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I just read this article in TIME Magazine about homework. Since school has started for me, I've started to hate homework again. Tell me your thoughts about this article.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1376208,00.html

Without having read the article, I'll just say I completely didn't mind homework. It was never difficult for me nor was it too time consuming, I spent maybe a maximum of about 2 hours in grade 12 on homework, about once a week, other days I either had none or much less than that.

I felt that homework forced me to focus and plan the use of my time. It also gave me something to do and I was rarely bored after school.

In regards to the article that I skimmed, I think it's ridiculous that younger and younger children are being overloaded with homework, if it isn't their own doing, I mean that is if they manage their time and work well in school but still get all the work.

I didn't start truly getting homework until I was in about 4th grade or so.

Originally posted by silver_tears
Without having read the article, I'll just say I completely didn't mind homework. It was never difficult for me nor was it too time consuming, I spent maybe a maximum of about 2 hours in grade 12 on homework, about once a week, other days I either had none or much less than that.

I felt that homework forced me to focus and plan the use of my time. It also gave me something to do and I was rarely bored after school.

In regards to the article that I skimmed, I think it's ridiculous that younger and younger children are being overloaded with homework, if it isn't their own doing, I mean that is if they manage their time and work well in school but still get all the work.

I didn't start truly getting homework until I was in about 4th grade or so.
thank you for responding, but i think i totally agree with the article...homework has caused many kids to lose interest in learning. For example there aren't many in the careers of science or math for a reason and i think it starts out with the inspiration or motivation of the students.

I don't think it's the homework that discourages students from these subjects, I think it's the subject itself.

I've always hated math just because, it was never the homework, math homework was some of the most enjoyable imo because there's basically only one answer and you follow patterns to get to it. There's no grey area there, and you either know it or you don't. There's nothing more satisfying than finally having an equation ot etc click where you get it and can make it work droolio

But yea, the whole point was I've always hated math regardless of homework

Homework has always been a pointless endeavor. It's a waste of time, I've always thought this. I don't think I ever learned anything of value from homework, aside maybe figuring out ways to get through it quickly while doing the bare minimum of work, nor did homework ever HELP me learn anything in relation to the classes.

The inherent problem with homework is that no child wants to put in effort after being in school for 6 hours a day. Most kids just finish the homework as quickly as possible, just doing the bare minimum knowing the teacher probably won't read through it thuroughly. This includes a kid copying text word for word, using a calculator to do math problems (and sometimes making UP work for the teachers who wanted them to show work) or just copying other kids.

Homework only further discourages the learning process by making it even more of a chore than it usually already is. Learning can be great fun, but unfortunately people don't usually realize that until after they are done with school and learn something that doesn't force them to do a bunch of pointless busy work to eat up time in the process.

Originally posted by BackFire
Homework has always been a pointless endeavor. It's a waste of time, I've always thought this. I don't think I ever learned anything of value from homework, aside maybe figuring out ways to get through it quickly while doing the bare minimum of work, nor did homework ever HELP me learn anything in relation to the classes.

The inherent problem with homework is that no child wants to put in effort after being in school for 6 hours a day. Most kids just finish the homework as quickly as possible, just doing the bare minimum knowing the teacher probably won't read through it thuroughly. This includes a kid copying text word for word, using a calculator to do math problems (and sometimes making UP work for the teachers who wanted them to show work) or just copying other kids.

Homework only further discourages the learning process by making it even more of a chore than it usually already is. Learning can be great fun, but unfortunately people don't usually realize that until after they are done with school and learn something that doesn't force them to do a bunch of pointless busy work to eat up time in the process.
i agree, homework is very much "busy work" becuase 7 hours of school isn't enough for people to learn

in the article it says that in japan, they are are high in test scores and their teachers assign less homework than the united states, but in other countries like denmark, they pile it on and test scores are lower...i think this is saying something...

i personally have at least 3 hours of homework a night, and i am not a perfectionist...

