Should students be given homework?

As modern school becomes more centred on students’ abilities and judgement, one question that often comes into play is whether students should be given homework or not. While there are arguments on both sides, I believe students should not be given homework for multiple reasons.

The first reason why students should not be given homework is because it takes a lot of their spare time. Taking into account 8 hours of sleep time and 8 hours of classes, the student remains with 8 hours of spare time. However, out of this time, one has to eat, practice sports activities in order to take care of the body, and have some leisure activities. Research[1] (Hsu K, Marshall V. , 1987) shows that lack of leisure activities leads to stress and even certain medical conditions, such as heart disease, obesity and depression. 

The second reason why students should not be given homework is due to the fact that most elements of a lesson can be entirely understood in class. A good teacher knows how to explain the lesson as for everyone to understand. He can ask questions that help observe the knowledge gap and solidify their past claimants on the domain.

The third reason why homework is not a good idea anymore is due to the fact it feels like a chore. Very few people enjoy doing chores, and you hardly obtain any value if you do something just because you feel compelled to do it. On the other hand, if the teacher manages to trigger students’ interest on a certain matter, they will further research the subject at home on their own will.

In conclusion, homework is something that shouldn’t be enforced anymore as of 2019. We do things much better and obtain higher value when doing them out of curiosity or interest, rather than being forced to do it.

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[1] Hsu K, Marshall V. Prevalence of depression and distress in a large sample of Canadian residents, interns and fellows. American Journal of Psychiatry 1987;