query: Is homework beneficial?

positive: We Shouldn't have homework! First, there are three arguments for why homework is excellent and ought to continue in modern schools. 1. Homework aids doer-learners. It is generally accepted that there are three types of learners: those who learn by hearing, those who learn by seeing, and those who learn by doing. While many are content to hear or see instruction of a given subject, some need to actually do it. Thus, homework is beneficial for this latter group because the instruction is learn through action. 2. Homework reinforces instruction. Although many would probably be thrilled to not have homework, the quality of the education received would certainly suffer if it was removed. Whether the homework is assigned reading, term papers, etc. , all of it is designed to reinforce the instruction in the students' minds. After all, those who do their homework are more academically successful than those who do not. I feel that this is a self-evident truth, but I'll leave it Pro to dissuade you. 3. Homework mirrors real-life demands. After high-school, there are mainly two paths for graduates to take: college or work. For both of these paths, assignments will be allocated and the professors/bosses will except to see them completed. Now, having done homework with deadlines before, graduates are used to these demands and are thus more likely to succeed. But remove homework and students will be unfamiliar with long-term assignments, deadlines, and the like. In short, homework helps to prepare graduates for real-life demands. I will now refute Pro's arguments: 1. "Checking [homework] takes valuable class time. " No, this is absolutely false. Instructors generally do not grade homework in class because it is a time for teaching, not evaluation. Instructors usually grade in their offices or homes and are paid (by salary) to do so. Class time is seldom, if ever, affected by grading homework. Pro's argument is ridiculous. 2. "Kids cannot handle so much schoolwork with such a little attention span. " Well, this is half-true. Kids do tend to have smaller attention spans compared to adults, but I would answer that the homework is tailored to their ability to perform. Here's what I mean: if a teacher knows that X student can only focus for Y time before pooping on the floor, then said teacher (assuming he/she is smart) will not assign more than X student can handle. Since I have family members who teach middle school, I can testify firsthand that the workload is intended to be manageable. What if it's not? Well, ideally, the kids and their parents complain and either the instructor or principal corrects the problem. Yes, some may refuse to reduce the workload, but that is rare and not a acceptable reason to abolish all homework everywhere. Homework is good, even if it's occasionally abused. 3. "[Homework] takes away from family time. " I find this argument ironic. How long is an average school day? About 6-8 hours. How long does daily homework take to accomplish? 1-2 hours at worst. You see, homework is not the main usurper of family time! Rather, it the length of schools days that's the real culprit. If a student is diligent, there still is ample time for familial interaction. Also, I find Pro's argument to be laughable simply because students generally avoid socializing with their families. Many would rather play Minecraft, Call of Duty, etc. than sit around the table exchanging stories. So, to wrap up, I have presented three reasons for why homework is good and have attempted to disprove Pro's arguments. I stand ready for Round 2.

positive: Students shouldnt have homework Although homework can be copied , that is only due to the fact that the homework we receive is too long. Homework is beneficial to understanding a subject and furthering your knowledge on the selected subject. Therefore Homework is beneficial to knowledge as long as it is a reasonable length to prevent anxiety.

positive: homework should be banned Before I begin my debate, I will point out pro's faulty arguments.First of all, she didn't define the topic, so I will do that for her.Homework: A strenuous activity completed by students, however, studying done by students before tests by own choice does not count as homework.Banned: Completely abolished.Studies have shown that people who do more homework or studying are more likely to be smarter, rather than the people who don't. -This statement is not entirely true. Studies have in fact proven otherwise, saying that too much homework is counterproductive. It can confuse and stress children. Too much homework can shatter childrens motivation for school, and makes school dreadful.giving you many great qualities such as independence (that"s a given), individuality and much, much more. -Homework does not just hand these qualities over to you. By doing homework, you use these skills, but this does not mean that everyone who does homework is independent. Also, independence means nothing in homework if the student can't even do the work independently.At school, you work at the same pace as everyone around you more or less. -Not necessarily. Often as you get older, work becomes more and more independent. Also at school, you are constantly learning and being taught along with other students, and then given work to do, where you can breeze along at your own pace. We need a balance between sport, socialising, and education. -Exactly, and 6 hours or more of schooling per day provides more than enough education, leaving only the mere few hours left of the day for sport, socialising and fun. Squeezing homework in turns the day into too much learning, and can cause stress in students.Now, onto my arguments.Homework absolutely must be banned, for many logical reasons. It is not right, and must be abolished immediately.First of all, homework has been proven to be counterproductive. Homework causes stress, confusion and anxiety in students. And it's no wonder, since teachers have been piling homework onto students, turning a 6 hour school day into an 8 hour one. For this reason, many students have trouble sleeping, and end up going to bed ridiculously late. Homework has even shown to have a negative effect on younger students' grades, and minimal effects on older students' grades. So why is homework necessary? Banning it will remove these negative effects on younger students' grades, and will stop all problems such as loss of motivation, anxiety, lack of sleep, stress, confusion, you name it. Homework has even created loss of motivation, and students want less to go to school. It is vital for homework to be banned.Secondly, homework takes up the precious time of students AND teachers. Every day, pupils are required to wake up at dawn, drag themselves to school, come home, and then have to pack everything they do into the short space of about 3-4 hours. Home work takes on average 2 hours, leaving approxiametely 1-2 hours left for everything else. Seems tight? You bet. This leads to lack of sleep because of the tight schedule. This can also result in children avoiding homework and getting punished, when the overload was not necessary in the first place. Not only does homework waste students' time, but teachers' time too, since they have to mark homework, when they could be planning lessons, and making fun classes. Homework drags children away from sport and socialising, to more education. This does not help children and their other hobbies one bit.Finally, students may not be able to understand homework, shattering their confidence. This can make them feel nervous leading up to important exams and tests. This also makes students feel like they have to study like mad, so they know everything in time for the exam. Students will know whether they need to study or not, without homework smashing their confidence before they can study anything. Also, homework which is too easy will only give them a false confidence, making them stressed at exams. Either way, homework does not help personal study. Also, studies suggest that homework which is too hard does not help childrens' brains, but confuses. So homework is confusing children, and killing their confidence.As you can see, homework is extremely unsuccessful, and must be banned. It is counter productive, wastes precious time, and is often not understandable, causing countless problems. Homework should be banned.http://www.ascd.org...http://www.alfiekohn.org...http://news.psu.edu...http://phys.org...

positive: Homework Students learn enough in the classroom. They do not need to go home and do more work when it is not needed.

positive: Homework should be banned School without homework is not an image I can fathom. There are many reasons homework should not be abolished as it is beneficial towards the student, allows the teacher to acknowledge the student's weaknesses; in turn giving them an opportunity to improve and acquire new skills. Also, taking time each night to do homework is a chance for students to catch up on missed class and further reinforces the day's lessons so it is permanently etched in the student's mind where the information is stored and used when called upon. Several studies have proven that homework, in fact, does improve the stability of the student in school; this strengthens the statement that time spent completing homework is time well spent. Rather than giving students another hour of leisure time, doing homework entitles the student to an hour of enriched education; this can greatly benefit the student, as consistently finishing homework will reap great rewards such as a favourable test score or report card. Why are we posing such a ludicrous question about the possible abolishment of homework if doing homework is what it takes to succeed in school? It is a common emotion to students regarding the distaste of homework, but legions of teachers know better because they recognize the importance of homework in the success of students in school and outside of school. Not only does homework accomplishment benefit the student, it also benefits the teacher as well. Teachers receive the opportunity to see at what stage the student is by assigning homework. Furthermore, the teacher can identify the weaknesses of the student so they can ameliorate their study habits in hopes of pulling their grades up. On the other hand, if teachers were to abandon the idea of homework altogether, they would have to base the majority of the student's mark on tests alone. However, students fare much better in the homework column than the test column; otherwise, their marks would be lower Conclusively,that is the reason it should not be banned

positive: Students should have homework According to research, homework improves test scores if not given too much. If we give no homework, then there is no extra practice being involved. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com...) I wouldn't exactly say that it would save teachers a lot of complaining, although I'm sure it would, teachers more than likely would rather hear the complaining then see failing test results. Poor grades not only hurt the student, but also make the teacher look bad.