Homework is, obviously, not a particularly new concept, and in fact, students have been homework...ing since basically school was developed. So why should this be brought to light now? Kids don't like homework? This isn't new. We rush through it to get it done asap and when all's said and done, you don't care about the subject you just learned but rather the letter you get representing just how much you "learned". In fact, in today's environment, where education is such a vital role, homework has in fact become more important than ever before. Students have to learn as much as possible, faster than before, in order to catch up with the status quo when they finally leave high school. Of course, every student knows how to shamelessly exploit the system, remembering what's needed to pass an exam and immediately forgetting about it, unless it's a course like math where what you learn is a stepping stone to what comes next. Homework itself comes in reasonable amounts if you know how to handle it and the time you have available, and only becomes a problem if you have multiple other responsibilities as well, ie job, sport, etc. In two words: time management.

So this was essentially my way of saying, don't like homework? Deal with it. No one likes it.

"According to a 2004 national survey of 2,900 American children conducted by the University of Michigan, the amount of time spent on homework is up 51% since 1981"

i donno...they should just stop stacking up the homework than...reasonaable amounts of homework can be more effective then craploads of it...

eventhough homework has been around for quite some time, there is always room for improvements; inovative ways to learn that will probably become more effective...

Originally posted by Spearhead
Homework is, obviously, not a particularly new concept, and in fact, students have been homework...ing since basically school was developed. So why should this be brought to light now? Kids don't like homework? This isn't new. We rush through it to get it done asap and when all's said and done, you don't care about the subject you just learned but rather the letter you get representing just how much you "learned". In fact, in today's environment, where education is such a vital role, homework has in fact become more important than ever before. Students have to learn as much as possible, faster than before, in order to catch up with the status quo when they finally leave high school. Of course, every student knows how to shamelessly exploit the system, remembering what's needed to pass an exam and immediately forgetting about it, unless it's a course like math where what you learn is a stepping stone to what comes next. Homework itself comes in reasonable amounts if you know how to handle it and the time you have available, and only becomes a problem if you have multiple other responsibilities as well, ie job, sport, etc. In two words: time management.

So this was essentially my way of saying, don't like homework? Deal with it. No one likes it.


Has nothing to do with not liking it, it has to do with it discouraging the learning process, making children not want to learn as a whole. It also has to do with the pointlessness of homework, as it doesn't do anything to enhance the learning process, just makes learning a chore, which it shouldn't be.

Allright, that first post of mine was the logic part of me speaking. Now for the personal side--

Homework with very, very, VERY rare exception is the biggest time sink that you can ever find. Homework is unrewarding and often times unhelpful, and it's not uncommon to have anywhere between 7-10 minutes, or more, of downtime in an hour long class. Teachers need to make use of this time to reduce the workload later. Sure, a half an hour of homework isn't bad, but a half hour from each class can easily come to 2 and a half hours or more of homework a night.

The solution to this problem? Well then, it's far easier to complain about a problem then fix it...

in response to BF--yes, learning's a chore. I'd love to spit out that proverbial quote of "You need to put something into it to get something out of this", but I think what's more fitting is that most of what happens in life is unpleasant, or dull, but there's no way around it. I'm not trying to support homework at all, and I know it's coming out this way. I'm just saying that, as inneffective as homework is, what's the alternative?

I was sitting at my desk the other day and I realized that ever since I started school everyday has been worse then the day before. So that means everyday you see me its the worse day of my life.

-my version of office space.

And I agree with Backfire. Homework completely turns me off from the idea of learning and absorbing the information. After 5 minutes of doing homework I basically just start scribbling down whatever I want to get it done with. Homework should be optional like studying is. It is just wrong for students to get punished because they dont do homework. I go to school for 6 hours a day, the rest of the day should be mine to do as I please..not give MORE hours of my life away to doing worthless school work. But I guess that is the system..and if you dont follow the system you get punished for it.

