Why Should Homework Be Banned Essay

Homework has been the bane of many a students existence for the past years, as countless think it’s unimportant. Restless nights of practicing equations and writing paragraphs are known by all children, especially within high school. Contrary to belief, homework benefits the average student so much more than people care to acknowledge. It conditions the minds of our children to think independently and become familiar with the knowledge they’ve gained. Grueling nights of completing page after page of homework only ready you for upcoming school work, much like in the words of Malcolm X, “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” The war on homework has been going on for quite some time, originally being upscaled in America during 1950’s to keep up with communist nations. Then once more in the 80’s to

One of the major factors of why homework exists is to improve students grades and test scores. The correlation between the two has been under the microscope for quite some time now, being a main concern for school board members. Duke University Psychology Professor, Harris Cooper, has thoroughly studied this controversial subject. A 2006 meta-analysis has lead him and others to find “evidence of a positive correlation between homework and student achievement” (Reilly). In short, his data found in most cases that a students academic prowess is directly influenced by completing homework. Harris Cooper and his colleagues have also concluded that from “1987 to 2003,” “homework was linked to better test scores in high school and, to a lesser degree, in middle school” (Weir). High school is where many colleges tend to focus their gaze on, using the grades as a baseline for a students acceptance. Another more recent study comes from Ruben Fernández-Alonso, PhD, and his colleagues, based off Spanish students: “[They] found that students who were regularly assigned math and science homework scored higher on standardized