positive: Homework is a waste of time Do you think that homework is a waste of time? I strongly believe that it is wrong to think that due to that it helps us to improve and fix our knowledge. To my mind we need homework to better understand topics that we have learned at school. It is known that teachers do not have enough time to explain everything clearly to each student. Moreover, it helps us to become more responsible by working independently. I believe that homework helped me to become more organized too. Because of that I did it every day of each academic year I got used to do evetything on time and in a good quantity. It can be added that if you are more organized then it means that you will do every work faster than it could be done.

positive: Homework should be banned My stand on this topic is that home work should not be banned for the below stated reasons; 1.Homework helps teachers to gauge and judge students academic capability. 2.Homework enables students to revise what they have learnt in school. 3.Homework ensures that a student never strays away from hi/her studies as students are forced to complete their homework.

positive: Homework should be banned I accept your challenge...according to me the homework should be banned since It adds to extra pressure on students teachers do not check the homework that carefully that they will come to know about the weaknesses of the child students if given homework do not do it themselves..either the tuition teacher helps them or they copy from someone...there are very few students who do it themselves I have many other points but i would like to showcase them in further rounds

positive: Homework Children should be able to study in class, and get a break from the 8 hours of school they go through everyday

positive: Students shouldn't have homework at school I think there should be homework in schools because if teachers didn't have homework, they wouldn't be able to get much done. Especially in high school when you have one semester to teach an entire topic. I remember kids would have to take it home. You would have change the entire curriculum or increase the school year in order to have no homework. Which are two big changes to the school. I can understand no homework from kindergarten to grade 6, but 7,8, and high school should have homework in my opinion. Another reason is homework could help the kids learn something with there parents if they didn't understand what there teacher said. It helps me a lot. I can understand you saying too much homework getting away from free time. I can agree, but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be any homework. Maybe a couple sheets a week and on project every other month.

positive: When out of school we should have time to ourselves We should expect to get a certain amount of homework per day and build other activities around the homework. Homework can be a useful part of time with family as it provides a chance for parents and other relatives to take part in schooling.

positive: Homework Should Not Be Required Keep in mind I cannot respond to any of Con's dropped contentions.Point 1My opponent seemingly defeats his own argument. In the last round he said exactly this: "Here is a remind of my counter plan: Homework should be given in moderate quantity (in short).This is about homework QUANTITY (ie. how much homework is given) NOT homework QUALITY (ie. how beneficial it is)."And yet when explaining why my sources are allegedly irrelevant, he says:"She falsely states that I must prove that homework assigned then vs. now is different in quantity... All I need to do is show that the systems of education have changed since then because that affects everything. If homework is different in regards to difficulty (for example), then higher quantity is not as necessary if it’s harder." In the first statement he says that he is arguing QUANTITY is what matters in assessing homework. And then in the second statement he says DIFFICULTY is what's relevant and quantity isn't relevant at all. I'm sure I am not the only one confused by Con's statements, and once again, I will not have the opportunity to respond.To repeat my position, students have had roughly the same amount of HW quantity over the last 30 years. Con does not deny this - nor has Con proven that a DIFFERENCE in education standards over the last 30 years means a difference one way or the other (easier or harder) let alone a difference in the quality of HW assignments. Moreover, I argued that Con had not proven that his studies account for more of the population than the ones I have presented. If he cannot, then we have no reason whatsoever to believe that the pro-HW studies he cites (noting that quantity of homework is most important -- which I've argued against) are any more valid. He dropped this contention and has not proven that his studies represent a larger sample size.I pointed out that my study examined data of more than 18,000 students to uncover explanations for academic performance. Con suggests we have to use the entire world population of children as a measure which is absurd. Out of 1.9 billion children, 1 billion of them live in destitute poverty [1]. These children, especially in the third world, can't even eat or drink and millions die from starvation daily -- yet Con suggests we should factor them into the population of students who benefit from homework, when they have never seen a school in their life. That is an abusive standard no judge would take seriously. Quite obviously we are discussing homework in the West (especially the U.S.) where public education and the subsequent standards is the norm. Thus 18K is a good sample size for research. Con has not even tried to present us with an estimate of the number of students his cited studies cover, let alone present research that accounts for a larger size. Some studies in his favor have "hundreds" yet I invite Con to prove his studies are more relevant in size, date and scope [2, 3]. One study in his favor had a sample size of around 1,300 students -- or about 1/18th of the population my sources covered. In short, Con has dug himself a hole in trying to attack the credibility of my sources and studies; he has not proven his are any more valid. In the last round I decided to move on from this and noted it would appear SOME cases show that homework could be beneficial (accounting for a lot of different variables). Of course, that is completely irrelevant to the rest of my argument. I've pointed out that not everything that is beneficial ought to be required as well as suggested the potential negatives of HW outweigh the potential positives. Indeed that is the crux of my position in this debate. 1A. I pointed out that even if HW can sometimes be beneficial, Con is only saying that *beneficial* homework be required - not all homework. Yet he cannot ensure the HW assigned will be beneficial. He responded with accusations of straw mans when in fact he fails to see the absurdity of this objection. If Con is not saying that only BENEFICIAL homework be required, then he is advocating that even NON-beneficial homework be required. Why would Con advocate non-beneficial homework?! That would be punishment with no substance or positive effect. Therefore it is only logical to assume Con is only advocating BENEFICIAL homework. If he would like to challenge this, I guess he can...1B. It would appear Con does want to challenge this lol. He writes, "Again, this seems to be a misinterpretation of the counter plan. I never mentioned that it had to be beneficial, nor did I say that beneficial things have to be mandatory." So here we can see that Con even supports HW that is not beneficial, meaning he has no good reason (positive benefits) to support HW at all. And furthermore, Con skirts 1B as if it is a meaningless statement when in fact it is the entire basis of my argument. Please extend all of my 1B points -- I pointed out why not all things that are beneficial should be required. Ergo, even if homework were beneficial, it need not be mandatory. Con thinks HW (despite being so problematic) should just be imposed whether it has benefits or not, which is an even more ridiculous position than I think anyone expected him to take. Point 2Con accuses me of not refuting the counter plan which is false. His counter plan is simply "less homework" which I have argued, especially in Point 2. "Con argues that by reducing HW time, the problems of HW won't exist. But while they might be less significant, they would still exist. Even 1 hour of HW per night interferes with 1 hour of family or recreational time. Furthermore, Con cannot prove that all students spend the same amount of time on homework..." which proves I did address his counter plan of less HW time. My opponent says that it's okay for students to spend different amounts of time on HW, which fails to address my point on an undue burden for slow learners or those who take longer to do assignments. This means additional stress and imposition for those students on recreational and rest time, which Con glosses over as being addressed by special classes/assignments but this cannot be proven or enforced. Even students in special classes learn at a different pace from each other. Con asked for sources proving that parents do their kid's homework. I presented the studies; Con dropped this point and said "Well kids should be doing it themselves." Sure, but extend my argument that they are often NOT doing it themselves based on my statistics. Con must concede this point; instead he suggests this simply doesn't matter. Obviously when parents do their kid's assignments, it places burden on the parents and provides no utility to the child while still creating work for teachers. Once again - whereas some parents have the time and resources to dedicate to HW monitoring and assistance, other parents do not have the opportunity to be as involved. Thus a shoddy HW response might reflect poorly on the child unfairly. Many students (especially in low-income areas) specifically have a hard time completing their assignments.In response, Con says "since there will be a lower homework quantity, this means that these people will not be overwhelmed with homework" which clearly doesn't address my points at all regarding lack of resources, not just time. Con also says that the states account for financial factors in HW assignments and cited this source from the UK -- yet not a single line from that source said anything about poverty affecting assigned work or HW. I invite my opponent to copy and paste the line from that source which proves his point here [4]. I have no reason to accept it thus far. And besides, people within the same school can still come from vastly different financial backgrounds. Con states, "If [students] do not understand [HW] and get all of the questions wrong (for example), then it is the teacher’s duty to correct the student and explain the homework to them." However teachers do not give students more help if they have trouble with homework - a factor cited in Con's previous source from the CPE [5]. Con dropped that even when good HW is assigned, it is the student's approach that is critical. However teachers cannot monitor or control how students approach their HW. Con also dropped that his citations don't account for today's HW distractions. Research shows that students today are not grasping as much of the homework material even when they complete it, because they are distracted by social media and don't retain the information.Point 3Con says "She makes a an argument riddled with fallacies. She claims that homework cuts into time for anything." That is not fallacious but a logical fact. If you spend time on X (homework) you cannot spend time on Y (anything else) that requires significant attention. That's called the law of non-contradiction. Just because school provides some activities doesn't mean it provides the same activities or amount of time/attention on those activities as parents or kids would like. Con notes that school, work, etc. cut into people's time and yet I am not advocating those be abolished. I explained how homework provides a "second shift" of work that kids should not have to face. Please extend my arguments on parents not being subjected to this burden and having options here; Con dropped it and I will not be able to respond.Point 4Con says that HW "counts for nothing" yet HW is often graded. Con says I have provided "no evidence" of cheating. See explanations regarding points 12-15 in the last round. He only contested 1 of those sources. One is a forum - the rest are academic - and he ignores that parents doing HW is cheating which he admits happens. He dropped every one of my arguments on copying and using the internet to cheat as well. Con also dropped the negative effects of HW's "drill and kill" methodolgy and its impact on learning. PLEASE EXTEND MY LAST ROUND'S CONCLUSION.Thanks!SOURCES: http://www.debate.org...

