Holiday homework: Is it really necessary?

It’s summer vacation in Bahrain. Schools in Bahrain have three semesters with a long summer break and a fairly short winter break. During summer vacation many schools give holiday homeworks for children.  Teachers and parents have debated the benefits of homework for years as the very word evokes very negative connotations to every involved, students, parents and teachers.

Although many people think of homework as doing more harm than good by causing copious amounts of unnecessary stress to everyone, others believe that it has great advantages for children by encouraging them to think more independently outside the classroom.

The benefits

The first benefit of homework is that it allows students and teachers to work more closely. They can discuss their assignments or any problems that they are having with parts of their textbooks, before or after classes.

The second benefit is that it can bring families closer as students may ask their parents or siblings for help on their homework. Not only will this help the students get a better understanding of their work with any parts they are stuck on, it will also allow parents to get more involved in their child’s educational life.

Thirdly, doing homework will prepare students for the big end tests. If a child does poorly on an assignment then they will learn what is necessary to do well on the next test without being punished.

 It also provides students with the opportunity to practice at what it takes to be successful in school. Like they say, practice makes perfect.

Doing homework is also a great way to develop responsibilities. By being assigned work one day and knowing that it has to be done by the next day, they will develop a sense of punctuality by turning their work in on time.

And finally it allows parents to see how their children are being educated and they can develop a better idea of how they can help their child.

 However, some parents, students and even some teachers feel that after 7-8 hours of lessons in school, it is unfair to expect students to come home and work for another three hours.

The potential harm

The first reason that children should not be given homework is that they need time to relax and take their minds off work. The pressure of having to complete homework every night is quite daunting for most children and they need time to refresh their minds and bodies.

Secondly, it reduces the amount of time that children could be spending with their families. Family time is especially important to a growing child and without it social problems can crop up and a family unit can be compromised by a lack of time being spent together.

Thirdly, homework can cause conflict between children and parents when the parent wants to the child to do their homework but meets resistance from the student to do an overwhelming task.

Too much homework can encourage cheating because children end up copying off one another in an attempt to finish all their assignments. They then end up being rewarded for cheating which doesn’t benefit them at all.

And finally, a lot of teachers don’t often have the time to grade papers properly as they are too busy with designing lesson plans and consulting teaching resources in order to just manage lessons. So by the time students are getting their papers back, the class has moved on to a new topic.

DT News would like to get the readers response in this matter. Please send your response to campus@dt.bh