2023 has recently started and already, Ireland’s President, Michael D. Higgens strongly believes homework should be banned. Students around the globe suggest the same should be done for their school districts. For example, McKinley Elementary school in San Diego announced that it will no longer assign homework to its students; at a time when training kids’ cognitive brain skills allows them to acquire the most knowledge. The argument that assigning homework brings on stress and a loss of sleep may be true but it is a loss as homework is an assessment of how well students understand their teacher’s lessons and whether or not they have learned anything or need to make the required changes for both the teacher and learners’ success.   

Other countries, like Finland, are doing audacious moves; they believe in reducing school days and homework. Still, Finland students are not obligated to start school until the age of seven, according to Marshridge in their article “Plan Your Time To Get Your Homework Done Fast.” It is a drastic abnormality to not start school and not have academic activities at the age of 3-5, especially when young children should engage in school work and learn to develop thinking skills and communication in an epoch when they have the most neurons, reference to Raising Children. Assigning reasonable quantities of homework pushes students to develop their brains and fully understand what they have been taught but for Finland students, a lack of academic work prevents them from developing their brains before the early age of 2-4. Ironically, Finland’s academic test scores are 33 points higher than that of OECD (Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, including the United States of America, according to OECD’s website. 

 In a speech, President Higgins said, “I think to myself, really that the time at home and the time in the school is an educational experience and it should get finished at the school and people should be able to use their time for other creative things.” Many students have the responsibilities of a job or sports practice after school. If homework is banned, the occupied students and the majority who do not have the same responsibilities will pursue activities that are not creative or involve developing their brains in their free time.  Even when a person completes their time at school, learning and becoming more knowledgeable should be their priority. 

Here at John W. North High School, students practically have the autonomy to decide the amount of homework they receive. When asked, sophomore Arlin Ibarra said, “In a way, I do get to decide the amount of homework I get and it is definitely tougher when a student enrolls in advanced courses. I think the number one thing I am stressed about is homework.” Offering a wide variety of extracurriculars and advanced courses, students measure what they are capable of and if they want to participate in courses that require a harsh discipline to study and complete assignments that are considered more challenging.

Still, in a poll of 30 students in a Native Spanish class who were asked “Should homework continue to be assigned?” 18 out of the 30 participants chose that homework should not be assigned. Still, “Homework takes up a lot of my time and makes it hard for me to participate in sports and live a teenage life,” says Ibarra. 

Scientists have stated that no two brains are the same and every parent with two or more kids will approve of that claim. Nonetheless, two primary reasons why most students do not want to do homework are either because they do not understand it or because their laziness impedes them. Students all learn differently and each one utilizes their learning methods differently.  Equally important is the student’s responsibility to commit to their studies and look for help from their teachers when needed. 

When interviewing Sophomore Jose Cabrera, an only Spanish-speaking student, he said, when translated, “It becomes extremely hard to go to school when I cannot understand the teacher. Thanks to some meager assistance, I am able to get some work done, but I feel like, at least, in my case, I would not like to receive homework. However, I understand that it helps students and it becomes encouraging when the student understands it and has resources.”

Homework should still be assigned and with the assistance of a teacher, it should be understood well by the students. Students only struggle with their homework if their teacher is not good at teaching or they do not care to understand the class. Homework is an exercise that helps students retain the information they have learned, fix their mistakes, and use it for the rest of their lives.