Why schools shouldn’t assign homework

Hailey Enloe, Social Media Manager

Many kids go to school for seven to eight hours a day, not counting after-school activities. Some teachers give students homework to practice what they have learned at school. Kids and teenagers have lives outside of school, but many teachers don’t see that when they give students homework. Some teenagers have jobs and extracurricular activities. Kids also have things to do outside of school, and they may also be involved in sports. 

Teachers shouldn’t give students homework. 

A lot of teenagers have jobs they have to do after school. The students will drive from school straight to their workplace and home after working hours of shifts. Once they get home, they want to unwind and get ready for bed, but they realize they have to do homework; this could cause them to stay up late at night working on assignments. Then they could lose sleep and be exhausted the next day, which could distract them from learning or passing a test the next day, especially if they don’t know how to do the work. 

Some students are shy and don’t want to ask questions in class about the material they are learning in class or may not comprehend it. That would make it more challenging and more stressful to do their homework. Most parents haven’t been in school for years and don’t understand the assignments, so trying to help the students could stress both the parents and the students. Then, it could lead to cheating off of google or other classmates. 

Lastly, if a kid comes from a low-income family, they might not have supplies to do their homework. This could make them have failing grades or even punishment like detention for not doing homework. Most low-income students don’t have pens, paper, pencils, computers, internet access, a quiet place to work, or a parent at home to help, which are all critical aspects of doing homework. They might also have to watch their siblings or be somewhere other than home, leaving less time for homework. 

Therefore students should not have to do homework when they have plenty of time to learn and practice learning material at school when they are there for seven to eight hours.