By: Kadin Daigle, Copy Editor

Across America and in other countries, homework bans are steadily becoming more popular. The argument for this change is always similar: kids would have more time to participate in other activities or they might not be as tired. Both are ludicrous assumptions.

The purpose of homework isn’t to make students tired or to punish them. Homework is designed to further enrich students and make them learn more in a stable, home environment. In reality, homework gives more than it takes away.

Senior Hannah Ward has the ability to compare homework loads and their benefits. She is a student that has taken standard, honors, AP, and the required Academy of Health Careers courses offered at our school. Ward says, “I can balance all of my classes and extracurriculars, but you’ve got to have better time management skills.”

That’s what it all comes down to, time management. Debate websites contain students and parents who complain about the time spent on homework daily. Those same people need to understand that work outside of the classroom is just a part of high school. This may be hard for some people to swallow, but homework is just something that students have to do. It’s the students that manage their time correctly that get it done quickly and efficiently.

Junior Madeleine Carter says, “I personally think that the quality of education won’t be as strong without homework.”

In reality, homework helps. Encouraging homework bans only encourages slacking off and missed learning opportunities. A possible consequence of a homework ban in Seminole County would be longer school days or no breaks. Homework not only provides practice, but it prevents these events from occurring in our school system.

Ward says that longer school days or no breaks at all is “Pushing it. I mean, go ahead and extend the school days and even shorten breaks, but long, academic school days with no breaks is too much.”

Students need and deserve breaks from school with all the work and effort they put in. Unfortunately, breaks could be something we sacrifice for a homework ban. Really, school is a balancing act; students may gain something like time day to day, but they may also lose something just as valuable like time off.

The ultimatum is strong on both sides, but when people compare them together it’s obvious that finding the silver lining in homework assignments is easier to do than getting rid of a system that has been successfully in place for decades. Homework works whether students like it or not. It seems that the ones opposed to it at all are the ones who don’t know how to get it done.