Homework Should Be Banned

You said that one reason my argument is completely refuted is because I made an error with one of my sources. I can still prove it [1]. And you also said my stress argument is weak because there is too much of everything. But how does oxygen and water relate? One can be done in spare time in a classroom, the others you need to survive. You can survive without homework, in fact, you may actually feel better: even freer. But these are from both ends of the spectrum, and don"t connect. You also used my source against me. "If teachers aren't really incorporating homework into their teaching, it's unclear there is any type of benefit at all and it actually may end up hurting students." You made it sound like: "if (they) aren"t incorporating homework into teaching...end up hurting students." What was said was: "if (they) aren"t really incorporating homework into teaching...end up hurting students." There"s a huge difference there. You not recognizing the "really" in the sentence. It didn"t mean: no homework is bad. But the "really" brought the meaning to: if the homework doesn"t help in teaching students, then the homework does harm, not good. You also called me out for using a politician"s plan. You said that I just said we can cut PE and health. I said we can scrap homework and time wasting lessons and replace it with extra lessons in vital areas. The person I cite also seems to be well educated. Elizabeth Truss went to Oxford and is England"s Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education and Childcare. I think she well qualified to make arguments about cutting worthless lessons and what to do with education. I used health/PE as an example. I honestly don"t think we need to hear for the thousandth time that drugs are bad, nor do I think kids need to learn how to play sports they don"t like. According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, only a third of high school students choose to take PE [3]. That shows they don"t want that subject because they believe it is a waste of time. Also, "the quality of physical education where it still exists, has suffered." Paula Kun, spokesperson for the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, said this [3]. Obviously PE isn"t what it used to be. And as for health, the 8+ years about no drugs and yes to abstinence wastes a good 40 or so minutes per day. And yes, independence is a vital goal of education. But asking what the equation setup was after the kid was absent for a few days isn"t extreme on a simple assignment. You draw connections from homework to exams but they are nothing alike. And I"m sure you know, being a tutor for 20 years, that you help the student in need of help, you aren"t giving them an answer. So even if you have a good source, you have an illogical argument. You would be the worst tutor in the world if you told a kid they had to learn independence. The goal of education is truly ONE thing: LEARNING. You can"t learn everything without help. If you give a 12 year old a high school biology textbook, don"t expect them to be Einsteins by the end of the year without a skilled teacher"s help. It"s no crime to do your job: and teachers teach their students. This isn"t in need of a source: because we learn to do something in school: think critically. I dismiss your use of a source on working independently because not all things involve questions being asked. By 3rd grade they know how to work independently, but help shouldn"t be thrown away. If a student is in need of help, throwing a sheet of paper in front of them WON'T FIX IT. "Homework is necessary to try out strategies learned in class by oneself, so as to see whether they have been understood." Did I not propose a simple solution for that? I think I did. That whole argument about thinking they have it correct, but they don"t does not help you. I said we should cut stupid classes and give more lessons in vital subjects, along with more help from teachers. That is a simple solution. I also said they should do those homework assignments with the extra time they get from cutting subjects, and get help from the teacher if they need it. They know they"re stuck then, so why are you still trying to use the homework as a diagnostic tool? It isn"t needed with the simplest of solutions. I said it can be a good tool to see a student"s understanding, I never said it had to be used for seeing a student"s understanding of a topic. So, no, my argument is not completely refuted. But my last thought is: why would you call me out for using opinion, when you used experience as your second paragraph of your third argument in the first round. Cut the double standard. Sources: [1]: http://www.educationviews.org... [2]: http://www.newsplex.com... [3]: http://www.ihpra.org...