Since the first year of school and until your very last year at college, you will hear very few people saying good things about homework. Students are often tired of having to deal with homework, as they don’t want to use more time dedicated to school than they already do.
If you ask the question, “Is homework useful?” you will certainly get different answers from students, parents, and teachers. They have different views on homework and its importance in the development of students. The debate about the usefulness of homework intensifies whenever a student fuels it with complaints, leading to an endless cycle. So, is homework good for students, or is it harmful? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of homework and come to a conclusion.
The Benefits of Homework
To figure out how does homework help students, we have to look at some of the advantages it comes with. According to some “why homework is good statistics,” around 77% of people think that homework and achievement have a strong link and that homework is thus an important part of the learning process for all students.
With that in mind, let’s see why that may be and why your teacher is giving you homework responsibility in the first place:
We all heard the saying “practice makes perfect,” and you probably think about how cliché it is. But it holds a lot of truth.
Not all students are the same. Everyone learns differently: some students are instantly learning things, while others need to keep practicing and re-practicing the things they learn to be able to memorize and understand them. This is where homework is very useful. Through homework, you make sure you don’t just go home, turn on your computer and forget everything your teacher said. You actually spend time reflecting on what you were taught in class and applying it, making it possible to learn and master the information.
If you experience any problem doing it, you can simply just go to your teacher the next day and talk about the obstacle you encountered. You will get the help you need and thus learn how to solve the issue.
Homework is a great way of learning how to prioritize things. Being a student is tough, as students are often bad at time management due to how many things they have to take care of. Because of that, they have no idea which thing they should take care of first. With homework, they can simply decide on which one to finish first depending on the difficulty or whichever they like the most, and they will thus learn how to prioritize.
Another thing that can be improved with homework is time management. Homework will help students look for answers in a certain amount of time, which then helps the student learn time management skills. This will also help a student during an exam. They already spent time learning how to answer questions, so doing that during the exam will be much easier and will take less time.
Can Homework Be Bad?
Homework can also have some disadvantages, such as:
Although this is not too common, one of the consequences of homework is health problems. Some people end up experiencing health issues, such as stomachaches, exhaustion, lack of sleep, headaches, and other similar things. These may not seem like a big issue at first, but in the long run, they can lead to chronic illnesses.
Stress is one of the most common consequences of homework, and some surveys proved that more than half of the students feel that homework is one of the main stress sources for them. This is because the homework has to be finished within a certain amount of time, and also because they are scared of doing a bad job and giving the wrong answers.
Some students deal with an imbalance in life due to homework, especially if they have too much homework to deal with. Too much homework prevents them from having fun with their friends and families, and also from just enjoying different forms of entertainment. Their brains need to relax now and then, and not having that will affect their lives.
Conclusion: Is Homework Harmful or Helpful?
Should homework be given or banned for students in schools? Well, it shouldn’t be banned because, as you can see, it can be helpful in many ways.
It helps students learn and manage their time, as well as prioritize. There are many facts about homework being good, and it’s easy to see what is homework good for. But for that to be effective, the students need to get the right amount of homework. Primary school students should not have more than 20-25 minutes of homework, whereas middle school students should spend 45 minutes. Meanwhile, high school students need around 1.5-2 hours, but that also depends on the discipline the students opt for.
In the end, homework is good when the teacher knows how to give it and when the student is not overworked.
Posted by Diana B.