We live in a world where competition and excellence brings opportunities. Having a quality education (and what that is can be debated and should be), teaching determination and hard work, making learning fun but also thought enhancing, prepares the youth for tomorrow’s challenges. But hobbies, work at home, and more are also important. And what lessons the youth learn today will affect how they are when they’re adults, when the challenges of life become very apparent, when they will see how they were prepared earlier. As an adult, I know I could have done much better, but like many of my peers at the time, I wanted distraction and fun, not realizing at the time that I could have fun learning and taking on opportunities, which would frame who I would become. Habits can be life-long and life enhancing.

First of all, thank you for your time sharing. As a teacher, I understand the viewpoints and have spent time having students share on this very topic. And depending upon their experiences, I can both completely understand and disagree due to personal experiences and an understanding of what their life ahead might be depending upon their experiences early.
As a student who grew up during a time when our educational system was number one in the world, when teachers had more flexibility to teach the curriculum, I’m sure I was not the easiest of students, often not listening, and often not completing my homework, but the onus of responsibility was on my shoulders. If I did not perform to a sufficient level, I would have to repeat a grade. This happened once, and I made sure it would never happen again. So, I took it upon myself to study as needed, learn my basic skills to mastery, and do what I needed to in order to get better grades, but often my interests led to learning without realizing I was learning. And I did have a few good years.
But throughout all of this, I learned. And yes, there were times I had over 2 hours of homework. But with time, I learned better time management. I learned how to get more work done “in class,” use the lunch recess time at times, and organize my homework (I employed a self-made 6 pocket folder for all my courses. In college, I developed a method that cut 90% of my study time. But that required years of working at other jobs, listening, and understanding.). Of course, sometimes I still didn’t complete, but I learned in that too.
As a student, and as a teacher, I see an absolute need for homework. But I also see a need for what the teachers of my time brought to the table. Give me any curriculum and I can find creative ways to teach the standards, but also teach topics of interest in varied ways. For instance, in teaching geography, I’ve constructed 3-D cities with my students, which is both a lesson in grammar and history, not to mention current day America. When teaching grammar and punctuation, we review sentence types, but venture into writing stories, essays, plays, and paragraphs. And what we do in the class, the students who spend more time “at home”, completing their work, striving to improve, some even going beyond, they really excel. Not only do they excel in improving academics, but their “thinking” shows real growth. They experience understanding the others simply do not have. They see causes and effects. They “see” the possibilities. And… This is a big and. The ones who excel, they tend to have less homework. Why? Because in having worked so hard early in their school years, they have learned well, so they end up often with no homework, completing it all in school, then raise the bar at home, often due to parents encouraging them with setting the bar high. And there are a few, who do decent work, not garnering great grades, but also partake of sports and help out with others so their characters are developing.
But do I concern myself with whether the students do their homework? That is on them. But I also know the fact that I received more work while growing up than many students do today, and as such, learned quite a bit in class and on my own, or with my friends. I give the assignments, and if they can complete the work in school, well, that is good. But I also know that those who set the bar higher, tend to be better prepared for life ahead: usually. There are late bloomers too, and those who have their own ideas of direction, and some move to the beat of a different drummer, which is okay. That is me as well.
I’ve encouraged students to start their own businesses, and some followed the suggestion. I explained to them, though, that if they go down that road, they will work harder than ever in school. If they do well in school, or in any endeavor they participate, the value to them will carry with them throughout life. What we do as children and teens tend to become habits of a lifetime. But yes, some schools could do with more creativity in lesson planning, utilizing more of the students’ own skills and interests, as when I had the children create their own islands, mapped them out, then wrote a story they created. Individuality.
Look. Let’s not despair over homework. Learn the material, organize the work, then complete as much as possible in class (even at lunch recess), leaving the rest at home (Be creative with some assignments that your interests are employed.). With time, the two hours of homework become only one, and on some days, require only a review. Then, with interests, perhaps a small business, working for a store, or creating an online job. And, when each student grows up, not only will they have experience and knowledge, along with understanding, but self-discipline and interests they partake of, some which brings in opportunities and money. It’s not about the homework. It’s about outlook. I know of some countries in which the students work hard during the day, then eat at home, only to attend night school, and they are very successful. Do I think we should do things this way? I’d rather students do well in school, teachers be creative in lesson planning, and our youth have sports and projects to do afterwards. Friends? Of course. But friends will be with us all of our lives.