Should students have homework on the weekend?

Bill

Homework is something that most middle school students dread, especially on weekends. Many students say that having homework on weekends is unnecessary and we shouldn’t have it. We often see students not do their weekend homework because they think that they shouldn’t have homework. But is having homework on weekends a positive? Most students think not. But in reality, having homework on weekends is a positive in many ways.

Assessments tend to be towards the start of the week, meaning students who didn't have homework on the weekend would go into these tests after a relaxing weekend not even thinking about  academic life. Homework doesn’t tend to take a long time and the benefits that it has to how well students  perform on the test is great amount. Teachers will assign homework knowing the impact it has on test results and only assign it to help you do the best you can. Overall, doing your homework over the weekends will help you get 6’s and 7’s and it doesn’t take you too much time.

Secondly, the more you study a concept, the longer understanding of these concepts will stick. It is scientifically proven that you can’t remember a whole bunch of information in one try and be done. You have to study it over small chunks to give your brain time to process it. The more you do homework and review concepts, the faster that all the information will stick to your brain and you will have better general knowledge over the subject. Homework generally helps you remember things about the topic you are focused on and improves general knowledge as well.

Lastly, studying, reviewing and doing homework over the weekends keeps you on pace and on top of your academic life. Being on pace and on top of your academic life heavily reduces stress in class, at school and just in life generally. Also, being on top of your homework or academic life reduces the amount of homework you have to do after school or even the next weekend. Instead because you are on top of your academics, you can spend that time with your family or friends, relaxing or enjoying hobbies and passions. Having your homework done early and on weekends frees up your life and you are less stressed.

Homework on weekends is a topic many people disagree with. We all have busy lives but homework on weekends is a small quick exercise that won’t interfere with your time. There are many pros which are stated above and the cons of not doing your homework are less knowledge, worse test results and higher stress levels. Having homework on weekends is a positive in many different ways and we should all strive to complete it to gain all the great things that come from it.

Tommy  

You might know that teachers need to give out homework to their students, because not everything can be done in class. But you also might know that everyone loves relaxing on their weekends, and homework is the biggest thing that gets in the way of that. There are still ways around this, so here is why teachers should not be allowed to issue homework on weekends.

Opposing my point of view, many would argue that teachers need to give students this work to stay on pace, that it keeps their thinking on track for the next week, or that assessments can be at the beginning of the week so students need to study for them.

As you might know, teachers will give out homework to students to stay on track with the curriculum. But students have plenty of time on weekdays to finish homework. Even so, students will often not have much homework on weekdays, to then get piled up with tasks on the weekend. Students do not want that because of its interference with various important obligations such as resting, spending time with family, and even studying knowledge learned the week prior. Adding to this, extracurricular activities and vacations will often force students to stay up really late hours to complete weekend homework, depriving them of sleep. One would think that the weekend was a time to catch up on just that. All these problems can all be alleviated by not having homework assigned over the weekends.

The most beneficial part to a student’s learning is when they are at school, and the homework is an addition to help them learn something better or to learn some more content. Taking just a two day break from school is not going to hurt someone’s learning. In fact, it can benefit someone because of the stress it is relieving. Rather than doing homework on weekends, relaxing and resting will be much more helpful. Adding to this, taking a small break from work can cause someone to think about things in different ways. 

Assessments will often take place on Mondays, so teachers will encourage students to study over the weekends to prepare for them. But like mentioned above, there are harmful effects for many students who have a lot of homework on the weekends. So what teachers can do is schedule assessments to be on the last class of the week, whether that be Thursday or Friday. If it is absolutely necessary, one assessment on a Monday won’t kill anyone, but teachers should at least schedule assessments later in the week so that students aren’t piled with homework that might have to be done late on a Sunday night. Just for a quick example, my assessments for my math class are always situated on Fridays unless they last a few days.

In the end it won’t hurt teachers to just schedule assessments later in the week, and to not assign homework on weekends. This will save their students from possible stress, sleep deprivation, and less interaction with family and friends. I hope by now that you understand the detrimental effects that homework over weekends can have on a student’s life.