Since the dawn of our nation, the American public education system has experienced tremendous growth and has overcome many of the shortcomings with which it started. As Horace Mann put it, “Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance wheel of social machinery.” There are, however, some constants throughout the nearly 400 years of public education in this country.

I am most interested in one constant: homework. While our grandparents did not use Wikipedia or Google Translate, they too did homework. This leads to the question: what is the role of homework in our modern world?

To answer this question, we first need to agree upon homework’s primary purpose. This in and of itself is an impossible question to answer given the multitude of skills utilized in different fields, but I will provide an overarching definition with which I believe most educators would agree.

In theory, homework is intended to reinforce and further the skills learned in the classroom. Whether this be through practicing example problems, writing, reading, analyzing or any combination of the aforementioned skills, homework’s purpose is to be an educational tool, no matter the subject.

But I argue that homework, for the majority of students, does not accomplish its goal. To most, homework is daunting, repetitive and futile. There might not be ways to eliminate reading books for English class, but I believe that all other assignments could be reduced. To make matters worse, we have to examine why most students actually complete their homework. Is it for their own personal gain in order to enrich their education? Probably not.

The fact of the matter is that many students view homework as nothing more than a means to a grade. If students only complete their assignments to get the points allotted to them, this completely defeats the purpose of homework.

If all of this is true, then why is homework still assigned? Is it because teachers feel that they are obligated to give homework, or does homework still serve an important role in education? Whatever the answer, I believe that homework, in its current form, is an outdated practice that needs reform. I do not urge the elimination of all homework by any stretch of the imagination, but I suggest a far more liberal approach to help alleviate the burden and stress that homework places on students.

Students should have the right to work cooperatively with their teachers to design a homework plan that fits their academic needs. While this would place an additional burden on students, I am confident that the majority of high school students could rise to this challenge.

Furthermore, the purpose of every assignment should be made conspicuous. With this information, students could make informed decisions about what they need to do. For example, if a certain homework assignment is to review what was learned in class, a student might decide to stop when they feel comfortable with the material.

The same student might complete the entirety of another assignment if that assignment’s purpose is to learn a new skill. In this manner, students would not only have less homework to complete, but they would benefit more from their efforts.

Recently, Legislature, of which I am currently co-chair, passed a homework bill. This bill called for homework-free weekends for all students every time a report card or interim progress report is issued.

The intention of this bill was threefold. First, mandated homework-free weekends were intended to help mitigate school related stress and provide students with down time to socialize with friends or spend time with their families. Second, by forcing teachers to do without seven homework assignments per year, it would encourage them to go through their curricula and eliminate the bad or unnecessary assignments, thereby increasing the quality of the course’s homework.

Third, homework-free weekends would provide students with necessary time to complete overdue assignments or any lingering work that they had yet to complete. While this work would not be required, it would reward those responsible students who took advantage of the opportunity.

Unfortunately, this bill was vetoed by Headmaster Deborah Holman. While she was not opposed to the concept of homework-free weekends, Holman felt that this bill would be a good way to begin a larger conversation about homework. Ideally, students, teachers and parents will participate in this discussion, which will lead to a broader understanding of our town’s sentiments regarding homework.

Meanwhile, in Holman’s email containing her veto that she sent to Legislature, she pledged to “work with legislature and department heads to craft [a] plan” regarding homework. This marks a step in the right direction, as Ms. Holman is committing the administration to tackling this issue. We, the students, however, must remain vigilant and hold the administration accountable to make good on this commitment. In a school as large as the high school, it is easy for issues to get lost in the day-to-day shuffle, so I implore students to continue the conversation, both in school and at home.

I call upon the leaders of our school to think seriously about homework. We live in one of the most progressive towns in America, so I challenge the administration to devise the next version of homework, Homework 2.0, that is more personalized, efficient and worthwhile.

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Want to write for Opinions? Contact us at bhs.sagamore@gmail.com.