Is Homework Necessary? (Apakah PR itu penting?

Homework is a way for teachers at school to ensure that their students study the material at home. It
can be in the form of individual assignment or group assignment. Some people, including the teachers,
believe that giving homework is good for the students because they will be forced to read and learn the
material at home when they have homework. The problem occur when we bring this case to Indonesia
where some people actually against the idea of homework. Some people believe that the school time in
Indonesia is more than enough for the students to be exposed with any subject and that the students do
not need additional time to study at home. This condition leads us to the question, is homework really
necessary?

Some teachers and also some parents believe in the idea of giving homework to the students. They
believe that this brings good effect for the students as they will study more about the material which will
make them smarter. Besides, some parents are actually more pleased to see their child to read the book
rather than spending time watching TV or playing game on their Smartphone. They consider this as a
more positive behavior and also beneficial.

In addition, some people believe that somehow homework builds some good characters in student
personality. Some of the good characters are discipline and responsibility. All homework has a deadline
of submission. This condition is believed to build discipline inside the students, because they will have to
keep their punctuality in doing the homework. When the students are already get use to this process,
the character of discipline will grow naturally inside them. Sense of responsibility is another character
that some people think the students will get when they do the homework from their teachers regularly.
They believe it because at the end, the teachers will check the homework and give score to it. Students
who expect a good score will do the homework seriously.

On the other hand, some people don’t believe that homework can bring positive impact for the
students. They think that homework will only be an additional burden for students which may cause
stress. They believe that the students are actually tired after all of their activity at school, and if the
teachers give additional assignment in the form of homework, then the students may lose their precious
time to take a rest at home. This is definitely not good for the students as they won’t have a balance life.
People who against the existence of homework believe in the idea that home is the place for the
students to rest and school is the place for them to do their activity.

More importantly, if the school or the teachers think that giving homework to the students is actually
necessary to ensure that they understand the material, then there will be a big question on how efficient
the teaching learning process in the school actually is. If it has already been effective, then additional
time to study at home shouldn’t be a requirement.
Those are some opinion from both side of this ongoing debate about homework. After reading the
explanation above, we know that homework can bring positive effect and also negative effect for the
students. It totally depends on how you want to see it. So, do you think that homework is necessary?