positive: Does homework have any benefits Homework is waste of time. And children are forced to do loads of it each year, what's your opinion?

positive: Homework Should Be Abolished Firstly, let me define the important terms. ~Homework: work that teachers give their students to do at home ~Abolished: to end an activity or custom officially The argument I will be saying in this round is: ~homework is beneficial to children in moderate amounts And in Round 3 I will be stating that: ~homework enables school days to be shorter Then in the final round, I will be doing a rebuttal of my opponents well-meaning, but perhaps misguided views. Firstly, homework is beneficial to children in schools, as long as it is in moderate amounts. I, as team opposition, understand that in large amounts, homework can overload the child and can be very stressful. But when moderated, homework can be extremely beneficial. The most common benefit of homework is the obvious, improvement in academics. "Researchers who looked at data from more than 18,000 10th-graders found there was little correlation between the time students spent doing homework and better grades in math and science courses. But, according to a study on the research, they did find a positive relationship between standardized test performance and the amount of time spent on homework." This source obviously shows the correlations found in tests. However, doing homework has a lot of less-know benefits for children "Pryor-Johnson identifies four qualities children develop when they complete homework that can help them become high-achieving students: responsibility; time management; perseverance; and self-esteem. While these cannot be measured on standardized tests, perseverance has garnered a lot of attention as an essential skill for successful students. Regular accomplishments like finishing homework build self-esteem, which aids students" mental and physical health. Responsibility and time management are highly desirable qualities that benefit students long after they graduate." My source clearly demonstrates my point. Whilst the general public may not know these benefits, they are there, improving the child's work across the board. So, as you can clearly see from these arguments, and the sources I have provided, homework should not be abolished because it is beneficial to the children who do them. Sources: ~http://dictionary.cambridge.org... ~http://dictionary.cambridge.org... ~http://education.cu-portland.edu... ~https://www.washingtonpost.com...

positive: homework doesn't do any anything to truthfully say how many people do their homework after memorizing and studying hard on the topic. What we actually do is search the internet or take help from elders. So no point in doing homework

positive: This House Believes That Homework is Futile in Today's Soceity It's basically forcing students to go home after a stressful day of school and activities and do pointless homework. Teachers should be teaching these things in class, not making the students learn it themselves. It's preventing children from leading balanced lifestyles, with a healthy amount of sleep and activities to keep them fit and active. How is a student supposed to do 3 to 4 hours of homework, study for a plethora of tests and quizzes, play sports, get involved in the community, eat food with nutritional value, and get an adequate amount of sleep, all in one day? That's not possible. The amount of stress homework causes kids is ridiculous, especially when they're already under so much pressure to get into a good college and do well in school, along with making friends and staying active. Homework is not necessary. Homework is pointless because kids do enough work in school and they don't need more. When they come home they want to chill out, hang out with friends, or do something. Kids are in school for 8 hours a day doing work, other than lunch and recess. Homework is not relevant for kids. I did a survey at school at resource, and a majority of kids say that homework should be banned in school because it is stressful and they procrastinate until the last second. There is no point in homework. It takes away from spending time with family. According to the text with research 'Homework Should be Banned,' "Schools has increased from 9 to 3 with 1 " hour of recess and lunch to 8:40 to 3:15 with only 30 minutes of lunch and recess." This quote shows that too much is just too much homework. Also, another reason is that, according to research, some of the smartest countries like Finland and Japan don"t have homework. We can be just as smart as them without homework. This shows that homework has no academic benefits for grades. As a student, I don't get home from school until 4:30 or 5:00 and I am doing homework sometimes until 8:30 almost every night. It is very stressful when you have seven classes a day and homework in every single class; it becomes very overwhelming. On top of that, I have to get up every morning at 5:30 am just to catch my buss at 6:40. Many mornings are very hard for me because of lack of sleep from the night before staying up doing homework and studying for two or three tests the next day. If they banned homework, test scores might improve because then students would have more time to study and be prepared than if we have five different subjects to do on top of studying for a test the next day. Homework should NOT be assigned in schools. It is just a waste of time and is just too much. One reason why homework should be banned is because homework is just too much. Schools have been increased so there is no point into giving homework. According to the text with research Homework Should be Banned, "Schools has increased from 9 to 3 with 1 " hour of recess and lunch to 8:40 to 3:15 with only 30 minutes of lunch and recess." This quote shows that too much is just too much. Students should not cry because of homework. School has been expanded. Have you ever wonder why lunch has been a little shorter than in 1st grade? To include to that too much homework is bad for you. As they say "Too much of something is not good for you". Second of all, homework just makes kids hate school even more. According to the text Homework should be eliminated, it says "Excessive or pointless homework turns children away from the joy of learning." Homework is the only word kid"s fear. This quote shows that homework should be fun; it should not be a torture. Every time in school, at the beginning of the year, you"ll hear "Have fun". Students cannot have fun when homework is torturing kids. Like Jia Ming said, it is no help. Learning needs to be a positive experience learn with a smile and you can walk an extra mile. Another reason why homework should be banned is because it is evil. According to the text Homework should be Eliminated, "When students have hours of homework, they don"t get enough sleep, sunlight, and exercise." This shows that too much homework can cause be things to happen. You don"t spend time with your family, your backpacks become really heavy, and this explains why kids are obese. Kids spend so much time doing there homework they don"t have time to even go to sleep. These things can cause a lot of pressure and stress in high school. Also another reason is that according to research some of the smartest country like Finland and Japan don"t have homework. We can be just as smart as or smarter than them without homework. This shows that homework have no academic achievements towards grades. This is why kids should not repeat not have homework. Finally homework is just too overwhelming. After school, you either have to do chores or go to after school activities. According to the article "Homework Should Be Banned", it says that "homework should vanish because sometimes when you have homework, you have other activities to do such as music lessons, or an after school job". Homework is just too big. When you have a lot of after school activities you end up doing it at the last second. To prove it I sometimes see many kids doing homework during breakfast hmm"Felix...Too much homework can cause stress and give kids a bad grade instead of helping. Inundating children with hours of homework each night is detrimental, the research suggests, while an hour or two per week usually doesn't impact test scores one way or the other. However, homework only bolsters students' academic performance during their last three years of grade school. "There is little benefit for most students until senior high school (grades 10-12)," Walker told Life's Little Mysteries. The same basic finding holds true across the globe, including in the U.S., according to Gerald LeTendre of Pennsylvania State University. He and his colleagues have found that teachers typically give take-home assignments that are unhelpful busy work. Assigning homework "appeared to be a remedial strategy (a consequence of not covering topics in class, exercises for students struggling, a way to supplement poor quality educational settings), and not an advancement strategy (work designed to accelerate, improve or get students to excel)," LeTendre wrote in an email. This type of remedial homework tends to produce marginally lower test scores compared with children who are not given the work. Even the helpful, advancing kind of assignments ought to be limited; Harris Cooper, a professor of education at Duke University, has recommended that students be given no more than 10 to 15 minutes of homework per night in second grade, with an increase of no more than 10 to 15 minutes in each successive year. Most homework's neutral or negative impact on students' academic performance implies there are better ways for them to spend their after school hours than completing worksheets. So, what should they be doing? According to LeTendre, learning to play a musical instrument orparticipating in clubs and sports all seem beneficial, but there's no one answer that applies to everyone. "These after-school activities have much more diffuse goals than single subject test scores," he wrote. "When I talk to parents " they want their kids to be well-rounded, creative, happy individuals " not just kids who ace the tests." That is why Homework is Futile!

