Homework: For And Against
Homework has always been one of the great struggles of teachers, parents and students. There are already many parents who are totally against the daily obligatory tasks and who complain about the excessive time they have to dedicate to their children in the afternoon.
Many parents protest that homework is too much and it takes away their playtime when they spend so many hours at school. Some teachers also complain about the lack of parental support and the children’s lack of time to prepare these tasks effectively. The result is that many parents and students regard them as the main source of stress in their daily lives.
If the attitude of the parents is negative, the students can be conditioned by this opinion and reject them outright. In addition, many parents have personal and professional circumstances that limit them when it comes to controlling if they do it or to help them if they have any questions.
A debate that occurs not only in our country but in many others such as the United States, Canada and France, where a strike of duties was even called by parents in 2012.
In favor of homework
For many education professionals they are necessary because doing them is a habit that every student must acquire in order to be able to establish routines. The student acquires a personal responsibility that will help him in his school future.
Of course, it is necessary to ensure that they do not involve a lot of time so that the student can also have a snack, rest when he gets home and go to bed early to be able to perform in class the next day.
The ideal would be between 30 and 60 minutes in Primary and increase to two hours in Secondary at most. Many parents believe that more than forty minutes a day is counterproductive for children.
Teachers must also coordinate not to send all many homework for all subjects on the same day. Sometimes children find homework for all subjects for the next day and other days they have no homework. Those in favor of homework also argue that homework helps children to understand self- help and to develop daily discipline.
Against homework
For many parents, however, homework often does not help children but rather overwhelms them. It cannot be that 6-year-olds spend three hours after school doing homework. Children get up very early and spend many days more than eight hours at school. If we add homework, they can spend more time a day studying than playing.
Also because many of these parents believe that traditional homework often lacks pedagogical value and often does not help students. For example, it does not make much sense to have students copy pages and pages of the book as children are sent on many occasions.
Many parents of primary school children also speak of inequality because they cannot spend every afternoon with their children due to their work obligations. Sometimes finding a family member to take care of homework is complicated or not possible and for financial reasons they cannot turn to private tutors either.
Children for many parents need to play several hours a day and sometimes spend the afternoons doing homework. Many children end up frustrated and as a result they hate homework and sometimes school too. Children end up abandoning sports and other after-school activities because they don’t have time for homework. And for many children it is necessary to do sports on a daily basis, learn to play an instrument or go to English classes.
The controversy as every year is served at the beginning of the course. The important thing is that between parents, teachers and students an agreement is sought so that homework is sent that really helps the children since the necessary study time is not exceeded so that they can also play and rest in the afternoons.
