility and time-management and gives them self-confidence.
But it seems that some parents and teachers are taking the students’ side of the argument.
A small group of educators and concerned parents in the United States are calling for the complete elimination of homework for younger students as, according to them, doing assignments at home has no proven benefits. Further strengthening this no-homework call are two books that state that the large amount of homework teachers assign to students leaves them with little or no time to spend on other important activities like sports, their hobbies and even their families. The two books also reiterated the argument that more homework do not really contribute to the improvement of the students’ learning experience and just add to the amount of stress the students experience.
One of the books, “The Case Against Homework”, was written by New York-based attorney Sara Bennett. In an interview, the mother of two stated that she was prompted to write the book after seeing the amount of homework her kids were being made to do. Comparing the amount of homework her son in middle school receives to her own assignments when she was a student in law school, she believed that homework seems to be the “biggest waste” of her kids’ time.
Bennett, who has now transferred her children to a special school that does not give homework to their students, further added that since there are no proven benefits of homework, kids are just basically “doing work that nobody has really been able to say is beneficial.”
Another book, “The Homework Myth,” also presents arguments for the abolition of homework. Citing a number of studies, the group’s main thrust is that homework causes students to view school and learning in a negative light and also negatively affects them psychologically.
Another argument against homework is that it creates financial burdens for some families. In today’s modern world where most families have both the mother and father working for a living, parents are left without time to help their children. This leaves them with no other option except to hire private tutors to help their kids cope up with their homework.
The renewed debate over homework was prompted by a recent Duke University study which claims students do not get more benefits from homework. The new study headed by Professor Harris Cooper, the leading researcher in homework in the United States, states that:
- Despite being assigned more assignments, elementary students get no benefit from it except for reading and basic skills.
- There is no benefit in studying more than two hours a night for high school students.
- For middle-school students, homework and studying at home should only last up to 1 ½ hours, anything beyond that is of no benefit to them.
- Most teachers have no training that will help them create substantial assignments that will help their students advance their learning.
This, according to the people behind the study, doesn’t necessarily mean that they are endorsing the complete abolition of homework. What they are suggesting is limiting the amount of homework given to students. The experts propose to start with 10-minute assignments for first-graders, then gradually and continuously increase the amount of homework given students as they reach new grade levels.
Sources:
Agense France Presse, “Homework no good, says US parents, educators.” Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 12, 2006. pp. A1 and A6.
Straus, Valerie, “Expert: Homework fails to make grade.”
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061109/SCHOOLS/611090306
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