Homework Debate Points: 6 Reasons Why Homework Should Not Be Banned in Schools

The debate on whether homework should not be banned has become more and more popular over the years. Many arguments for the claim of why homework should not be banned cites that there’s benefits of homework. On the flip side, there’s claims that homework can further harm the student experience both inside and outside of school. Today I want to discuss the homework debate points on why homework should not be banned.

Key Debate Points on Why Homework Should Not Be Banned

Homework Reinforces Beyond the Classroom

While homework has many different reasons for existing, the most popular and evident importance on why homework should not be banned is that it helps reinforce content outside of the classroom. A typical day for a student has them going to at least 5 different classes across varying different subjects. It’s easy for a student throughout the day to forget what happened in any particular class. This highlights the benefits of homework because it has the student recall information learned at the end of their day.

Homework Encourages Self Discipline and Time Management

Another debate point for why homework should not be banned in schools is how it encourages students to manage their time and promote self discipline. Since homework is expected to be done on the student’s time, it makes the student develop self discipline. The reward for self discipline is a good grade and understanding on concepts the homework covers. If a student lacks the self discipline it gives the teacher the opportunity to present direct feedback for the student. This is especially evident if the student has difficulty completing homework on time.

Students who are busier with outside extracurriculars may need to develop time management skills. These skills are difficult to teach in school as student’s have less autonomy during the school day. It’s not until after school where students are able to develop the important habits such as time management and self discipline. For students who feel like they are succumbing to the pressures of time management, it could be worth hiring one of our executive functioning tutors!

Homework Involves Parents in the Learning Process

Another reason to consider is the benefit for parent involvement in the learning process. As students get older, parents become less involved in the student’s curriculum. Having homework allows for the student and parent to work together. This benefits the student during the learning process as the parent may have a different approach to a problem discussed in the homework. It also allows the parent to be more involved with the student’s academics later on in the student’s academic career.

In a paper published by the American Sociological Association they stated:

By helping with homework, parents may model effective study habits, cultivate positive attitudes toward learning, and reinforce material covered during the school day (Hoover-Dempsey et al. 2001; Nu´n˜ez et al. 2015; Patall et al. 2008). When children are struggling in school, consistent parental help with homework may not only provide direct academic support, but it may also offer children reassurance that they have a caring support system at home (Drummond and Stipek 2004; HooverDempsey et al. 2001; Nu´n˜ez et al. 2015).

Benefits of Homework for Academic Development

Homework Helps Identify Learning Gaps

Learning gaps are another debate point that homework helps with. While doing homework, a student may have difficulty with some assignments over others. A teacher can use this as a way to identify learning gaps in a student or even across the entire class. This can be valuable feedback; if there are multiple students who are struggling with a particular assignment, this could be an indicator that the content may need to be retaught.

Homework Prepares Students for Responsibility

Responsibility is a difficult thing to teach. You can’t exactly teach it as a class, but through things like homework assignments, you’re able to promote the development of it! Students who routinely complete homework are slowly developing their responsibility in academics. It requires students to not only manage their time but take the responsibility to complete assignments on time. This type of responsibility then goes on to reinforce other skills such as studying, work ethic, and more!

At our in-person school: The Tenney School, we’ve found that our students develop executive functioning skills earlier on when they have the opportunity to leverage free time at school to complete homework. For the student, they do this so that they don’t have to complete as much work at home, but in reality this is also great practice for developing/using their free time responsibly.

Homework Promotes Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills

The final debate point about why homework should not be banned in school is the benefit they provide for developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills. While it’s true these skills are rooted in class, homework is when they’re put to the test. With homework, students are required to think critically because they don’t have access to the same resources in the classroom. When the student isn’t able to ask a teacher a question, it instead makes them approach the problem in a different way. Maybe they’ll compare the question to a previous lesson they went over. Another way is by going to google where they can get tips on how to solve it.

Ultimately these critical thinking and problem-solving skills are necessary components of the academic learning process that can only be put into practice through homework.

Do You Think Homework Should be Banned?

Now that we’ve covered our reasons on why we think homework should not be banned – we’d like to hear your side! Do you have reasons on why you think it should be banned? Let’s start a discussion below! If you are currently having difficulties with homework, we highly recommend scheduling a time with one of our many tutors. Our tutors are able to help you with all of your homework needs and can get you back on track!

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