Homework and Busywork

                 There is a difference between homework and busywork.  Homework helps reinforce information that was just taught to someone and busywork just gives teachers the time to catch up on their stuff.   While this topic has been widely discussed, many people don’t consider how busywork can actually harm the student.  Busywork can make a student not want to learn and can trigger a negative response to doing actual homework that can help them.  Being assigned busywork can just make a student think that all work is stupid and there is no purpose to doing it.
                Being a high school student, it is pretty obvious to me when I get handed an assignment that is just busywork versus actual homework that will help me.  Have you ever considered an assignment as homework for a teacher also?  I don’t see why teachers would want to hand out so much homework if they would then have to spend a lot of time grading it.  Some teachers have figured that out though and don’t assign homework unless it is absolutely necessary.  Some teachers have also figured out that no matter how much they try to get students to do homework, some students refuse to and believe that it is a waste of their time. 
                Well, there is also a lot of busywork for teachers.  Do you think that they want to grade papers and teach stuff on the curriculum that isn’t important?  As I read this article it made me realize that a lot of the “busywork” stuff that teachers give students is actually meant to help improve many skills.  With that being said, what really is busywork?  Many people have different thoughts on that and most teachers think that there is no such thing as busywork because all homework assigned is meant to help improve a student educationally.  So is “busywork” essentially homework?  Do I have you stumped now?  Homework can be busywork and it may be beneficial or it may harm you, but that is for you to decide.
                Homework isn’t the worst thing ever.  Neither is busywork.  I think that in the end, everything with assignments happens for a reason.  The reason can be to help you improve with skills or to keep your mind busy and active.  Whether it is to help a teacher or to help a student, homework can be extremely beneficial.