Simply not having homework would be the alternative, except in rare occasions or in certain classes where it may actually be necessary. The only changes it would bring would be positive.

What type of homework though?

Are we talking about math problems?
Or essay's and stuff like that?

Each class has different type of homework. In math, it was pretty much, if you understand how to do the problem, you dont have to do it.
But for history or other essay related courses, it was a needed nessicity because if you didnt know how to do an essay in high school and knew it well, your were screwed in university.

I always felt that homework was useful, but not an requirement if you understand and know the answer. I dont know how many times I almost failed an test because I didnt do any homework.

The "standard" homework, the busywork, the bullshit, pointless "exercises" that don't actually teach you anything as much as they just waste time.

The occasional essay is helpful, because it's you expressing your ideas and thoughts about a subject which is the best way to learn about something.

i totally agree with BF...

you know people learn a lot from the television or by surfing the net....i donno how you would incorporate homework into something like that...and acually make it interesting to watch...

I feel as such a minority because I actually benefited from homework. Every 'busywork' answer or note I wrote I absorbed and didn't have to study for later.

That being said though I did little homework, it's not mandatory at all at my former high school, aced the tests and papers, and graduated with a 93+ average.

Originally posted by Lyna303
i totally agree with BF...

you know people learn a lot from the television or by surfing the net....i donno how you would incorporate homework into something like that...and acually make it interesting to watch...

I agree with the learning in alternative means bit. I won a geography challenge because of watching King of the Hill I knew one of the three states that border Mexico haha.

Plus personally I spend a lot of time watching the Discovery channel, and I freaking love it, and all that is useful information in itself.

Originally posted by silver_tears
I feel as such a minority because I actually benefited from homework. Every 'busywork' answer or note I wrote I absorbed and didn't have to study for later.

That being said though I did little homework, it's not mandatory at all at my former high school, aced the tests and papers, and graduated with a 93+ average.



I agree with the learning in alternative means bit. I won a geography challenge because of watching King of the Hill I knew one of the three states that border Mexico haha.

Plus personally I spend a lot of time watching the Discovery channel, and I freaking love it, and all that is useful information in itself.
i love the discovery channel, and food network...lol

One of my old Math Teachers back in the day didn't give us really any Homework, he only cared about us KNOWING the Math, not big Grades that we stressed about, Classwork was about half of our grade(most of the class was spent learning the Math), Tests the other half, and then Homework a small sliver. Most of the people from his classes(me included) got into the Higher Math classes.

Originally posted by Darth Kreiger
One of my old Math Teachers back in the day didn't give us really any Homework, he only cared about us KNOWING the Math, not big Grades that we stressed about, Classwork was about half of our grade(most of the class was spent learning the Math), Tests the other half, and then Homework a small sliver. Most of the people from his classes(me included) got into the Higher Math classes.
i think i had a math class like that...i acually liked to learn the things too...b/c the teacher was so real about all the material...and didn't assign hmwrk, just tests and quizzes too...then the next year...w/ diff teacher, math suked again...

A pretty much think that homework is there for you do if you need it. Some people dont, and some people do.

The majority of my classes in high school never marked homework, they expected you to do it, and if you didnt, then tough luck if you fail your test.

I dont think the guy who wrote the paper on how homework is bad has the general public of students in mind. I also wondering if his/her results are based on kids surveyrs or others because obviously kids hate homework, its the same as how kids hate doing chores.

I don't remember homework being bad at all. Maybe on a highschool level, it would be okay to get rid of it. On a college level, speaking as a math major, it would be an extremely bad idea. You can't spend your time doing classwork, because you need to cover new material every class period, so homework is about the only practice you're going to get, outside of the examples your given when the material is introduced.

I was the lazy kid who never did his homework and still got good grades.
I never did required reading (out of textbooks) and cheated and traded my way through other homeworks. I would trade food for math homework and other favors for other homewor and stuf like that that.
It was completly pointless and I really didn't care, but still managed to get A's and stuff in the class. It was awesome.

