Submitted By: Katherine Han
The most common complaints you get from students are about homework. Students feel like they shouldn’t have homework after seven hours in school. What if they are right? There exists no homework in schools in Finland and, yet, they have the most successful education system. But what if they are wrong? Having homework does give students a refresher on what they learned in school. Both having and not having homework has it’s benefits.
One of the main reasons schools require homework is because it provides students with a refresher on what they learned that day. Furthermore, homework reinforces the new material learned to help the student better understand it. According to studies, you have to learn something seven times in order to really understand or remember it. Having homework also helps students on tests. First off, students tend to have a better understanding of the topics they spent more time on. Homework helps with just that, it gives student another opportunity to understand and learn the material. Secondly, while doing homework, you tend to make mistakes and find what you need to work more on. This process helps students prepare for tests because it identifies what topics the students may need to put more effort and work into. Since homework is similar to a mini lesson at home, this means that during school, the teacher won’t necessarily have to spend an excessive amount of time on a topic, knowing that the students will get another chance to practice the new material at home. This opens up room for the teacher to get through a lot more topics in class. One of the greatest benefits having homework brings, is the development of a sense of responsibility. Having homework means the student needs to put in the extra effort to complete assignments correctly and on time. Whether the student chooses to complete the homework or not, there are potential consequences or rewards for either choice. In this case, homework helps the student learn how to be responsible and helps the student prepare for future life. According to Nicole Pavlik, a seventh grader, “Having homework lets me get more practice. [It also] helps me see what I need to work on, or practice for [upcoming] test[s]”.
A lot of students complain about having homework because they think that without homework, they would have more time to do other activities. In Finland, the educational system is free of homework, and, still, they have the most successful education system. Not having homework allows for students to just enjoy life with less stress. Statistically, less stress seems to benefit a student when it comes to learning. Pavlik states, “Studies show that a lot of stress can lead to depression. Also, students tend to learn better by doing a few problems rather than doing a lot.”. Thus, no homework seems to correlate with decreased stress and, therefore, less depression. A lot of students have a lot of after school activities and hobbies that homework would often interfere with. With no homework, students will have more time after school to play sports or participate in other activities. Furthermore, students will also get more time to spend with their family and friends. Oftentimes, students are stuck at home because they have a lot of homework to do. With homework, instead of going outside to just enjoy family and friend time, they are stuck at home with homework, in addition to the seven hours of school.
There are benefits to both having and not having homework. Sometimes, students may feel like their homework is bothersome, but eventually they do see the benefits it brings to them. On the other hand, not having homework can also bring about its own set of benefits. According to one student, “I would still want to have homework, but I think schools should regulate the amount of homework they give so we aren’t overwhelmed by homework” (Pavlik).
~Katherine Han