positive: should there be homework there should be no homework so kids can go play with other people or do sports or talk with their family or spend time with their family

positive: Homework should be banned. Homework should be banned, as the learning environment is at the school, whereas the understanding and independent learning do not always occur at home. In some cases, students may struggle with their homework at home which can decrease their confidence levels and self-esteem. To add on, students do not always receive help at home (if any needed), which can also lead to struggles and stress for not only the student but their parents as well (homework has an effect on everyone). According to an article published in The Daily Telegraph on August 21, 2014, by Dr. Justin Coulson, a parenting researcher and author, stated that "Homework increases family conflict. And the more parents help with children’s homework, the more tension children experience. It also reduces time for other activities that provide balance and variety to a child’s life, such as sport, music, art, or other extra-curricular activities, or to relax and simply be children" (Coulson 2014). Hence, homework leads to problems for the parents or any family member - who often don’t know how to help the student, especially if they have a disadvantage with their educational background. At times, this problem with homework can cause problems with family interactions - affecting family bonding or other fun and relaxing activities. This leads to issues for the parents because they do not know what to do if their kid has homework, knowing it has detrimental effects on their health. Most of the time, homework conflicts with the students quality- family time which is very significant, especially when they only have the weekend together as a family to interact with one another. Moreover, as homework can offer responsibility habits and time management skills, it actually deprives students of their other life responsibilities and does not allow time for other activities. Due to homework, students have an imbalance in their life as the workload can be very overwhelming leading to difficulties in time management. Students are unable to manage school and out of school activities, which builds stress and anxiety, leaving them depressed and having to back down/ give up on other life roles/activities. Thus, not only does homework become overwhelming for them, but it also causes depression and a sense of failure from the workload they have to find commitment and time to doing. With homework, students may gain independence but they are becoming introverts. Hence it should be banned because, with the workload of homework, students are not able to express themselves or do things they enjoy doing which leads to alienation from society. This can have serious effects on their health. Even though homework can build learning opportunities, it does not let them go learn outside of school borders. In other words, homework keeps the students trapped to only learning what they were given/taught, so they do not become aware of other life lessons - responsibilities. In the article, "Is More Homework Putting Stress on Families," published on the Boston Globe by Ami Albernaz on August 31, 2015, states that the researcher and director of the New England Center for PediatricPsychology, Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman, found that "Homework takes time away from the free play and learning creative thinking. It increases stress and cuts down on time for building social skills" (Albernaz 2015).By receiving homework students are unable to do family responsibilities or play an active role in their society, by which it should be banned because it only keeps them intact to school. For instance, with the workload of homework in high school, teens do not get to experience/ live their teen years, like hanging out with friends at the movies, spending time with family before they leave for college, or doing extracurricular activities like playing sports or joining clubs. Homework should be banned because it deprives students of their social skills.Overall, even though homework can show signs of academic improvement and responsibility skills, it comes with detrimental effects on one's health, such as sleep deprivation, anxiety, increased levels of stress, depression, and eating disorders -physical and mental exhaustion. The amount of time spent on homework can also cause problems with family interaction or even lead to stress due to distractions in the household from people or technology. Furthermore, it should be banned because not only are students becoming independent but they are also closing themselves out from society and out of school activities which leads to alienation from society. Hence, with homework students are unable to develop social skills or fulfill their role in society, as it deprives them of family time. Therefore, banning homework would reduce the amount of stress in the student's life -benefiting their health- and give more opportunities for leisure time as they are able to participate in out of school activities which can help them enhance and develop their creative and interacting skills. As communication plays an important role in the lives of people, with the ban on homework, it will make a positive impact on the student's life as it opens the doors to developing social skills. Thus, making their view on life and school precious and worthwhile - students will want to get an education. Is more homework putting stress on families? - The Boston Globe. (2015, August 31). Retrieved March 30, 2018, from https://www.bostonglobe.com...Why kids are better off without homework - The Daily Telegraph. (2014, August 21). Retrieved March 30, 2018, fromhttps://www.dailytelegraph.com.au...

