So in my absolutely, interesting English class, the teacher told us to write a persuasive essay as to why “we shouldn’t get homework”. If we were persuasive enough, she actually might not (she so contradicting, she gave us homework so that we don’t get homework). This led to me, and the many others in my class, to thinking as to why we shouldn’t get homework. Really, I don’t have a problem with homework. I have a problem with the amount we’re getting though. But I have no hope for the not getting homework thing. She assigned us loads so far (apparently it was because she hasn’t finished grading our essays…. garg, teachers and their little “work-around-the-problem tactics”).

So yea my essay that includes robots, monkeys, piranhas, and the Titanic (it really is about not getting homework). Basic 5-paragraph essay.

            Why Students Should Not Get Homework

            Many people probably think of homework as one of the many evils of school. Does it really help them though? This leads to the whole topic of not wanting homework. Students should not get homework as it would actually lead to better overall learning in the long run. From this opinion, it is possible to branch off to the life of students, the development of habits, and finally, the need to actually have homework. People have not come to hate homework just because it is there. Dislike or/and hatred is probably directed more towards the effects of homework. This essay might sound like it comes from a typical, whiny student, but if it really is contemplated more deeply, the benefits of homework can become questionable.

            When teachers assign homework, do they really think about the students? As in really think about them? While I did not believe in it, the idea of teachers being robots and turning themselves off after school was certainly amusing. Do teachers think that students are working machines that keep on going even after school? It certainly can not be healthy for both the brain and the body. Life should have a good balance between work and free time. I’m just wondering why doctors haven’t said anything about the effects of homework on health. Students already spend around 7-8 hours in school. They then only have 6-7 hours of alone time before going to bed-not counting dinner, snack time, and daily washroom breaks of course. It must be funny to think, but students are more than just students, they are humans as well. Meaning, they have other things to do after school. Trying to keep parents happy, uphold an image, doing chores, staying friends with people, being healthy, dealing with drama and studying are already a hassle enough without adding in homework. It’s like throwing in piranhas during the sinking of the Titanic. Another thing to consider is the teachers. They don’t exactly go around sharing their schedules with other teachers. This leads to a lot of homework for every single subject. Take Friday as an example. I have a French dialogue to memorize, an English essay to write, an instrument to practice, and a long Socials worksheet to complete. My friends are all in the same boat as well. It is a lot to take in. Imagine the mental strain on the brains of students who just came fresh off from vacation. If homework for each subject is viewed separately it seems okay, but as a whole, the hours really add up. Students can only do so much.

            Giving out homework actually encourages bad habits in students. By assigning school work as homework, we-the simple-minded monkeys that we are-tend to have a certain thought process: ‘Since we’re given the go ahead to do it at home, we’ll just do it at home.’ Thus, this leads to lack of focus during school. The thought process of actually doing the work at home is another story of course. Also, by practically saying “it’s okay to do work at home” people start to not be able to separate work from home, giving birth to a generation of workaholics. Try to think about those poor, future children that can’t play with their parents because they are working from the moment they come home to the time they go to sleep. It is like one of those subliminal messages. Even though it is not said directly, the mind is led to think that way. Making work that would usually be done at school be finished at home also means more time to do them. With less time constraint, students develop laziness and are unable to develop proper time management skills. During last year’s English finals, the project was only to be done at school and we were given a certain amount of time to do them. With such a heavy time limit and pages of writing to do, I did what I had to do: plan out a whole week of English class down to the last detail. There was no room for mistakes, as this would lead to not being able to finish 1 or 2 pages of the final project. While under pressure, people in class actually either finished in time or earlier. Our minds were totally focused on completing the work and there was no homework to distract us from our goal.

            Is there really a need to have homework? One would think that homework is just school work that was not finished at school. Wouldn’t that mean teachers are to blame for homework’s existence? If teachers actually exploit the school time so that work actually gets done at school, then students would not have to go through skipping out on some fun just to get some work done. Parents also seem to think that their children need to have homework. It appears that way since they not only ask, but question as to why we don’t have homework. I know of some parents who would go to teachers asking them to give their kids homework. It must be to get rid of us children so that they can have peace, if only briefly. So basically, its not so that “we can learn some more”. Finally, what does homework accomplish? Learning? Don’t we do that already in school? Homework is just a duplicate of what we learn during class. I think that if the things we need to learn are compressed down to what we actually need for the provincials and for life then all will be happy. Less work, lesser possibility of homework, and more probability of passing provincials since there would be more time to study and less material to actually study.

            After all of this, it’s possible to say that homework can cause a threat to a student’s mental and physical health, promote the development of bad habits, and may not actually contribute to higher learning. So before giving homework-which is probably too late, seeing as you already gave us this essay-try to think of homework’s side effects. If you really think about it, the harm it does to students outweighs the benefits it gives us-at the end I can only think of one: developing better hand muscles.

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Thoughts? Rants? Cantaloupes (damnit, I’m hungry)?

Oh yea, don’t steal. Do your own homework. Or else my rabid plotbunnies will come and attack you >:o