It mentally manipulates its victims, constricting their brains into a state of cloudy confusion.

It is ever-present, leering into gaunt adolescent faces, stealing their sleep and coherency.

It lurks in the shadows, troubling young minds and implementing a sense of panic.

Homework.

Homework is an educational tool used to shape the minds of young students. It gives teens a chance to apply knowledge learned during class outside of school campus, and sometimes even teaches these students material that could not fit into the educator’s short lecture-time. Its benefits are large in number and widely arguable, yet it is also impossible to ignore the detrimental effects of these extra assignments. Kadets stay up all night completing their homework, on top of studying for heavily weighted tests, then show up at school in the morning just to fall asleep in class.

So is homework worth it? Chemistry teacher, Derek Stach, and senior, Keegan Janss reflect on their views of these highly controversial assignments.

Mr. Stach sees homework as a student’s choice. The student chooses which classes they take, and therefore determines how much homework they’re going to receive.

“If you’re taking 5 AP classes, you might have 3-4 hours of homework every night, but that was your choice when you signed up for 5 AP classes,” he said.

However, even though he views homework as a responsibility that someone chooses to take on, he personally does not assign homework in his classes.

“I’ve had this policy for quite awhile. My main reason for doing it is that I think we need to put more on the students. By putting the work and the answer key online the student can instantly see if they’re getting things right or wrong, and this puts it on the student to check and see if they’re getting it right or not and to come and ask questions,” said Stach.

This tactic of placing more responsibility on his students has worked well for him—his class scores consistently show the success of those who do his online homework as a study tool for tests and quizzes. A Kadet in his Honors Chemistry class stated that she received a 68% on his first test and a 102% on the next one. The difference was that she learned her lesson and completed the homework before the second test, earning herself a score just slightly less than twice as much as her first one.

Janss, who spends 4-5 hours doing homework every night, has a similar stance on homework; it is beneficial, but only if it is relevant. He has frequently encountered what most would call “busy work,” and has even pulled all-nighters to finish his homework, while simultaneously having to study for tests.

“Some classes tend to assign more busy work, which sometimes helps, but it’s a lot of repetition for one portion of the topic, or the unit you’re studying. Then on top of that, there are other things that you have to go study on your own,” he expressed.

Janss agrees with Stach’s opinion on homework contributing to a student’s learning/studying process, but also believes that it is only helpful to a certain extent. As a student enrolled in several AP and honors classes, “homework overload” is a concept that is not lost on him; out-of-class assignments can be tedious when too lengthy.

“I think that if you do your homework you can only become so well-versed in the subject,” he said.

Though homework is a touchy subject for many of our sleep-deprived Kadets, it may be time to take a breath and realize the benefits it contributes to our learning development. On the other hand, it is possible that some teachers may want to take a step back as well and evaluate the homework they are assigning. Is the material something that the students really need more practice on, or will the work turn into an ineffective obligation?

“You gotta prioritize things, but there comes a point where you just have to do what you have to do,” said Stach.

This applies to both teachers and students. The homework given by a staff member must be a priority for the class, not just an assignment to give a grade. Likewise, students must compromise as well. Homework may not always be convenient for a Kadet, sometimes they just have to buckle down and get it done, even if that calls for an all-nighter.

So next time you are assigning homework, or next time you’re ranting about the amount of homework given to you, consider a new perspective first.

You might learn something new.