positive: Homework Should Not Be Required Thanks Danielle! Point 1 She claims that I provided no explanation of how the date is relevant. This is false. I claimed (and sourced the claim) that the education system has changed since those studies were published and also showed how inaccurate the studies were due to the fact that the percentage of people accounted for are 0.00000947368% of children! She drops this and merely claims that I fail to explain to explain how the date is relevant to the majority of her contentions. This is false as we can clearly see. She then makes a mathematical error in the dates. She claims that her sources are from 8 - 20 years ago. In fact that are from 8 - 26 years ago and I clearly sourced the claim that education and homework has significantly changed in the last 3 decades (see my source [2] from last round). She drops this. She falsely states that I must prove that homework assigned then vs now is different in quantity. This is, as I said, false. All I need to do is show that the systems of education have changed since then because that affects everything. If homework is different in regards to difficulty (for example), then higher quantity is not as necessary if it’s harder. If it’s easier then the opposite is applicable. So the fact that the system of education was different then is a valid reason to consider her sources (at the least, the ones from 20+ years ago); the differences are too large to compare to the present. The fact that my sources are outdated is irrelevant as my intentions and uses of them are different. If I was using those sources for statistical evidence or about the education system (which she does) then outdated sources are unacceptable. If I’m using them for more generic purposes (which I am) then the date is not applicable as it does not affect my point. She cites some Con homework information in my source. I am aware that there is information in my source that I disagree with. I was using that source to reinforce a point that I agreed with in the source. I agree with some of the claims made however I disagree with the sources impact analysis and conclusion of information. Debaters are not expected to agree with everything said in every one of their sources. They are expected to agree with the statement that they are using the source to reinforce. [Counterplan] 1A. This is false. I never said that only beneficial homework is allowed. This would be ideal but not once in my counterplan was the word beneficial mentioned. In fact I only mentioned the word beneficial once in my entire round and it was not in the context in which my opponent states (anybody can check my clicking Ctrl f and searching the word beneficial whilst viewing the debate). 1B. Again, this seems to be a misinterpretation of the counterplan. I never mentioned that it had to be beneficial, nor did I say that beneficial things have to be mandatory. Here is a remind of my counterplan: Homework should be given in moderate quantity (in short). This is about homework QUANTITY (ie. how much homework is given) NOT homework QUALITY (ie. how beneficial it is). I extend the counterplan. I’ll drop the claim that she quasi concedes in order to continue onwards with the debate. I’ll allow voters to consider whether or not this should be viewed as a concession or not. Point 2 The point that she fails to see regarding the burden on parents is that it is in extremely low quantity and I provided accurate statistics showing that this was clearly a minority. The statistics clearly show that the majority of parents are satisfied with homework. Whether I can or can’t cite a court case regarding homework quantity is irrelevant. That argument was only made as an alternative to the counterplan. Since she fails to refute the counterplan, it still stands and due to this her entire objection is negated given that all homework will be reduced to a more suitable quantity. She persists the raise the objection that family time is lost. If anything, family time is created. It is a psychological truism that teenagers (on balance) become more distant from parents and others during this period of their lives, this means that they spend less time with their parents and family [1]. Homework often involves parents helping the child and parents interacting with the child, as she correctly in his initial arguments. We can conclude that since teenagers are distant from their parents and given that parents often involves themselves with their children family time is created indirectly through homework. Different students of different abilities will not take identical amounts of time which is why, within the status quo, there are sets which are based on examination and classwork. Depending on their abilities they are each set different amounts of homework so that it will fulfill a set amount of time [3]. Whilst students are more than welcome to spend additional time on homework, schools give recommended amounts of time and usually make this clear [4]. [2] The fact that parents help with homework is a good thing. The fact that they do it is not. Since setting is based on classwork and examination parents doing homework has no negative effects. The homeworks purpose is to show a child’s understanding of a topic and reinforce their knowledge of the topic from their classwork. If their parents do it then it is the same as what she proposes (ie. no homework) because they are not receiving the benefits that homework has to offer. For the students that actually do their homework, they are benefiting from homework. This contention presents no mitigation to my burden since all it does is show that some people aren’t doing homework and some are. Some people benefiting from homework is better than nobody benefiting from it. She says I dropped his argument regarding different home environments however the counterplan negates this without me having to address it since there will be a lower homework quantity this means that these people will not be overwhelmed with homework - homework is not used as a primary source of determining sets. Schools also take into account financial states [5]. She helps explain the very purpose of homework itself. She points out that homework cannot be monitored in regards to approach and therefore students may not grasp or understand the material properly. If they do not understand it and get all of the questions wrong (for example), then it is the teacher’s duty to correct the student and explain the homework to them. The lesson is designed to teach all students generally. The homework shows specific pupils progress and understanding of that lesson which teachers can then monitor and intervene if necessary in order to help said student to understand it properly [6]. There is a reason as to why it is a condition of the job. It allows teachers to have an individual understanding of a student’s grasp of the lesson so that they can help students that are struggling [6]. Point 3 The reason I asked for sourcing is because I wanted evidence that homework actually digs into and reduces the time that people spend on certain things. Often people can still do their one activity and also do other activities in the same amount of time that they usually would do even without having the first activity, so I was merely asking for confirmational purposes. The CP negates this point since these sources reference to there being too much time being spent on homework due to excessive quantity. The fact that these activities are provided in schools is NOT irrelevant due to the fact that IF you are buying her claim that homework cuts into activity time, students will not be missing out on these activities since they will be doing it in school. She makes a an argument riddled with fallacies. She claims that homework cuts into time for anything. The fact of the matter is that schools cuts into people’s time, work cuts into people’s time, sleep cuts into people’s time, etc. Should people stop going to school, work and stop sleeping in order to do activities? The answer that she will most likely give is no. So why is homework an exception? People still manage to have part time jobs within the status quo, in the UK homework is compulsory and there are a record number of students in part time jobs at the moment [7]. This completely negates my opponent’s claims of a supposed negative correlation. She misunderstands the counterplan. He says that I cannot ensure that less homework will be given by specific teachers. The counterplan is a proposed change in the status quo, thus making it a law for teachers to only be allowed to set a limited amount of homework. Point 4 1 - Homework counts for nothing and only is there to show a student’s understanding of a lesson. So whilst parents cheating is discouraged, it still has no negative benefits that give my opponent’s proposed changes any advantage over mine. 2 - There is no evidence presented in support of this claim. 3 - Whilst cheating can be the case and the same objection to 4 - 1 is applicable here. Her statistics are unreliable. They are posted on a forum site and a bias one too. The site stophomework.com. The website makes little attempt to give credibility to these statistics and the only effort made is where they provide 3 fake links that lead to nonexistent / fake pages. [Conclusion] She provides her sources in an external link which shows a poor demonstration of conduct. She set a character limit and this limit was violated. I have abided by the rules set and not attempted to bypass them in the way that she does. I ask that voters vote on the conduct point as this gave her additional space for rebuttals and gave me limited space for counter rebuttals. More generally, the decision is simple. A vote for the Con is clear at this point in the debate Sources [1] http://bit.ly... [2] http://bbc.in... [3] http://bit.ly... [4] http://bit.ly... [5] http://bit.ly... [6] http://bit.ly... [7] http://dailym.ai...

positive: Homework Should Not Be Required Thanks Danielle! This debate has definitely been a fun one to participate in. [Debate Summary] Clarification It is evident that my opponent completely misunderstands what a counterplan is. My counterplan (ie. proposed changes to the status quo which gives me a fraction of the BOP) was in regards to quantity because, obviously, I can feasibly make sure that all homework is beneficial and of a good quality - that does NOT mean that I can’t talk about homework quality within the status quo and in the past because my counterplan is not a list of my advocacies (as my opponent seems to believe). Ergo, there is no contradiction, I hope it is now clear to my opponent and to voters of what a counterplan is and how it is different to my advocacies and rebuttals. So, just to clarify, my counterplan states that quantity is too high so it will be reduced. My rebuttal to my opponent’s source is that it addresses an older version of the education system with different qualities of homework. These statements are not contradictory and can coexist without any contradictions. Nobody should be confused by this. I extend those arguments. Point 1 The outcome of this contention is simple. My opponent uses incredibly unreliable data that fails to account for 99.99999163742% of the children in the world (children in poverty and in poor conditions are still children and should be [and are] included in this figure). Virtually all of my opponent’s sources here deal with large quantities of homework which is something that I’m specifically advocating the removal of from the status quo (as is made evident in my counterplan). My opponent has attempted to show that my sources do not account for as many people as hers however my sources are not being used in the same way that hers are. She is using her sources to prove that homework should be abolished using statistical data. I was using mine for general claims that bare the same weight regardless of the amount of people involved since I did not use these for statistic related claims. She also appears to believe that not every beneficial thing must be mandatory. I have accepted this however my opponent seems to believe that this is as far as her burden requires her to achieve. This is objectively false. There are some things that are beneficial and should be mandatory (my opponent concedes this). Therefore, my opponent’s burden entails them in proving that whilst homework can be beneficial it should not be mandatory. My concession of beneficial things not having to be mandatory does not mean that my opponent’s burden is advanced in any way. Counterplan 1A. My opponent once again misunderstands what a counterplan is. My opponent lies about me saying that my counterplan involves only beneficial homework being implemented. She tries to get out of this precarious situation she’s been put in by saying that by saying this it means that I advocate all homework - even non beneficial homework. This is simply not true. A counterplan is a proposed change to the status quo on the the negative case’s behalf. I cannot make a beneficial related change to the status quo because as my opponent pointed out earlier on in this debate, that simply isn’t feasible. This doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t prefer there to be only beneficial homework, I would. Though this is virtually impossible so I am focussing my counterplan elsewhere. 1B. My opponent makes an identical misinterpretation to what she says in response to point 1A. Just because I’m not making a proposed change on the status quo to make all homework beneficial, doesn’t mean that I do not advocate this - I merely find this proposed changed to be unfeasible and unrealistic. Please extend my counterplan as my opponent pretty much drops it all and instead resorts to refuting nonexistent argument regarding benefits and then making strange and ultimately false complaints about me advocating homework that isn’t beneficial. Point 2 In this contention I proved that the burden on parents is of an extremely low percentage. The majority are clearly content with the status quo. Regardless, even if this objection fails you still ought to presume Con as the counterplan minimizes homework quantity for those that receive too much homework, therefore the burden on parents is virtually non existent. Either way, you ought to consider this point in my favor. She also raised the objection of family time being lost which was also refuted by the fact that I used psychological evidence in order to refute this point and show that in reality family time is created as opposed to being lost. I also showed that students are set based on abilities and are given the amount of homework that should be sufficient in correlation with their ability so that everybody spends the same amount of time on homework (though not necessarily doing the same amount of homework or the same difficulty level in homework). Furthermore, I managed to show that parents doing homework is neither good nor bad. Though no benefits at all is worse. Sets and teaching opinion on students is formulated based on class work and examination (which I proved via citation in the previous round). Therefore, whilst this does happen, all this means is that some students won’t gain anything from homework and some will. I refuted the objection in regards to resources due to the fact that schools take the student’s parents/carers financial state into consideration. My opponent blatantly lies when she says: “Con dropped that even when good HW is assigned, it is the student's approach that is critical. ” This is massively untrue. I will quote my response from R3: “She helps explain the very purpose of homework itself. She points out that homework cannot be monitored in regards to approach and therefore students may not grasp or understand the material properly. If they do not understand it and get all of the questions wrong (for example), then it is the teacher’s duty to correct the student and explain the homework to them. The lesson is designed to teach all students generally. The homework shows specific pupils progress and understanding of that lesson which teachers can then monitor and intervene if necessary in order to help said student to understand it properly”. My opponent’s claim that I dropped this is ludicrous. Point 3 My opponent claims that homework cuts time into things and she also claim that it provides a second shift of work for children. This is automatically negated by the counterplan. Additionally, even if my counterplan was not enacted this contention would still work in my favor since after school activities exist and I presented a large statistic showing that people have plenty of time to do homework alongside activities and I demonstrated that there are a record breaking amount of people in part time jobs in the UK which my opponent drops. Point 4 I have shown that homework does not count towards sets for children. In fact class work and examination are used only. The only claims that my opponent has been able to muster are bare assertions that homework is often graded (which is irrelevant since grading homework is not the same as taking it into consideration when assessing that student’s ability - which is what general classwork and examinations are for). I concede that cheating happens however my opponent’s website regarding cheating statistics is unreliable (and my opponent drops this argument). We can conclude that since homework does not count for anything important, cheating has no effects (neither positive or negative). Whereas the students that opt in to do their homework properly receive the benefits from homework which my opponent concedes when she says that just because homework is beneficial, doesn’t mean that it should be mandatory. Once again, my opponent lies and states that I dropped the effects of HW’s drill and kill methodology. This is false. Again, I will have to quote my response which my opponent supposedly claims is nonexistent when she says that I dropped it: “Again, the review my opponent cites in an attempt to prove that homework results in the loss of sleep, self esteem and childhood is refuted by the counterplan as it once again references to excessive homework and homework taking up valuable time from children. ” The outcome of this debate is incredibly clear. The resolution is negated.

