Should Schools Ban Homework? | Good Morning Britain

Celebrities on Twitter have sparked a debate saying that setting children homework is stressful and pointless. The majority of schools in the UK set homework so Lorrine Marer and Katharine Birbalsingh, headteacher of Britain's strictest school, debate whether or not homework should be banned.
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Broadcast on 26/08/2018
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[@burleybater]

I had a normal amount of homework all through school. And from grade 4 onward - a private bedroom with a desk to do it. I had regulated TV time, I had loads of time outdoors after supper if I got my homework done (between 4 and 5:30pm, which was often the case.) I sometimes saved 2 or 3 hours of it for weekends, in which most if not all of that was done between 6am-8am in the morning because I was an early riser by habit. My point being, I had loads of time in my life outside of school or homework to do all kinds of things. Schoolwork and homework never got in the way. Sports, weekend downtown Main Street carousing, movies, shopping, fun. Hanging out with local friends. Just having a normal social life. I was always out. A wandering lad. A curious kid. What was the purpose of homework? Mostly to familiarize myself with subjects and topics for classroom discussion, tests and exams. The more I did homework, the better I got at it. There was no "war" or rebellion surrounding it. It was not weaponized. It was understood that it was an important and necessary part of the process of learning. It was never four or five hours' worth after school. It was often 45 minutes or less. There were times that I put in more time than was necessary because the topic I was going over happened to fascinate me. And after grade three - no-one ever helped me with my homework. I did it on my own. There were even times I held court at the supper table, just because I wanted some feedback on what I was learning. If homework has turned into some monster that chews up an extra 20 home hours a week of a student's time - then there's something wrong with the way it's set up, and probably something wrong with the balance of school/home learning. I was a normal, average student. Who possessed normal, average working skills. Yes, my home was controlled, placid, mellow, normal, and mostly conducive to being academically productive. I could easily while away 3 or 4 hours a night reading, if the weather outside was crappy and I didn't feel like going out after supper. There was never madhouse, mayhem or lack of privacy. I could go on and on about this - but I think something misses the boat on this one, if the thinking is all or nothing. Homework does not replace school time. Neither is it toxic in itself - except and unless in homes whose atmosphere completely destroys a child's ability to concentrate. Or if that child is determined to go from 6pm to 10pm every night solidly plugged into a device that has nothing whatsoever to do with academic activity. (Dumb phones.) We have created all kinds of modern social nuance that is antithetical to academic evolution in a kid's life. That is not the fault of academia in and of itself. But we need to address the real reasons why homework has apparently turned into something so toxic as what is alluded to here.

[@Tango-_-]

Pierce. He is so accurate Top lad. Big man

[@mduncanmd17]

Parents should not be relying on the schools to be solely educating their children. That’s why the current crop are in the position they’re in. Hats off to this head teacher!!!!! 👏🏽

[@timothywait9457]

shes irish

[@peanutbutter7068]

The cross-talk in this episode is so obnoxious. Piers needs to be a better moderator, stop interrupting, and give the guests time to speak

[@anukrite.rajvanshi]

Homework should be banned if teachers are unable to provide students with creative, imaginative and interesting work. On the other hand, if both teachers and students can find a common way to create homework that's not monotonous and truly helpful, then homework should be continued. It depends on different sorts of student-teacher relationships and every school should monitor their performance on this matter individually.

[@EnigmaGamer421]

True

[@zahraali3480]

There has to be time for parents and children without school work again .name homework is wrong actually its your school work taking over your lifeeven art home.

[@Tango-_-]

HomeWork is Horrifying able …

[@freepress3788]

Parents are there to parent, teachers are there to teach, lets not cross the boundries.

[@burleybater]

