Is Homework Important? Article

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Is Homework Important?

Author: Brooks Elms

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There is a recent book called The Case Against Homework, and it reminds me that, from an existential perspective, life is homework. Work—what somebody spends his or her energy on—is what’s most important to that person, and he or she does that work at home or wherever. But traditional school homework, where an adult assigns kids to do certain tasks at home, is different. If the parents and the kids commit to traditional schooling, then homework is justified, but on the whole, assigned homework is something with which I have a problem.

I think I was a wreck as a kid in part because I’d think, “Okay, I have to go to school,” but then, after school, I’d think, “Now I’ve got to go home and do this other stuff, too.” That bothered me because I didn’t feel like school was serving my needs. I was learning as much outside of school about life, about what mattered to me, and about how to get along with people as I was learning technical stuff in a classroom. The idea that other people were telling me what do to and how to do it—and that I had to go home and do more of it—bothered me. That being said, my parents were committed to traditional school, and I agreed to go by their rules.

In the end, it comes down to curriculum. What curricula are children learning, and do they serve their interests? Most of the curricula that were forced on me as a kid were ridiculous, although I was interested in some subjects, like gym. I’ve always been an athlete, so I loved going to gym. In fact, you could say I did gym homework every day after school. I did gym homework constantly! Even when I was assigned to be on a team, I wasn’t bothered because I felt the curriculum served me; it ignited a fire in my heart and soul. On the other hand, math homework shut down my flame. Again, after spending all day in a place I didn’t want to be, I was supposed to go home and do more stuff there. It was a drag.

Personally, I would have liked to have gone to a school where teachers didn’t assign homework. I would have preferred a freeform curriculum where I could do what I wanted within the rules of my community and home. I’m confident I would have learned more, not just about the subjects I was interested in, but about other subjects as well. I would have been better at math and reading. For example, despite doing homework on it, I never read fiction. I watch fictional movies, but I don’t read fiction. This is my own personal issue, not a systematic thing. However, although I have a very deep connection to storytelling—after all, it’s my profession now—I felt teachers were forcing me to read and report on stories at a time when I wasn’t particularly interested in those stories. That affected me on a personal level, and I was resentful, even when I got to college and had pretty cool professors. I could find books that were fairly interesting; I just hated the idea that I could be forced to read a certain story at a certain time.

I would like to have been in a community where I could choose to read what I wanted when I wanted. I know that, in that environment, I would have been an avid fiction reader. There are books that I’ve loved, of course, but even now, when good friends recommend a book to me, I still don’t pick up the book. It’s still a block for me; again, that’s my personal issue. Obviously, most people were forced to read certain books in school and don’t have that block as adults, but I don’t think it helped any of us to have been forced to do homework. Introducing children to literature, yes. Talking about books and teaching kids about Shakespeare, yes, great. Share those ideas, but don’t make me read something when I’m not interested in it.

(c) 2008, Brooks Elms All rights reserved. Reprint rights granted so long as article and by-line are published intact and with all links made live.

About Author

Brooks Elms fiercely writes, directs and produces films, winning awards and thrilling audiences around the globe for the last 20 years. His latest film, "Schooled" is like "Kid Nation" meets "Dead Poets Society" and it fundamentally changes the way people think about education: http://www.schooledthefilm.com/

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