By Ashley Stracco, ’24

Staff Writer

It’s a question that students and teachers have been debating for years. Is homework helpful, or is it just a pain? I was expecting the students I interviewed to say that it was a pain, but to my surprise, the answers varied widely. Here’s what eight students from Hanover High had to say:

Brody Leibfarth, grade 9

“In some senses it is a pain, but in others probably not. If you understand a concept and don’t need any more help, then it is stupid. But if you don’t understand the concept, then it is helpful.”

Maddie Kapur, grade 9

“I believe that homework is helpful, but only in moderation. Too much homework can cause extreme amounts of unnecessary stress, but too little homework cannot help the student to learn enough. A moderated amount of homework helps the student enough to aid their learning experience without hurting it.”

Brianna Cole, grade 10

“I honestly have mixed opinions about this. Some subjects warrant homework more than others because you need to master the skill. In math homework you need to practice the skills and develop your knowledge so you can continue on your pathway. It is the same thing with Spanish. You have homework so that you can pass. There’s only certain things that you should have homework for. It helps with the development when and if you go to college. It is necessary in most subjects, but not all.”

Daniel Nguyen, grade 10

“There needs to be a balance. … When homework becomes “busy work” to fill in grades or when homework is taking away a student’s entire afternoon because there is a copious amount of it, no one is truly finding the joy in learning anymore and in this case, homework is absolutely pointless. One can argue that the student is still learning, however, is the student happy to learn? Chances are, no they’re not. If you’re a teacher, I assume that you want your students to enter class with the mindset of “What can we learn today?” But when that same student is assigned packets of homework that takes an entire afternoon and evening to complete, I can assure you they’re thinking of “How much homework are we going to have tonight?” the first 30 minutes that they wake up.

Ray Tschudy, grade 11

 “I have different feelings. Homework is a nuisance if you know what you are doing but it should be optional if you don’t already know what you are doing. It should not be mandatory.”

Bella Kelley, grade 11

“While nobody likes homework, it can sometimes be helpful depending on what it is. Like, if your homework is reading in a textbook, that is very important and helpful.”

Sam Wing, grade 12

“I feel like overall we should have homework but not to the extent that we have it now. I think that we get too much now. I think it helps in the sense that helps us out. It helps us on the exams.”

Nathan Vo, grade 12

“I think that it is helpful when it is not clearly busy work.”

It seems like people have mixed feelings about homework. Students may not necessarily enjoy doing it, but acknowledge that it helps them in the long run, as long as the work is not just busy work.