No to Homework Policy

Jenalyn Ramirez

Hello, great morning to everyone! Please bear with me and to my

topic the “no to homework policy”. Among the most burning issues these

days is the no to Homework Policy proposed by Quezon City

Representative Alfred Vargas. House Bill no. 3883 limits the giving of

homework’s to students to weekends, citing that ‘a few landmark

studies have suggested that homework does impact upon family life, in

some cases in a negative way… yet in general, it is positively

associated with academic achievement.

The story behind these House Bill was, students complain to full

loads of requirements, projects, and assignments. As in eight subjects

every day and all of them have homework to be done and should be

passed at deadline. I myself, as a high school student is also

struggling because of homework. I always sleep late just to accomplish

my assignments. Sometimes my mind cannot function well to other

subjects because I focus on one subject. At class I admit that I feel

sleepy because I was “puyat” doing different requirements. The burden

was lessened and I am so happy for that, I'm sure you do so. Am I

right? This is all for our sake not for the teacher’s purse. Through

this I can spend more time to bond with my family, sleep longer,

stress free. I am just disappointed that we only consider ourselves

and not minding how our teachers feel every time we are not passing

our homework.
 But let's not only look on the benefits, we should also consider

the disadvantage of this policy. House Bill no. 3883 is fine, except

that Vargas’ proposed bill went a bit far as it reportedly contains a

provision where he wants teachers to be fined P50,000 or face

imprisonment for one to two years if she or he will violate the no-

homework policy. Think of it carefully, it seems like the teachers

will become criminal once they give assignments during weekend. What

is that? Teachers are just fulfilling their job and yet we will accuse

them as criminals? It is unfair for them, because they are part of our

journey through successful future.

I just felt guilty because the way technology has made things a

trillion times easier for us students these days makes it difficult to

understand why and how we could afford to complain about homework, if

they involve research only.

Let us always put in our mind that we must comply before we

complain. Always remember that homework develops our ability to be

creative, organizational, responsible and disciplined, as well as

developing good study habits, independent problem-solving skills and

attitude toward work and working on deadlines. According to Cooper,

think of homework as the way you think about medications or dietary

supplements. If you take too little, they’ll have no effect. If you

take too much, they can kill you. If you take the right amount, you’ll

get better.’