Homework or Doomwork?!

Nowadays, students can only think about one thing: homework! After a long and exhausting day at school, they should have the rest of the day to do whatever activity they choose, hang out with friends, or play outside, except that they are required to do more school work. A subject teacher has a set of students, who in turn have multiple subject teachers so their homework exponentially grows according to the number of subjects per day at school. Is it fair? 

According to the survey data, 56 % of the students considered homework a key source of stress. The remaining students viewed tests and the pressure to get good grades as the primary stressors. Notably, less than 1% of the students said homework was not a stressor* China, Russia, and Singapore give the most amount of homework, averaging around 12 hours per week.

In 1095, Roberto Nevelis invented homework as a punishment for students. Over the years, it has become a part of students' everyday lives. Although homework can be beneficial to all, it becomes detrimental if someone is forced to do it. Short deadlines not only cause the students to dislike their teacher but also the subject. Teachers must come up with new ways to get students to practice their subject, rather than simply giving deadlines. Sometimes, the homework we take hours to complete is scrapped and expected again. The pressure of a perfect assignment snatches the joy of doing that assignment.

Talk about deadlines - we as students, are expected to adhere to them while our teachers would take months to give back our corrected work. If giving back our work isn’t that time-bound then why make it a deadline? Students should be allowed to submit their work whenever possible within the stipulated time, or teachers can set longer deadlines, like a fortnight.  There is no question that homework is important for students but not in the volume schools give it in. Kids are prevented from expressing their creative side by staying stuck in wrapping up the classwork; if a student is coming home after a long and stressful day at school, they won't have time to finish their homework, which will take more than two hours, plus express their creative side by engaging in a hobby.

Thus, schools should lessen home assignments for one and all.  

* https://gateway.aurorak12.org/2021/03/02/when-homework-causes-stress/

Pollution precedes perishing

 

• Living in Delhi is said to be equal to smoking twenty-plus cigarettes every single day.

• Air pollution can reduce the life expectancy of Indians by nine years, says a report by a US research group.

• A study conducted in 2020 shows 54,000 premature deaths - owing to the high rise in the levels of pollution. 

The capital city’s pollution worsens with every passing day. I, a citizen of Delhi, can confirm that after Diwali the Air quality index (AQI) has deteriorated and it is unbreakable for an average human. It requires wearing a mask mandatorily outdoors and having multiple air purifiers at home.  

Delhi's alarming levels of air pollution have been attributed to a variety of factors namely crop burning in neighbouring states (Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan), vehicular emissions, and fireworks during Diwali season. The city's landlocked geographical location also leads to Industrial pollution and large-scale construction activities.

I have recently come across numerous cases where people have been rushed to hospitals for lung diseases like asthma attacks and respiratory infections. Air pollution also leads to Acid rain and crop damage. I urge people to burn fewer fossil fuels as, nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides are also emitted into the environment, thereby further polluting the air. Year after year, Delhi has become a gas chamber while reducing peoples’ life span. It is imperative that people take precautionary measures to prevent suffocation and asphyxiation. A busy road on Delhi can now be equated to Hitler’s gas chambers. STOP AIR POLLUTION OR GET AN ALERT FOR YOUR ELIMINATION!