I Guess homework could be bad, if your beaten over the head with it. But as the kids get older that have too much as little kids, they will find loopholes and stuff, and just not do it.

(I learned alot of history from playing Civ 2)

Homework in general is intended for you to practice and test your learning skills. I can understand that is the teachers fault if the homework is absurd difficult and could discourage the learning capabilities of the student. But what I cannot understand is why homework would be consider pointless? Homework does help for the next day quizzes or tests.

I wouldn't know, never really did any. Then again I also got pretty bad grades.

Originally posted by WrathfulDwarf
Homework in general is intended for you to practice and test your learning skills. I can understand that is the teachers fault if the homework is absurd difficult and could discourage the learning capabilities of the student. But what I cannot understand is why homework would be consider pointless? Homework does help for the next day quizzes or tests.

Yes, I agree with this post.

Let's not be lazy and say "homework sucks and its a waste of time" just because you don't want to do it.

yea... homework it good, but to an extent...for people who actually do their homework, sometimes it can take multiple hours...but i admit, someitmes it feels like they are encouraging cheating to get things done...becuase it would take all of your time if you didn't...

The Math Teacher should make sure the students know what they're doing(Hell I was an expert at some Math I had to do once, and the Homework still took 2 Hours, then more for the other stuff)

its bullshit, homework just makes you understand your lessons better

Originally posted by Smoker Stevens
its bullshit, homework just makes you understand your lessons better

Really? Without proper teaching I never learned anything from my Homework, it was only that when I knew it, it helped, there were less mistakes

For me, I've always welcomed homework. I was born with dyslexia and was never great at taking tests or taking notes as I "zone out" easily although, as I've got older, test taking hasn't been too much of a problem. I am much better when I am doing homework on my own, with a friend, or with my mom as I've always understood things better when they are presented to me and me only, whereas I struggle when it's the teacher at a school teaching the whole class. It is a choir, but homework it's pretty much the only way I can get good grades specially for classes like math.

Hmm as a student I wasn't always fond of homework per say, But it used to get it done. Subjects that i didn't like , homework was hell. Subjects that I DO like, oh my, I used to do the homework and even more questions from the exercises and stuff, so that way when the next set of homework came, I already did a bit of it, hehe.

But there are times when there is TOO much homework.

AS A TEACHER on the other hand, I see a direct link between the students who do homework and their classwork performance. Those students of mines who do the homework , do well in class and well in exams. The students who dont do the homework, dont pay attention in class and do very poorly at tests. Yes there are some students that really dont like the subject and thus do badly because of this.

Class time is not enough to teach the students and then do enough questions. Homework is for the student to do the work themselves( well those who really try to do it on their own). They cant only do the work in school, where a friend can help them , or they wait for me to put the solution on the board. When it comes to the big exams ( CXC and A'levels) they can only do the work by themselves.

Homework is about getting away from spoon feeding. Children( many) today are to ****ing lazy, they dont want to work for what they want. The students that do well , put in the work. This work doesn't have to be 5-6 hrs long( lol those are for university days)......... 2-3 hrs a day is enough time to go through what was done for the day. Most people come home between 3-5........ after a break and what not, Homework can be done and completed before 8.... most times.

Stop Whining and get it done.

Originally posted by Lyna303
thank you for responding, but i think i totally agree with the article...homework has caused many kids to lose interest in learning. For example there aren't many in the careers of science or math for a reason and i think it starts out with the inspiration or motivation of the students.

Not true. I had both science and math homework every night last year, taking up to two hours, with other subjects on top of that. And I've never found the sciences more interesting than they do now. And I still like to read and learn, etc., etc.

Personally, I think that article was written by a parent with a child who does have poor study habits and time-management skills, since they always have to keep nagging their child to do their homework, and the parent is fed up with all the time they waste having to get after their kid to do homework.