positive: Part 2 Homework should be banned I am going to say this again. Even though that some adults (including my parents) think that homework is needed for more practice and college preparation, I think that homework should be banned becausechildren can spendmore timewith family, be less stressed out, and have more time to explore other interests. I see children cry, I see children complain, I see parents and/or teachers yell, and I see everyone cranky, tired, upset, grumpy, and all those words that means unhappy. What causes this negativity you ask? The answer is HOMEWORK!!! Children can spend more time with family if they did not have homework at night. For example, The family could go places, ride bikes, and explore nature. “Banning homework effectively allows children to spend whatever little time they have before bed talking with their parents about their day in school and other topics.” (http://greengarageblog.org...) When it comes to family vacation time, me and my family feel a lot closer together. If I have a ton of homework, I would spend less time bonding with my family. Homework causes stress because sometimes it takes you a long time to finish. Homework also causes lack of sleep meaning that you will stay up late at night working on homework and getting less sleep. Then the next day you can be tired and grumpy and you fall asleep in class. You could get in trouble by your teacher if you fall asleep in class. You can also be too tired to participate in school activities and class then you may get very bad grades. “Homework causes stress in many students. Homework takes time, and it keeps students up late at night getting the work done. The loss of sleep makes it hard to concentrate during class because students are so tired. I once stayed up until midnight and wound up very tired when morning arrived. It was hard to focus on my lessons. As a student, I think sleep is more important than doing homework. Students study during the day at schools and academies, so there is no reason that we have to get homework. Many schools have a one-hour rule, but with multiple classes and each teacher assigning one hour of homework, you end up with hours of work to do at home. Students in advanced levels get even more work than the students in basic classes.” (http://www.debate.org...) If you have too much homework you do not have enough time for hobbies or other interests like, playing sports or art classes. Having other interests are pretty important. Why? Because, if you have an interest, like pottery for example, and you want to have that job when you grow up, you can get an after school class there and when you grow up, you got the job. “Most students hate homework with a passion and agree it should be banned. Yet, there are ethical elements making people think twice about giving students assignments to complete at home. Even from a professional view there are reasons why banning homework would make sense. Parents, students, and educators may agree to an extent that such assignments may not be as effective. Why so? There are school districts that already have a ban and claim things have gotten easier.” (https://www.tcnjstudentactivities.com...) Even many teachers believe that homework should be banned because it&risqué;s a positive thing. Just think about it. If your child has 3 or 6 homework assignments, then your child not only would they not get to spend time with their families, but will not have time to be a kid. Think about how homework could affect your child in the future when they grow up. Some people think that homework is necessary because children need more practice and it prepares them for college. Part of the reason from my parent&risqué;s point of view of why homework should not be banned is because parents (including my parents) need to know what is going on in the classroom. Parents feel like they need to be more involved in their child&risqué;s education. To other parents who want their children to have homework every day, homework is a way that teachers, parents, and students to communicate. Teachers need to be more accountability in the classroom. Not only does homework could improve your child&risqué;s handwriting and reading skills, but it is more of a bonding experience. Homework gives you extra practice until your child is becoming confident. But, there are some parents and/or children around the world in different countries and different races who are taking all or most of the fun, positive things about homework and turning it into an actual, physical, negative, and realistic problem which can seriously cause more conflict with one family member to another and becomes less of a bonding experience. If this conflict goes on any longer, parents and children around the world not only will children stay up all night working on homework, but will also become enemies when it comes to homework. Even though that some adults (including my parents) think that homework is needed for more practice and college preparation, I think that homework must be banned becausechildren should spend more timewith family, be less stressed out, and have more time to explore other interests. Plus, so that children can get their full 8 hours of sleep with no worries. I also am not asking to kill homework. I am asking homework to retire. Because, my dream is for teachers to really help their students without having or assigning homework. Would that be better? So, please. Help your child's education and prove the world that we don't need homework. I am a 15 year old, I am a freshman, and I ask you. Please,, ban homework for the common good. I am a 15 year old and I speak for children, parents, and teachers around the world. Work Cited Http://greengarageblog.org.... "5 Homework Should Be Banned Pros And Cons." Green Garage. Nap., 08 July 2015. Web. 06 Jan. 2017. Should Homework Be Banned?" Debate.org. Nap., not. Web. 06 Jan. 2017. TCNJ Student Activities." Helpful Homework Writing Tricks For Witty Students. Nap., not. Web. 06 Jan. 2017. So, sorry, dude. But, just because I cannot kill homework, does not mean that there are other things to do with your education besides homework. I maybe a kid, but I have rights to say that we do not need homework. So, say what you want to say about this argument, but it does not change the fact that homework is tearing my family apart and it has to stop.

