A Position Paper On The Disbandment Of Homework

BY: SLG

Homework is defined as a task given to students by teachers to be carried out

during non-school hours. The invention of homework was credited to Roberto Nevellis
(or to Pliny the Younger depending on your sources). Nevellis was an Italian teacher who
felt that his teachings lost essence when his students left the class, Thus in 1905 he
“Invented” homework which has then been greatly used in schools all over the world.

Which leads us to the seemingly unending debate on whether homework should be

demolished as students already have too much workload, but the purpose of homework is
to teach students life skills such as time management, responsibility, and self-discipline.
Although I don’t think homework should be mandatory, but it shouldn’t be completely
disbanded either. Homework is not a necessity, but it is convenient. Homework has been
a reliable tool in education for a very long time, but as the new times have brought the
issue regarding the disbandment of homework to light, opinions left and right have come
up.

Students nowadays view homework as unessential and trivial. They do not see yet that
teachers/ professors give students assignments not to make their lives difficult but rather
to prepare them for what they will face in the real world when they grow older so it is
important that at a young age they are taught of self-discipline and independence. It
allows students to discover themselves, their strong and weak points, different traits and
skills that will help them nourish themselves as a person. The value of homework should
not be so easily overlooked as people should know of its importance and the benefits it
bring.

Homework has little educational worth and helps nothing with the students’ academic
performance instead worsens it and causes more trouble than it’s actually worth.
Homework can be a part of your written and performance work in your grades which
already holds a large percentage of your grades added by your tasks at school, it is also
how your teacher evaluate your knowledge of the lesson it will strengthen their
understanding and be more confident of their abilities.
According to Professor Sue Hallan of the Institute of London believes that much of the
friction of the families is caused by the increased amount of formal written school works
of students coming home. But a research on 1989 and 2006, Professor Harris Cooper of
the Department of Psychology of Duke University, North Carolina, where he conducted
two reviews of 180 studies on the impact of homework, his findings were consistent that
homework is beneficial to the students success if not overdone. Duke University
researchers have reviewed 60 research studies on homework between 1987 and 2003 and
concluded that homework does have a positive effect on student achievement.

There are some students that are not able to comply with the assigned tasks, or if did the
teachers will not be able to check if it is their work, these situations are unavoidable as
the students may have circumstances at home which may be why they are unable to
comply, as opposed to this, exemptions, and negotiations when the teacher gives
homework should be put to much thought. When unable to comply with activities at
school giving tasks to bring home as homework can be good for their grades and could
act as extra credit.

Thus in conclusion Homework should not be mandated nor disbanded as it is very

beneficial and the need for it must be considered carefully as it can put too much stress
on the student, loss of sleep, fatigue, and the stress that affects their mental health. Which
is why instead of banning homework the school should regulate the amount of homework
and should be only given when necessary.

The thing about the debate of homework is that it has positive and negative impacts yet
people tend to focus on it’s negative impact without thought that its positive impacts
carries more weight, like how a lot of people view their situations in life .