Some schools are on the brink of doing away with homework. The trend is worrying to many parents as they have big dreams for their kids. They believe that issuing homework contributes to their kid getting acceptance from major universities like Harvard. Research has it that elimination of assignment may be of more good than harm. What factor are they using to determine this? The answer is simple, educational equity. Here, we look at the welfare of all sorts of students.
Many may think that this is a new debate, but the elimination of homework has been in existence. The education pendulum now swings back and forth in finding a better ground between eliminating homework or not.
Homework highlighting inequality
We often forget how homework affects students from less affluent families. Children from wealthy families are most likely to have all the resources they require to study. These resources include internet connections, dedicated study areas, computers, and educated parents. Their parents are more likely to assist them in doing tricky assignments. On the other hand, the different sets of kids may have afterschool tasks waiting for them to do. Their parents may also not be at home, leaving them unsupervised. The reasons for their absence might be the fact that they work multiple jobs to make ends meet.
Students from more affluent homes most likely engage in sports or other recreational activities when they finish school hours. The same group of students is also more likely to get additional tutoring outside class. However, the different sets of students head home immediately after school. They have jobs waiting for them, such as taking care of their younger siblings. When we add homework to these tasks, they have a lot on their hands.
Apart from the logical points, homework can lead to stress and impact physical health negatively. The issue may be of greater significance to the less fortunate children than their more affluent counterparts. We can conclude that issuing excess homework is damaging to both parties. The conclusion leads us to the following query, how much homework is enough?
Quantity of homework that is enough
After thorough research, the National Parent Teacher Association and the National Education Association agree that students should spend ten minutes per grade level per night. What does this mean? First-grade students should have ten-minute homework as the second-grade kids do twenty minutes and so on. Following the studies, students get more homework than that they require. As the figures add up as we move up the grades, sixth-grade children have an hour every night of homework. It is higher than the average, which should be six and eight tenths’ hours of homework per week. Another thing is that these figures do not put into consideration the disadvantaged kids.
Homework being a task to complete after school hours, it should not take much time for the students to rest.
The help teachers can offer
It is the responsibility of educators, teachers, and parents to help their children find an appropriate balance. These sectors should meet and have constructive conversations to help solve the homework issue.