positive: This House Believes That Homework is Futile in Today's Soceity To say that I have sited no evidence to back up my argument, I have left sources. My debate is reliable, and also far better than the argument that you are making! Now back to the main cause - Homework! Time is valuable. We all need some time to ourselves. School already takes up a lot of time and it is necessary to have time which does not involve concentrating on learning. Education is not the only important activity in everyone"s day; physical activity, play, and time with family are just as important as all teach life skills just in different ways. The internet makes it possible to be learning at home, there are even many computer games that help with learning. Homework clashes with these other activities. It can damage family relationships as it means parents have to try and make their children do their homework. Homework does not only take up time doing the homework at home but also takes up time in class. First there is the time that the teacher takes when explaining the task. Then more time is taken going through the homework when it is done and marked. This time could be better spent engaging with the class to find out what they do and don"t understand. The answer to this is to have more time in class rather than boring homework. We are not the only ones who take a lot of time on homework, our teachers do as well. The teacher needs to design the homework, explain it, mark each piece individually, and tell everyone what they got right and wrong. If all this is not done then the homework loses its value as we need to be told individually what our mistakes are to be able to learn from homework. Teachers could as easily use the classwork to find out who knows what they are doing and who are making mistakes and it would save them time. Also when you mentioned, "My partner also completely conceded and dropped the preparation advantage where if home work prepares people for the workforce..." I will reiterate that it doesn't prepare us for adult life. Your life in school prepared you in just the wrong way for your life at work. In early school, your classes are chosen for you, the class material is outlined by the government (of all things). In later schools, you have some say in which classes you take, and what sports or arts you"re involved in. Then in college, a world a freedom of choice! You can pick all of your classes, pick your major, even invent a major! Study abroad, switch from economics to veterinary science just by filling out a form, play sports, start clubs, join a fraternity, take summer and winter classes. You"re in charge of everything! Then you get a job, and suddenly, all of that freedom is gone. At work, you do what you are told to do, on someone else's schedule, to someone else"s standards, regardless of whether you think it"s the right thing in the right way. You have just fallen from the pinnacle of being in control to the depths of being controlled. One of the biggest things that causes stress (as a student) is homework. One of the main reasons is, as a student, I don"t think for a second that I actually benefit from homework. To me, it"s just something that causes unnecessary stress and in the end doesn"t actually do much for you. Sure, some practice of graphing concepts is good, but why couldn"t we just do board work in class? I think that we, as students, should not have homework for a number of reasons. Some people say that homework is good. Some people say that homework is bad. Some just don"t care (not many). The people that say it is good usually argue that, well, as the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Like I said, why not do board work in school instead of sending work home? The dictionary definition of "school" is: "an institution where instruction is given, especially to persons under college age: The children are at school." In this case, why not just do a little practice to let the teachers make sure that the student understands the concept, and once they do, why do teachers bother to give them 10-20 more problems to do at home? Besides, from what I understand about teachers, they (maybe you are a teacher as well, you can possibly relate to this) hate grading homework and find it just as annoying as we do. Another reason we shouldn"t have homework: it causes unnecessary stress. If what I said in the above paragraph is true, which it is, then homework is pointless. If there is no point to homework, then why assign it? All it does is cause stress that isn"t needed. Why would you do that? I have (as a student) had quite a lot of times where I have been up a lot longer than usual doing homework, sometimes make-up from missed school, sometimes because I simply forgot that we had homework in a particular subject and therefore didn"t do it. I then had to make it up the next night, and got marked down for it. Humans are forgetful. That means I got marked down because of human nature. Some people say that homework teaches students self-discipline and responsibility; I know from experience that that is NOT true. I also found NO evidence for that while I was researching. Others say that it creates a link between school and family. OK, so other than intruding on time that could be spent with family how does it do that? Still, some say that it helps kids to like learning. Again, I know from experience that this is NOT TRUE! If anything, it does the exact opposite of that. We all know it: Everyone hates homework. If we get too much homework it can take the enjoyment out of learning. No matter how engaging the teacher is in class homework will almost certainly be stressful, boring and tiring. It is simply much harder to make homework engaging and interesting as it is often done on our own. We know that there is no direct link between how much homework is set and grades. Studies done on this come to different conclusions so teachers should only set homework when they are sure it is needed. When we only get homework occasionally we will consider that piece more important and a better use of time. "stress is good in adequete quantities." - spelling mistake there partner (should be adequate). I agree in adequate quantities - however, in school, teacher push this to the limit and I certainly do not think 4-5 hours in an adequate stress level for a 15 year old boy. I rest my case!

positive: Homework Should Not Be Required Thanks!Point 1Con claims that my research is outdated, however fails to explain how the date is relevant to the majority of my contentions. In fact data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) provides a good look at trends in homework (HW) for the past three decades, and concludes that today's students have had about the same amount of HW over the last 30 years [1]. This means all of my studies are relevant. I presented studies that collected data from more than 10,000 students nationwide between 1990 and 2002 [2]. The TIMSS report is from 2007 and covers 59 different countries [3]. Is research from the last 8-20 years really that off base? Con would have to prove that the amount of homework assigned then vs. now is drastic enough to make a difference, but he won't be able to.Con states that my research only includes a small portion of the population, and therefore this research is not valid. However this negates the very own research he presents. First, almost all of the "pro homework" studies cited by the CPE is research from the 1950s to 1990s, making Con's claim about my allegedly outdated research null and void. Second, Con does not prove that those studies account for more of the population than the ones I have presented. If he cannot, then we have no reason to believe that the pro-HW studies are any more valid. Con's very own source: "Information from international assessments shows little relationship between the amount of homework students do and test scores.""Kohn says... there is no conclusive evidence that homework provides any benefits—either academic or nonacademic—to students." "Homework also has potentially negative associations, one involving students' economic status.""Teachers do not give students more help if they have trouble with homework.""Lower-achieving students may take more time than higher-achieving students to finish assignments" [3]. Indeed it would appear there is conflicting information, and there are some cases where homework could be beneficial. [ Re: Counterplan ]1A. Even if we accept HW can sometimes be beneficial, Con is only saying that *beneficial* homework be required - not all homework. Yet he cannot ensure the HW assigned will, in fact, be beneficial. 1B. Just because something is beneficial does not mean it ought to be required. Exercise, a healthy diet and a good amount of sleep are all beneficial to one's health and even education, as those factors affect one's academic performance [4, 5]. Schools can encourage these things in their facility, however in the home they rely on parents to do what's best for their children. As I mentioned in the last round, parents should determine or influence the way their kids learn or reinforce information in the home. If they want their kid to do homework, they can assign it or seek additional resources. In his Point 4 rebuttal, Con claims that HW is simply defined as “schoolwork that a pupil is required to do at home" and my suggestion that it can sometimes be beneficial works as a concession. It does not. First, homework is uniform and I specifically advocated an assortment of assignments TBD by teachers, students and parents - not uniform HW. Second, Con must prove that homework ought to be required - that is mandated by the school/state. Again just because something is beneficial does not mean it should be required. Homework can be suggested, encouraged or even assigned, but not necessarily mandatory.Point 2My opponent claims that he "doesn't understand" how the backlash from parents over homework proves that homework is a burden on parents. It's self-evident. Parents complaining about the burden (to the point of going to court) proves it is in fact a burden. He then goes on to say that some parents don't mind homework, and claims he can cite court cases where parents have gone to court asking for homework and won. I would like my opponent to prove that he can cite court cases where parents have asked for more homework and won. He won't be able to, but even if he did, all this proves is that the parents who want homework should be able to give their kids homework, whereas those who don't shouldn't have to. Many parents secure tutors or prep classes for subjects and tests their kids need help with. This can replace homework for the parents who believe it is helpful, without placing an undue burden on teachers and other classmates/parents who feel otherwise. Con argues that by reducing HW time, the problems of HW won't exist. But while they might be less significant, they would still exist. Even 1 hour of HW per night interferes with 1 hour of family or recreational time. Furthermore, Con cannot prove that all students spend the same amount of time on homework, and in fact this was one of my contentions in the last round that Con dropped. We don't assign slower students longer school days, but we assign them longer homework days. Kids who struggle with their HW would spend a lot longer on their tasks than those who do not, meaning required HW is still problematic.Con requests sources proving that parents do homework: A survey from 2008 shows that 43% of parents have done their kid's homework [6]. It's nearly 80% of black and Hispanic parents who do their kid's HW one day per week, and more than 40% of them do it THREE or more times a week out of likely four assigned HW days [7]. It is around 36% for white students. This cheating does not foster independence, responsibility or honesty, nor does it provide any of the alleged benefits of homework to these students. My opponent has dropped my contention that each child has a different home environment. Whereas some parents have the time and resources to dedicate to homework monitoring and assistance, other parents do not have the opportunity to be as involved. Thus a shoddy HW response might reflect poorly on the child unfairly. Many students (especially in low-income areas) specifically have a hard time completing their assignments. They cannot focus in their environments [8] which Con's own CPE source reiterates. Even when good HW is assigned, it is the student's approach that is critical. However teachers cannot monitor or control how students approach their HW. My opponent claims that my research on the utility of homework is outdated (I've argued that his is outdated) and yet I also don't believe his citations account for today's HW distractions. Research shows that students today are not grasping as much of the homework material even when they complete it, because they are distracted by social media and don't retain the information [8].Con argues it doesn't matter that teachers waste time grading homework because they know it is a condition of the job. That's fallacious circular reasoning. Just because something is a condition doesn't mean it ought to be a condition, which is exactly what I'm arguing (that it shouldn't be). I explained that teachers can use the time they spend grading homework to improve their own education (research, school or reading) or plan new and innovative lessons that provide more learning utility than homework. Point 3Con states that I have made the "unsourced" claim that by spending time on homework, kids are missing out on time spent on other things. Quite frankly it's ridiculous to ask for a citation on this self-evident fact. If someone spends time on X, they cannot spend time on Y. I'm not sure how that can be any more clear, but hopefully these sources will satiate Con's request [9, 10]. Here is another source claiming homework inhibits rest [11]. My opponent does not deny the utility of things like athletics, the arts, etc. but rather says they are provided in school (irrelevant) and that students already participate in after-school activities. But regardless of the amount of homework assigned, the time spent on HW interferes with other things whether it is rest, relaxation or other hobbies. Further, consider the fact that many older students work (or want to work) but can't as they must complete their "second shift" of homework after school. Most adults are not forced to complete work at home after their work day. Even if they were, adults have the option of getting a different job. Con advocates less HW but cannot ensure that less HW (and meaningful work) will actually be provided by the teachers that students cannot opt out of. Point 4Con writes, "Voters should NOT buy my opponent’s claim that it encourages cheating and creates a gap between the intelligent and academically struggling because this is once again bare assertion on my opponent’s behalf." 1 - Parents often do their kids homework (which is cheating).2 - Students cheat because they fear penalty of not completing their assignments from teachers and parents.3 - Grades, rather than education, have become the major focus of many students [12]. Computers can make cheating easier than ever before, and kids have unmonitored (and often unlimited) access to computers in the home. Students can download term papers from the world wide web. They can also take pictures of math calculations that not only provide the answer, but how they got the answer so the student is able to regurgitate it without any effort or learning on their part. Studies show cheating is more common than ever before [13, 14] which is obviously most problematic in the home. Research shows the lowest amount of students admitting to cheating on written assignments is 84 percent, and some data shows it as high as 95 percent [15]. ConclusionCon's point that homework can sometimes kinda sorta maybe be beneficial to some people does not mean it should be mandatory for all. Outside influences have too great an impact on the alleged benefits of HW. Students, parents and teachers can ASSIGN homework, encourage it, grade it but not REQUIRE it given all of the problematic variables. This allows for HW's benefits but also accounts for its problems.SOURCES: http://www.debate.org...

