Instigator / Con

1465

rating

debates

25.0%

won

Topic

#3605

Should homework be banned?

Status

Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics

Better arguments

Better sources

Better legibility

Better conduct

After 1 vote and with 4 points ahead, the winner is...

zing_book

Tags

Education

Parameters

Publication date: 07.29.2022 05:49PM
Last updated date: 08.15.2022 05:03AM
Type: Standard
Number of rounds: 2
Time for argument: Twelve hours
Max argument characters: 10,000
Voting period: Two weeks
Point system: Multiple criterions
Voting system: Open

Contender / Pro

abhaysingh

1480

rating

debates

0.0%

won

Description

No information

Round 1

zing_book

07.31.2022 01:44AM

Con

Forfeited

abhaysingh

07.31.2022 07:01AM

Pro

Hello zing_book,

first of all I want to clear my stance on homework. And according to me 10 to 20 minutes of homework twice or thrice a week is fine or any assignment which help a student to help him develop his creativity, critical thinking and the knowledge about the subject.

But I come from India and I am going to share the perspective of an Indian student as I have little to zero Idea about school and homework relationship in other countries.

And while presenting my point I am pointing towards kids and teens in standard of 1st to 12th.

And all points provided are an Indian perspective.

And whenever I am referring to Study or studying I am pointing towards Gyan Prapti (ज्ञान प्राप्ति). And Gyan prapti means different then Study. There is no literal translation of this word to english but it refers to "acquiring knowledge"

Homework provide no real benefit:

Most homework that teachers give don't help a student grow in any way
Most of them are Copy and Paste from textbook or from the notes that teacher has shared in the class. They are more like Labour work where you only have to do what you are told and you cannot use your brain.
So because there's no research or creativity involved in the homework given by teachers they should be ommited.

No family time

I strongly believe that from the age of 13 to the age of 25 a student should live away from family and should focus on studies (ज्ञान प्राप्ति) , this was case in ancient India when students had to follow Bramhacharya for a certain period.
But time has changed and students are living with their families. So giving these non-creative, copy and paste homework is just killing their times wbich they can use to explore themselves and spend their time with their family.
Recently government of India has also brought some limitations on homework. For about 2 to 3 hours of homework per week. Source: India Tv News
This will help childrens explore other fields outside of academic and help them improve their personality.

Lack of support

I added above a point that homework should be research based that help student grow. But many students don't know "How to do research?"
Teachers also fail to provide support and guidance to them and punish them by beating them, removing them from classroom, or asking them to do sit-ups (upto 100) I have done situps when I was in school for same reason.
So here instead of supporting teachers are punishing them and this is killing students moral and interests in studies because now they will study because they have fear and have lost their interest and enthusiasm.
This will eventually make student hate studies as a whole or the subject with which he had to face this incident.
They don't get support from parents because they are busy or have no idea about the topic. And friends also cannot help because they are in same phase.

There are other downsides of homework are apparent to everyone: tiredness, frustration, loss of time to pursue other interests, and often a decrease in interest in studying.

Which I can cover but these points help us easily understand why excessive of homework and no support regarding homework by teachers can lead to harmful outcomes.

So if homeworks are provided by teachers they should make sure these things:

Don't just give Copy and Paste homework
There should be some research and creativity involved.
Teachers should provide proper guidance. so student doesn't get lost.
Stop punishing in cruel ways if a student fails to do homework instead ask them what help do they need.
Schools, Teachers and Parents should also promote students passion or what he loves doing if it's ethical and appropriate.

Something I missed:

In India parents don't give proper support to their children or promote things where their interest is and sometimes parents ask their teachers to give a lot of homework so students don't disturb them while parents are doing their job or watching tv or other entertainment. And this is most dangerous aspect of all mentioned above.

Round 2

zing_book

07.31.2022 05:03PM

Con

Hi abhaysingh, sorry I forfeited earlier (I accidently created a deadline of 12 h instead of 2 days) I had to attend Saturday school and also go to sleep soo...Yea

1) When you say "But time has changed and students are living with their families. So giving these non-creative, copy and paste homework is just killing their times which they can use to explore themselves and spend their time with their family" how would you compare it with, "In India parents don't give proper support to their children or promote things where their interest is and sometimes parents ask their teachers to give a lot of homework so students don't disturb them while parents are doing their job or watching tv or other entertainment"?

2)"So if homeworks are provided by teachers they should make sure these things

Don't just give Copy and Paste homework

There should be some research and creativity involved.

Teachers should provide proper guidance. so student doesn't get lost" - Keep in mind that an average teacher has to provide work/ and teach for over 300 students. So is it cruel if they copy and pasted it from the text book? And as in India you are expected to copy down the work taught in class into your book, correct? So if the teacher doesn't provide proper guidance u could find him/she and ask for help (I mean it is their job to help their students excel in work), correct?

