Jack Bessette

Why homework? Why not physical activity or reading a book? Some people think that homework is a sign of successful learning, but some have come to realize that homework doesn’t mean that students are learning or doing their work. Researchers, for almost 20 years, have said that homework does not tie into students improving their grades. This is why written homework should be banned.  It doesn’t actually help with students’ grades, and homework takes up valuable family time.

My first reason why we should ban all written homework is that it does not actually help students with their grades.  Professor John Hattie conducted a 20-year research study which found that normal homework offered little or no benefits to school children grade-wise. According to the article  Reclaiming Family Time Over Homework Gets A+, “…parents at St Charles’ Primary School at Waverley have responded enthusiastically to the school’s decision to swap much of its traditional homework for tasks at home that emphasize family life and active pursuits.”

My second reason why all written homework should be banned is, homework takes up valuable family bonding time. My first piece of evidence why homework takes up valuable family time is that the article New York School Abolishes Homework, Does Homework Do any Good? says that the principal at P.S. 116 abolished all homework and instead asked the students to do independent activities and have family bonding time. My second piece of evidence is this quote from the article Homework Hysteria: “Overall, there is scant evidence that elementary-level homework serves any purpose other than conditioning children for homework in high school, where it appears to play a bigger role in outcomes.” My third piece of evidence is that in a study conducted by Google almost a third of parents said their homework frustrations were because their children didn’t want their help according to the article, Homework a Struggle for Many Parents.

My third and final piece of evidence of why homework doesn’t actually help grades of school students comes from Sydney University’s Associate Professor of Educational Psychology who stated that homework should be quality over quantity and there should be less low-quality homework and more mentally challenging high-quality, and that homework less frequently is better.

So students and parents everywhere take a stand and stand up to the unrealistic and unjust expectation for your child to write a five-paragraph essay due in three days. Because not all homework is effective. It’s the truth because homework doesn’t affect grades and takes up family time.