More Work for Students

There are only so many hours per day a student can sit in a classroom, so educators have given them work to do at home. This has been the standard for many decades of modern education, but the need to learn more has changed the balance. Students today may be expected to spend a great deal more time learning their lessons at home because educators have so much to teach them. More work for students may appear to be a good thing, but it can ruin their work and home balance beyond repair.

Going home at the end of the day has long been a cherished time for adults and children. Being able to relax around the dinner table and talk is a time-honoured tradition, and even modern psychologists and sociologists have praised it as a way to help families become closer. Students today may skip the conversation after the meal in favour of homework, and it may make them less tied to their family.

Many modern societies are now touting the importance of family values, but students forced away from their loved ones to complete homework may not be getting those values. Their concentration on passing classes is of great importance, and doing homework is part of how they will earn passing grades. Leaving their family behind could have long term consequences, and all the book learning in the world will not replace their family connection.

The need to provide students with the opportunity for advanced education is an excellent concept, but school systems and societies must understand there are lessons that will never be learned in the classroom. Taking children away from their family to do homework could be interfering with some of life’s most important lessons, and even an advanced degree might not make up for what they are now missing.