School Survival


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Homework

Not doing homework won't hurt anyone, but you still get punished.
by SoulRiser


Yes, the H-word itself. Homework has become like a swearword to me. What is the purpose? So many people say so many different things on the purpose of homework... but I haven't heard one yet that I believe. My english teacher says that homework is there to help us get better at the work. I thought that's what teachers were supposed to be for. Another thing I've heard is that homework is meant to discipline you. But how can writing some stuff in a schoolbook discipline you? Having the self-discipline to make yourself do it, they say. But I don't want to be disciplined to make myself do things that I'm against doing. Why must I be disciplined to do things with no purpose just because someone with a big head tells me to? Another teacher said that homework is there so that you can see how much of the work you understand and then report back the next day. That's a BS reason, because the best time to test how much you understand is right after you do it in class. By the time I get home to do homework, I've totally forgotten how it works, and then I have to figure it out by myself. Oh and then a teacher could respond to this and say homework is there so that I refresh my memory of what we did at school... but then, like I said, by the time I get to my homework, I've ALREADY forgotten, then I might as well have slept in class and just figured it out at home anyway, and that conveniently eliminates the purpose of having teachers at all.

All these good reasons for not doing homework, but still there is such a thing as detention :( Why be punished for a simple tiny little thing that can hardly even be classified as wrong? What the hell's wrong with not doing homework? It's not as if I've hurt anyone or anything like that. My principal says that she sends people to detention as some form of "helping" them... to help them discipline themselves, help them to do what they're told. She believes so strongly that she's genuinely helping us (by punishing us)... and she gets so angry with us because we can't see it her way. If they would actually let us vote, detention wouldn't exist. But they won't let us vote because they would like to keep their authorative position without letting any free choice "contaminate" our education.

Update: 15 May 2009


10 years later, I wish I had done my homework more often in school. It's really negatively impacting on my life.... nah, just kidding. :)

I do however believe that teachers give homework because they've been told that it's good for students, and they haven't really questioned that. So it's not like they're generally trying to monopolize your free time or whatever, they just don't really know what else to do. Most people just aren't very good at critical thinking, so they just follow whatever the commonly accepted thing is. I would love to think that it's plain common sense to see that homework really is pointless, but alas, common sense is not so common after all.

Written by: SoulRiser
27 June 1999


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