Haley Henning

COM 315
Dr. Jensen
March 12, 2024

Persuasion Journal 7

Prompt: A letter to the editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the topic of parents
advocating against “Too Much Homework” from the point of view of a high school
student attending St. Francis High School.

March 12, 2024

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

330 E. Kilbourn, Suite 500
Milwaukee, WI 53202

To the editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,

In the 23’-24’ school year, it has come to the concern of not only students, but parents,
that the homework being assigned at St. Francis High School is losing its educational
value as a result of students being inundated by multiple classes requiring take-home
work every day. As a student that makes an effort to maintain high grades, I value the
process behind learning and time management in my school week, but rather than
supplementing the day’s learning, the label “busy work” rests heavily on our shoulders as
the pages pile up.

Prior the start of the 23’-24’ school year, teachers would assign homework according to
unfinished class work, projects, or assignments that led up to exam preparation. Now that
the district is clamping down on teachers providing students with more supplemental
work, however, students are rushing through assignments for the sake of seeing a
“completed” grade rather than looking forward to their feedback. Instead of feeling relief
that there is room to relax at home following a busy school day, there is dread that there’s
still more work to be done. And rather than the satisfaction that comes with completing a
complex project or finally understanding the material you weren’t too sure about in class,
students can only let out a sigh of relief knowing that their current homework is out of the
way for the day.

I write not in protest of supplemental work. Homework absolutely serves its purpose in
moderation, but when it’s expected that a student has a piece of paper to show for their
ability to do well every single day, the quality of a student’s work dwindles as they begin
to feel overwhelmed and overworked. The more important supplemental work that might
have been spaced out in last year’s curriculum to aid students is now being smushed and
lost between countless assignments of busy work. That is not to say that all material
provided isn’t valuable in the learning process, but that cramming assignments into the
day isn’t beneficial to the student experience.

From my experience, an abundance of homework makes me chase the grade over the
knowledge that comes from the material. The more work we as students are given, the
more validation we need from those on-screen letters and numbers confirming that we
completed the work. What families of the St. Francis High School students are looking
for is relief from the necessity of homework following every single class period. Relief
from the expectation to perform and a reinstation of the value that our school district once
had; to learn.