The debate about whether homework is still a viable learning tool or whether it has become obsolete has been going on for many years. The trend in this debate seems to be in the direction of “obsolete”, but there is certainly no consensus yet. The factors I see most significant in this issue are social, family-focused, and primarily TIME-based; and as such, it is unlikely to be reversed.

Top 3 reasons why the task should be banned:

1. Family time has first priority.

Family life has changed considerably in recent decades. With today’s high divorce rate, many parents spend a great deal of time shifting children around. Each parent values ​​the time with their child and the child values ​​the time spent with each parent.

The financial realities of life now dictate that both adults in the household need to have jobs, but those jobs don’t always match up. Many of the jobs in today’s society are not the old standard 9 to 5 jobs. When parents come home, they very often bring their own version of homework.

Many families have to deal with military deployments in various parts of the world, and all indications are that we will be deploying soldiers as “peacekeepers” for many years to come. A deploying parent can be away for up to one year at a time. Some families have had to deal with multiple deployments. In a few cases, both parents have deployed at the same time.

For each of these situations and many others, family time becomes too valuable to spend on schoolwork.

2. The kids are too busy..

In years past, children would come home from school, change their clothes, go out to play with the neighboring children until dark, do their homework, sometimes with the help of their parents, and then go to bed early. It’s not like that!

Today, a large percentage of children play some form of sport after school. It might be Little League, or soccer league, swimming at the “Y,” soccer, volleyball, etc., but kids get involved in sports. Many also take music, dance, gymnastics or even language classes. Some boys are involved in scouting. Some are active in church activities. The list of possible entries is quite long; but the point is that when the kids come home, THEY ARE TIRED!

Homework is the last thing they want to do.

3. Teens are even busier.

Many teens participate in the same types of activities as their younger siblings, but they may also participate in school activities such as band, drama, debate club, etc. Some teens play school sports in addition to league sports. And on top of everything, some teenagers have jobs. Many of the teens who don’t do school activities work every day after school.

When are these students supposed to do their homework?

It can certainly be argued that a student’s “job” should be to learn first; and I hate to admit that I said those words once or twice in my teaching career. However, we all need to realize that life changes and we need to adapt to those changes. Continuing to demand homework from students whose families support their activities is simply not fair. Schools cannot be in a position to punish the child (for not doing homework) when the family considers other more important things.