The West Plains Pack Press interviewed several members of the school community to find out their standpoint on benefits and disadvantages of homework. 

We (the pack press) interviewed two teachers and two students to find out if they felt that their homework was beneficial or too overbearing. 

Although homework can be beneficial in understanding complex subjects, it also interrupts students’ personal time. Students have to be at school 8 hours a day, not counting the extra hours for students that participate in after school activities. Thus, homework (at times) takes away a great majority of students’ free time. Though homework can be favorable by giving students a better grasp of what’s going on in the class, there are simply more disadvantages than there are advantages. Interviewed students and teachers pointed out that homework can be both beneficial and non-beneficial. 

English teacher Mrs. Aduddell stated that “Yes, homework is beneficial, but in very small amounts.” She also added that, “Teenagers these days have way too much homework.” This supports students’ argument that sometimes schools give overwhelming amounts of schoolwork which leaves limited free time.  Another teacher, Mr. Watson supports the opposite idea that homework is beneficial because “it’s supplementing the learning.” Though both teachers share different perspectives, the students’ standpoint remains consistent. “I don’t have much free time because of all my extracurriculars” said student athlete Jade Davis “When I do have homework, it keeps me up and I get less sleep and it’s a less healthy lifestyle.” Hearing it from a student athlete’s point of view goes to strengthen the idea that though doing sports, work, school, and homework is all possible, it can be draining. Taking advantage of any personal time is crucial to a healthy lifestyle, especially for students involved in multiple extracurricular activities. Homework can sometimes even do more damage than good by causing a decline in grades due to lack of sleep. 

Overall, students and staff thought that school homework, if assigned, should be minimal and only meant to help students understand the topic better, not as a punishment or assigned for extra work in normal classes. All of the interviewees agreed that most higher-level classes will have homework and might be harder than normal classes, especially if they are AP or dual credit. In conclusion, as long as the homework is less than 20-30 minutes of work a day or a long assignment with several weeks given for completion, it is beneficial.