This whole "parenting" thing. From the age of 9 (grade four) onward, parenting had nothing to do with my academic growth in life. Like many in my generation, I had a father with a highly educated professional status - still basically kitchen brand middle class. My mom was a sharp cookie who never went beyond high school, still wise in many ways. Parenting - did not save me from ignorance or illiteracy. I did that little chore myself. I was wickedly read to as a tot (by parents .) I took over that little chore exclusively somewhere between grade two and grade three - and at that time was a slow learner, due to the Dick and Jane books, the tripe that was offered me at the time. I totally agree with you. My parents served a purpose in my life, of stressing and encouraging good habits in divers' ways - that helped my social, mental, emotional, and cognitive development enormously. My teachers taught me. To love learning. To respect the value of infinite curiosity. To think things through in such a way as to eventually wind up with the ability to think critically. To understand that they were the introducers of anything at all that I could then proceed to take much further than they would ever have the classroom time to do. (Which I did in spades.) The local library was my greatest resource. But to reinforce what I have said elsewhere. My parents didn't save me from the rigors of academic pursuit (as if it was endemic or unnatural to my being.) They provided me with a solid and consistent and dependable and reliable home life, a foundation from which I could could stand on,trusting in what it provided me. I did the rest. Which of course, proved to me that I could. Which of course, increased exponentially the confidence I had in myself. Isn't it interesting? That in these days of micro-focus on "privilege" there is an assumption that certain skin colors provide everything that I just described above, and other skin colors don't. Which is bollocks. There are more persons of color on this planet who enjoy those resources, and succeed admirably because of them, than persons not in that category. By far. Proving the lie to the ideology.

[@freepress3788]

@@burleybater I am a qualified professional NNEB. By doing a 2 year full time course I learned about the development of children from 0-7 years, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional and Social Development. The only facts/truths/laws/rules that I care about is the Oath to First Do No Harm.

[@mnb9162]

I think Piers is a bit clueless about the current situation in British schools.... He needs to go visit some houses of the families within the underperforming schools..... Its damage control.... Some kids benefit from homework... Some dont.... Its not a one size fits all...

[@timothywait9457]

mnb correct

[@christianbennett1810]

Homework should be banned because a fifth grader shouldn't do unpaid overtime.

[@naz0079]

From my view, all institutional school homework should be abolished. How much time do children get after school for free thought, solitude, getting to know themselves and pondering on the big questions? I remember being at school all day at least five days a week, jumping from class to class, then as soon as I came home, I wanted to go out and play football and other fun activities, but in the back of my mind I knew homework needed to be done, which I dreaded to do and felt mentally drained from the day.

[@zahraali3480]

No the children have no time left to spend with their parents they wake up early and go to school when they come back they are tired and want to relax then thers home work actually school work at home.this head teacher is a controle freek

[@JackassJunior627]

I disagree with Piers. Homework serves no real benefit to children in later life. They learn at school and home is their place to escape. They shouldn’t have to add more work to them, they get enough of it from the five-six hours at school. Same for the parents, they work all day, why add more work for them to do by having them help with the child’s work? Home is a place to escape from work, not add more to it.

[@Satanclaus34]

Homework is work, but homework is given not because someone wants a learner to get exausted, but because frequent repetition is what helps remember and master knowledge, and homework is a repetition you do at home. They have a subject 2 times a week at school on Tue and Fri, they can do homework a day before the lesson, on Monday and Thu, and they have 4 lessons a week. You repeat this thing twice as much!

[@JackassJunior627]

@@Satanclaus34 I disagree. Home should be a place for children to relax and let their minds set. I don’t see how homework helps. Too much work load is too much for them. It’s not like revising for an exam.

[@mnb9162]

I think this is very different depending on the child/family..... Homework is a wasted extra pressure if you are giving it to a child with exhausted parents or a chaotic homelife.... But on the flipside if a child has a calm, attentive, time-rich family then you can use those resources to take pressure off teachers.... I think the schools need to understand the childs whole environment then adjust.... Not sure if that is a breach of privacy... But its reality...

[@JackassJunior627]

@@mnb9162 I disagree. I don’t think Children should have homework full stop. Home is a place for them to be children, a place for them to play, relax and get “work” out of their minds till the next day. If it was College or University I can understand as that’s prepping them for adult life. But not when they just young kids, they need time to take a break from school work.

[@burleybater]

@@JackassJunior627 In my childhood, it would have been pretty weird to inhabit a non-academic home. Academics was not a "work load." They were just the tweaks and thrills of an average curious kid. By grade four I was having learned discussions with kids in the neighborhood about everything under the sun. So, "relaxing and letting my mind set?" What is that supposed to mean? Flipping through a dumb phone for 8 hours straight? Learning to turn off a mind's natural curiosity? The one thing I will agree with: homework should not exceed a certain number of hours in a week. It is easy to go way overboard on this, true. But we don't need to throw the baby out with the bathwater, either. It could be that the revulsion toward homework currently is also because there is a revulsion toward academics entirely. Observe how many high school seniors are stuck reading at a grade 5 level, do not know their or anyone else's history, are geographically clueless, do not possess basic scientific knowledge about anything - and appear to be completely disinterested in most anything other than pop culture. If all that is the fault of a broken school system, homework is only a very small part of it.