In recent years, Finland had a graduation rate of 93%. It also had the highest rate, in Europe, of students going to college. Japan currently has a graduation rate of 95%. There is one important similarity we need to acknowledge when analysing these countries’ academic success - students in these countries do not receive homework.
This post will discuss why homework should be banned. I will focus on the following points. Firstly, i will take a look at the definition and purpose of homework and prove, by way of example, why homework does not fulfil its purpose. I will then go on to explain the physical repercussions of homework and, lastly, how it creates inequality amongst school learners.
So, let's begin with the first point - What is homework ? Homework is work given to a learner by their teacher to complete at home. It’s pretty self-explanatory. Roberto Nevilis, a teacher in Italy a while back, was the first to come up with this concept. His intention was to create a way for students to go home and practice what they’d been learning in school. Bearing this definition in mind - does homework actually fulfil its purpose ?
With 7 hours of school, almost 2 hours of sport and additional responsibilities, like chores, when we get home it becomes difficult to complete all of these tasks without making some type of sacrifice. In the case of this sacrifice being homework, we are left with merely 2 options 1- Admit to not having done the homework and face punishment or 2 - copy from a friend. In the both cases the homework is not being practiced and we are not embracing what we are taught in school - contradictory to Roberto’s intention. This, therefore, proves that homework does not fulfil its purpose and should be banned.
Secondly, homework is having serious consequences to our health. Five days a week, we have to haul heavy bags between home and school. We wouldn't have as many books if we weren't given homework. I must admit, however, some schools in South Africa are fortunate enough to make use of the e-learning system. This would decrease the amount of books we have. This is only beneficial for a small group of scholars and does not detract from the fact that there is still a large population suffering. Psychotherapists and chiropractors continue to express concern about the large amount of children presented with a myriad of symptoms such as headaches, neck strains, shoulder pains and even the abnormal curvature of the spine. It is evident that heavy bags as a result of homework cause serious dangers to our health.
Lastly, homework is the perfect platform for inequality. In recent years, the French president made a proposal to ban homework. He said, ‘When it comes to work, it should be done during school hours rather than at home in order to establish equal opportunities.” We can't deny the fact that the homework system favours the more fortunate learners. Students in this socio-economic class are more likely to have better working and living environments. This means that completing their homework is an easier task for them than it is for someone without these privileges. It is evident that the homework system is an unfair one.
To conclude, homework should be banned because it does not fulfil its purpose, heavy bags can cause serious injury and it creates inequality.