"Teachers also fail to provide support and guidance to them and punish them by beating them, removing them from classroom, or asking them to do sit-ups (up to 100) I have done situps when I was in school for same reason" - I'm quite sure those used to be there in the olden days and no longer exist now , as it is seen as child abuse but usually in European countries it is most common they give you a detention.

"Schools, Teachers and Parents should also promote students passion or what he loves doing if it's ethical and appropriate" - They do promote all of this to a certain age, which I do very agree with you. As an Indian myself ( POV: I used to study there before I moved to a European country), As India is a LIC (Low Income Country) they have proven to raise their standards and put children under the pressure of that you have to get an A or A* and anything below an A is counted as a fail and you should work harder( which is not only proved in India but mostly Asia itself)

"There are other downsides of homework are apparent to everyone: tiredness, frustration, loss of time to pursue other interests, and often a decrease in interest in studying" - therefore there is something called time management skills, you could use a timetable, listening to podcasts on the topic while doing something else finish a subject each day and spend 1h to 2h to spend for yourself or family.

⦁ 3)Homework improves presentation skills

Homework is designed to help students improve their academic performance. This occurs when they are given the opportunity to prepare and present on various topics. They must gather material, prepare notes, and organise it into predetermined formats. These presentations can be given in small groups or in front of the entire class. Students are given marks for each of them, which encourages them to work hard and improve their confidence. It is the first reason why homework should not be banned.

⦁ It sows a sense of responsibility in students.

You will become a more responsible student if you have homework since you will be required to do the assigned work at home. If a student does not assign any homework, he will lack a sense of responsibility and will be more inclined to be careless with his other work. In any situation, a responsible student will always shine. Homework can be quite beneficial to a student. It will allow you to plan ahead of time and flourish in your work life. It is one of the main reasons why homework should not be banned in schools and universities. Parents are updated with the child’s education. In the early phases of homework completion, most students ask for parental help. Homework should not be banned because it helps parents understand the class’s study curriculum. As a result, parents may always double-check the classroom session and address any issues if they want to concern the teachers.

⦁ Homework is a way to work on your weakness.

A student who did not understand something during the class session can be analysed again at home. Homework allows students to progress, learn new skills, and differentiate themselves from other students.

From the above discussion, now you understand why homework should not be banned. It is pointless to dispute that homework is quite beneficial to children. Of course, there may be some limitations in terms of student age and the quantity of homework assigned, but in any event, a modern school without homework is unthinkable. It’s no surprise that homework is still one of the most effective ways to learn new things and improve on what you already know.

Conclusion:

Sure not all students may complete their homework but it sure does show hope in higher achieving students, This comes to say that it reflects the students behaviour/ motivation towards studies. Although most students abide studies, there is always most of the time a sense to word

Sources:

20+ Reasons Why Homework Should Not Be Banned (upjourney.com)

Should homework be banned? | BBC Science Focus Magazine

Should Homework Be Banned? - YouTube

Why Homework Should Not Be Banned: Important Considerations (csriu.org)

smanship when you have achieved something.

abhaysingh

08.01.2022 05:03AM

Pro

Forfeited

Intelligence_06

08.01.2022 05:48AM

Criterion

Con

Tie

Pro

Points

Better arguments

3 point(s)

Better sources

2 point(s)

Better legibility

1 point(s)

Better conduct

1 point(s)

Reason:

Abhaysingh puts forth a few argument criticizing the present state of homeworks in India as he is a student. The thing is: He never argued against the entirety, the construct, the concept of homeworks, he just argued against the present execution. Not only that, he says in many places that "homework should..." and similar phrases, which suggests that homeworks are argued to be something that can be improved if not abolished. Abhaysingh's argument was indeed well-constructed (and much easier to read), it just didn't do what it is meant to do: prove that homeworks should be abolished.

Zing_book on the other hand, picks up these flaws in the argument and points out that Pro's suggestions can indeed be used as improvements to the concept of homeworks. He gives constructive arguments based on common sense and collection of sources(such as Youtube and BBC), such as it improves time management skills, presentation skills, etc; and points out that conditions Pro has mentioned is specific to India and could be different in other places and time. Pro never proved that India is a good set to consider the topic which likely encompasses much wider. Con states this and renders Pro's prior arguments defenseless.

Not only that, Abhaysingh only uses empirical/anectodal evidence to prove his point, while only using an Indian TV source without saying why it is bad(at least the source didn't say, and the weigh it brings isn't a lot because it is a subpoint to a not-well-rounded argument). On the other hand, Pro uses many sources such as BBC and Youtube, which is not much, but more than Pro's efforts.

Pro's arguments were VERY legible and clear, whereas Con's is a bit harder to decipher for not separating paragraphs, missing punctuations at some locations, and some grammar issues such as "There are other downsides of homework are apparent to everyone".

Both parties forfeited one round while behaving fairly civil in the rounds they did not forfeit.

Verdict: Args and Sources to Con, S&G to Pro, Conduct ties. Con wins in my opinion.