Is Homework Useful? Sequoyah Students’ Experiences
The topic of homework has been a point of contention between schools and students for a long time. Is it necessary, and if so, when is it most effective? What do Sequoyah high school students believe homework’s role should be in education?
Sequoyah students believe homework is beneficial for practice outside of class and so that time in class can be used more efficiently. Amélie Barajas ’27 expressed her thoughts on the benefits of homework, noting that she disliked homework much more when she was younger, and as she has gotten older she sees “homework as more of an essential part of…class.” Now that Barajas is in high school, she can recognize the different ways homework benefits her learning. For example, Barajas says how homework is “effective when I’m asked to practice something that I’ve been taught in class to really get down in my head.” She defines homework as a way of “getting to learn [a topic] more on your own.” Prissy Lee ’26 has similar views; she stated that homework is beneficial to her, as “it helps to…practice…what we learned.” On another note, Isha Agrawal ’27 pointed out that homework is helpful for in-class work as well. She explained that “if you’re going home to read something and then discuss it in class,” that is a more effective use of class time, noting that “it feels more productive than just reading in class.”
While homework can be beneficial in many circumstances, when is it ineffective or even harmful? When Barajas was asked if she ever gets homework that feels like busy work that is not helping her learning she said, “[a]ll the time, every day.” There is too much repetitive homework that takes up more time than necessary, instead of homework that improves your understanding. This feeling of repetitiveness can demotivate students to finish their homework. As Lee expressed, “if it’s repetitive, then I don’t really want to do it.” Agrawal agreed that homework “loses its value when you’re just giving redundant busy work.” Even though homework can be valuable in one’s learning, not all homework is helpful.
Whether the homework is productive or busy work, at what point is it simply too much? For Agrawal, “too much homework is when you get to the point where…you have an opportunity to do something after school, and then you’re like, oh, sorry, I can’t, because I have all this homework.” Agrawal believes that once homework starts to get in the way of your personal and social life, it is too much. While schoolwork inevitably cuts down on students’ free time, it should not get to the point where homework is so restrictive that you have to consistently turn down opportunities that have nothing to do with school.
Different teachers piling up homework on similar due dates was another common complaint among students. Lee voiced her opinion on homework and school breaks, observing that it’s “not that projects [in general] are too much, but having three different projects all due on the same day is really stressful.”
Overall, students seemed to agree that timing and assignment type most impact students’ homework experiences, and that this can affect the quality of the work as well. When homework piles up, you have to sacrifice quality for quantity as you have to turn everything in by the due date. As Barajas noted, “it’s a lot easier to do my homework when I have less of it.” This suggests that without an obscene amount of homework, students’ quality of work goes up. However, it seems that for many students, like Barajas, there is never a break from homework: “I pretty much always have homework,” she stated. That alone is stressful, and breaks are essential for both mental health and creating better work.
So, does homework benefit the students of Sequoyah? Considering many perspectives, the overall consensus is that homework is helpful — but in moderation.