Homework should not be compulsory or banned; homework should be optional. In nearly every school system in Victoria specific tasks are set out to each student to be completed outside of the classroom and at home. In nearly all cases, students are asked to complete the tasks given to them by a certain due date. Most students cannot do this because of their involvement with extra curricular activities such as sport or music which is also a form of learning.
Homework takes up so much time, that students do not always have enough time for their after school activities, which requires them to attend to lessons/training, and then to practice, so they cannot always complete all the homework tasks given to them. Homework is revision of work students have already done in school. So, it is not fair to those students who have a thorough understanding of a particular topic to have to do more on it; they could be doing work on another subject that they really need to work on in that time – e. . John Smith may be exceptionally good at Maths but have a lot of trouble with English.
Therefore he would be better of using that time for English instead of Maths. At secondary school, good, motivated students are often those who finish homework assignments on time and at a fairly high standard. Other students may also complete these homework assignments but often it is as a result of parental intervention through threats of being grounded or losing privileges.
In some cases, it is quite possible that parents end up doing their child’s homework for them because it is due the next day, or they are very competitive and want their child to be better than everyone else’s. Students from “ Melbourne High” are amongst the top schools when it comes to V. C. E enter scores. One of the possible reasons is that they have been learning in a positive learning environment whereby students are allowed to decide whether they want to do homework or not! This enables students to become more responsible. Tests and exams clearly show up those students who do regular study and homework and those who do not.
Some parents are of the opinion that children should not be given homework as all learning should be done at school. This is a sad attitude as parents are the earliest teachers of a child and therefore their role model. Homework should therefore be optional as it does not put pressure on the students but rather makes them more responsible and mature. It also frees their time to pursue other more interesting activities and use their time wisely. This will only work successfully if the student is conscientious and has a good mentor in their parents and teachers.
