A Principal’s View on Homework

Published on March 6, 2021

Last updated on November 11, 2024

[

Jethro Jones

](https://world.hey.com/jethro)

March 6, 2021

I read this post about homework.

Here’s my philosophy as a school principal on homework:

It is unethical for schools to tell families what they should do at home, after school is out for the day.*

Therefore, homework should not exist.

Matt’s post tells you more. 

Can you imagine how a teacher (or any other employee) would feel if a boss said, after they put in a full day of work, “OK, now you have to go do these meaningless assignments that I don’t even have time to review at home, and you’ll be penalized if you don’t do them, but don’t get anything extra if you do them!”? They’d go bananas. 

Wrong answers:

• But teachers take work home all the time! Yes, but your own choice is different than it being a requirement. 
• But kids have to practice! Sure they do, but guess what is a great use of time IN school: practice. 
• But kids need to learn responsibility! Pass. There are plenty of ways to teach responsibility that don’t require all the negatives that go along with homework.  
• But kids will have learning gaps if they don’t do homework! False. 
• But the research says! Nope. The research shows a correlation to higher achievement, but that’s like a snack food company bragging about higher cholesterol levels from eating their food. 

*I’m only adding after school part because of the pandemic.