Homework Should Be Banned

Homework has been a reliable tool in education for a very long time. Motions to have homework banned are a phenomenon unique to the Unites States of America [1], where there has been a strong movement against homework.The international PISA study [2] has shown that US pupils perform at or slightly below the world's average, making the American system as it is not exactly a good example of efficient schooling.So, in order to arrive at a reliable conclusion about the use of homework, we may have to look at it on a global scale.1. Homework helps pupils to consolidate what they have learnedLet's first have a look at research. In 1989 and 2006, Professor Harris Cooper from the Department Of Psychology of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, conducted two reviews of a total of 180 studies on the topic of homework [3][4].His findings were consistent in that homework is beneficial to student success, unless it is overdone. "Duke University researchers have reviewed more than 60 research studies on homework between 1987 and 2003 and concluded that homework does have a positive effect on student achievement. [...] Cooper said the research is consistent with the "10-minute rule" suggesting the optimum amount of homework that teachers ought to assign. The "10-minute rule," Cooper said, is a commonly accepted practice in which teachers add 10 minutes of homework as students progress one grade. In other words, a fourth-grader would be assigned 40 minutes of homework a night, while a high school senior would be assigned about two hours."It's not exactly counter-intuitive, either: the more often a task is practiced, the better we get at it.Of course, there is - as with ANY training - always a risk of overdoing it. But that is only logical, too. So, there is a perfect amount of homework, and a "too much" just as well as a "too little" - as with anything in life.Abolishing homework would rob students of a chance to be better in school. There can be no doubt about that, and keeping people from improving would impede their civil rights.Homework is thus important and must be offered to pupils. It must be regulated not to overtax them. 2. Homework is an important diagnostic toolTeachers have limited resources. They can not be there for students all day, they need time to prepare lessons, review exams and be prepared to solve conflicts. They also have a right to a family life of their own, and should participate in continued training in order to be able to offer their students the best possible education. This means that ways have to be found to aid the teachers in their task of helping children get through school.Homework is an important part of this.Teachers work with their students in school teaching them subject matter. Assessment of their progress is necessary to ensure that pupils do not fail their exams. Homework is the perfect way of doing this. Students perform tasks without assistance from the teacher, under conditions not too different from an exam. By correcting these exercises, teachers can evaluate which student needs more attention and invite parents to consult them on how to support their child if the need arises.There simply isn't enough time in class to watch every student's performance. Besides, a vast majority of students is afraid of exams. Assessing students' performance in class would be just that: an exam. Homework is far less stressful, because it's usually not graded. Mistakes uncovered in homework don't harm students' grades, they are just a chance for pupil and teacher to realize where more work might be needed.3. Homework teaches more than subject materialSome people complain that homework is repetitive and seems to serve no purpose.But that is an experience all too familiar from professional careers as adults [5]. Many professional workers feel that their existence is filled with repetitive, useless work. This puts a lot of stress on them.Being prepared for this is something crucial for the process of growing up. For children, life is all fun and games. As adults, they have to set all of that aside during working hours. And when will they learn how to cope with that experience? Class is different from work, as there is always an authority in front of the students, talking to them. The students don't have to actually produce something, they are recipients of instruction. Homework, however, is quite similar to the actual working experience: being isolated, performing the same task over and over again, without any apparent reward. But homework - if put to use appropriately - only takes up a maximum of two hours a day, as opposed to a "nine to five" job. The result is that children are prepared for their later life and are less likely to succumb to the stress of a working life then. Routine is the key word here. Occasional reports or other long-term assignments just don't serve the same purpose of getting children used to this situation.But homework does even more than that.Doing exercises for practice in school with the assistance of a teacher makes students dependent on exterior help. They can never learn to think for themselves and solve problems on their own with a teacher always looking over their shoulder. I can sadly only offer my personal experience as a tutor in that respect. In my country, there are private schools that work without homework, where teachers assist students in school, even during exams. As a result, when these children transfer to a public school, they fail miserably whenever they are asked to perform any task all by themselves. But these skills are essential for students. At the very least, every student is completely deserted during the final exam. If the students have not learned by then how to cope with work assignments all by themselves. Homework is an important step towards self-sufficiency. And while long-term assignments do serve the same purpose, they do not really help children learn how to deal with the stress of close deadlines.The purpose of school is to get students ready for the working life. And we're not talking about rocket science here. Even hamburger vendors are required to work pressed for time. So if children are not introduced to that concept, they would fail miserably at any job out there.Is this a nice experience? No. But neither are hunger, fatigue or fear. Yet it is important not to be overprotective. Keeping any negative experience away from children harms their development [6]. Is it fair that sometimes we have to work things out all by ourselves? No, but that's how things are in LIFE. Suppose you're on a lonely road and your car breaks down. It requires practice to fight down the uprising panic, remain calm and find a solution to the problem. A child without that practice might just run off into one direction planlessly or curl up into a ball and hope that help will arrive all by itself. But the practice of overcoming fear and panic can only come from experience. Homework will help children acquire this important skill on a rather nonhazardous level. The worst thing that can happen is a little bit of humiliation and a second attempt at solving the problem.Homework is thus beneficial on multiple levels, and must not be banned for the sake of all students.[1]: http://www.sfgate.com...[2]: http://nces.ed.gov...[3]: http://tvoparents.tvo.org...[4]: http://today.duke.edu...[5]: http://hbr.org...[6]: http://everydaylife.globalpost.com...