Should Homework Be a Thing of the Past?

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When you were a kid, what was the one thing you absolutely dreaded most? Had the most squabbles about with your parents? Was the most time consuming? Homework. Homework is an issue that has been highly debated for centuries. Some believe it is tremendously advantageous while others passionately disagree. When considering the necessity of homework, one must contemplate the entirety of the evidence before making a rational decision: the origin, the scientific findings, as well as the benefits or detriments to the children of America. Whether homework is something educators decide to preserve or ban, they need to make rationalized decisions that are the best for our children, putting aside their bias of how they acquired their education.

To begin to understand why homework has become such a current issue, one must first understand the origin of this debate. The article “The Homework Debate” explains, “Throughout the first few decades of the 20th century, educators commonly believed that homework helped create disciplined minds” (Marzano). In continuation, the article then discusses how this view flip-flopped throughout the rest of the 20th century. Starting in 1940, those views suddenly began to change when homework began to interfere with household chores and activities. Merely ten years later when the Soviet’s launched Sputnik, American educators began to fear that our education system was lacking and more rigorous homework was assigned. Views on homework then switched again in 1980, when many theorists became concerned about homework negatively influencing children’s mental health (Marzano). Since this time, our education system has refused to pick a stance and continues to have educators that wrangle for both sides.

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Marzano, Robert, and Debra Pickering. "Membership." Educational Leadership. Vol. 64. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 74-79. Ser. 6. Special Topic / The Case For and Against Homework. ASCD, Mar. 2007. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. .

Parker, Clifton. "Stanford Research Shows Pitfalls of Homework." Stanford News. Stanford University, 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 05 Apr. 2014. .

"Research Spotlight on Homework." NEA. National Education Association, n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. .

Sorrentino, Johanna. "The Homework Debate." Education.com. N.p., 29 July 2013. Web. 01 Apr. 2014. .

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