Homework over break

Who is ready for the holidays? Maybe you have a lot of plans full of travel and adventure. How about hanging out with your family and friends?

Oh wait.  Too bad for you: you actually have tons of homework that will most likely keep you busy throughout your entire break.

Were you planning on going to the movies? Sorry, that 4-page history essay is in need of completion. Have plans with that special someone? Oops, you need to finish that English project or else you can say goodbye to that A. Priorities, people.

This brings up the idea of whether or not teachers should assign homework over the break.

Before we dive into this, let us take a look at how a break is defined. According to dictionary.com, a break is “a pause in work or during an activity or event.” With that being said, aren’t we supposed to have the upcoming two weeks free of nothing but relaxation and excitement?

The correct answer should be ‘yes’, but some teachers think otherwise. Some teachers feel it is important to assign homework so that students do not forget important concepts and can have them fresh in their memories when they return. Students know that they have only none or two weeks of freedom, and the last thing on their mind is writing a report on how Huckleberry Finn overcame racism or studying for the SAT … right?

The whole point of having a break is to relax the mind and give it a rest from all the stress that school brings upon students.

Ms. Amini, who teaches U.S. Government, agrees that students need the time to relax and de-stress from the work load.

She stated, “I have never and will never assign homework over Winter Break. It’s called ‘Break’ for a reason.”

If students don’t have the opportunity to relax, it will cause nothing but harm to the individual which could lead to caustic results.

“After sitting on their backsides for up to seven and a half hours a day, kids need to clear their minds. I only wish teachers could put aside their work to do the same!” Ms. Amini insisted.

She could not do a better job describing how each student at Dougherty probably feels when receiving homework over the break. It would also make sense for teachers to not assign anything so that they will have nothing to grade coming back from the break.

Now, what do you do if you happen to get homework before break? Besides complaining (I know I will), a good strategy is to get it done as soon as possible so it is out of your way and you do not have to come back to it for the rest of the year.

Trust me when I say that you do not want to be up at midnight the night before school scrambling to finish that essay. Get it done and you will not have to stress about it for the rest of your ‘vacation’.

But if you are free of any homework like you are supposed to be, take this opportunity to relax and take a load off of your mind. You are on vacation; act like you are. Sit back and binge watch that Netflix show to your heart’s content.