positive: Homework Second time writing this since my computer decided to exit me out of the Internet. Yes, there have been different conclusions, but the different conclusions show that homework is not a very secure thing to hold on to for academic success. The different conclusions show that homework is lacking and pretty much useless. Even if it did work some of the time, that time that it didn't work would be wasted time for teacher and student.Homework does create unneeded stress. For those kids who take a long time because of misunderstanding, it is unfair to them. They do not understand it so they go home, attempt it, come back to school, get a bad grade, and then with too many bad grades, their report card grade will surely be low. Homework drags a kid's grade down. Teachers shouldn't give out things to take home without them before they are sure everyone understands the subject. That way the teachers are setting their students up for success instead of failure.Those kids who don't have responsible parents can't help it. They weren't able to choose their parents before time. They shouldn't have to suffer because of their parent's mistakes and irresponsibility. Then, we'll just have more and more generations of poorer and poorer people. Their grade will suffer because of the parents and lack of supplies which isn't fair.Teachers came into the teaching profession knowing about their pay and all the work it would take. If they don't like it, get another profession. They walked into the profession knowing about the time and work they would have to put into it, so they should not have a problem with it. It's the job they chose so they have no reason to complain about it. http://stophomework.com...As for the South Korea point, here's a website that shows the comparison between different countries. Look at the SECOND point and you'll see. I would just like to point out though that U.S. families are generally more relaxed about their kids' grades and so on. In Asia, there is a huge push and they are taught that they MUST get As and they are taught competition because only THE BEST will get into college. That's not the case in America.

positive: should there be homework I respectfully disagree with you zeke.You can learn responsibility by doing chores and cleaning your room and not losing stuff. Homework can take a lot of time away from family.

negative: Homework is essential or burden for students. I think homework is essential.

negative: The Drinking Age Should Be Lowered I believe the drinking age should be lowered because people already drink at a young age so just make it legal. It will take the thrill out of breaking the law. So they wont want to disobey because they are not. The reason they do it is because they think it's fun and because they like disrespecting authority.

negative: School Year Extension I am not saying that with more days of school kids will have the same knowledge, I am not saying that the kids will be on the same page I am saying that teachers will be able to teach the students with that extra time. That is irrefutable evidence because with more time that automatically means for teaching time, or will I need to provide more evidence for that as well because that is what you are saying. Everything needs evidence even when most of this information is common knowledge. Let's take this analogy, I am running one mile. I get 5 minutes to do it. How many people can run a mile in 5 minutes? I would have to say the physically fit students and adults only. If you aren't physically fit you will be struggling to get there, just like in school. If you were to have 15 or 30 minutes this will be an easy task. If you have more time to cover parts you just don't get, for instance me at math, I am not terrible but I can do bad but if I had extra time I could easily get these subjects down and move on to the next section with ease. Now don't take this as, HE IS ONLY WANTING EXTRA TIME FOR HIMSELF! That is not true. I know several students just in my class who are the smartest and average students who would like extra time in school to get those tough subjects down. And I want you to tell me what teacher, whose job it is to get these students ready for life, who wants a student to now know something. Even if it is evil history such as the racism of the 1800's and 1900's or even the dreadful holocaust which can make people sick to their stomachs at the facts and pictures that may go along with it. It is a major part of history and if a teacher has to graze over any subject is bad. You say students learn their favorite subjects on their own time? This is true like I knew a lot about ancient history such as mythology and ancient Greece but I learned more than I even knew about them both this year in school than my entire 3-5 years of studying it. I even made new questions about them as well so even though a student may want to learn about something that isn't in the school program for that year they can learn more about them with the help of maybe 15+ students in a class who already know about that subject and will help you narrow down your research by helping you learn something you want. The metaphor 2 heads is better than 1 is right in this case and with 15+ heads all pooling in on 1 subject a few of them may know by heart is very good. It is good to do at home research but having the help of an adult who may have gone through the even such as the Vietnam War would be better than just reading up on it. Now not all teachers are war veterans but in case they are that can be a help. All right you seem to not be getting my point on DROPPING OUT. As we all should know without a HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA you can't go to college. It is a simple fact! I already know you can take college courses in high school. I know if you drop out you can get a GED but in Russia at age 16 you can study for a university and go to learn trade skills. In America you need 4 English courses, 2 science and 3 maths. If this checks out you need at least 4 years of High School to get 4 English courses. You are saying I am forcing my ways on this debate with saying sports camps are useless but isn't it you who said they should learn on their own time! It is called Physical Education so learning sports is just like learning Math. The can get together with their friends and play baseball, basketball, football, ect. This is much easier than getting together and learn a new language. This is again a fact. I can learn basketball and how to shoot in a day than learn how to speak for 5 minutes with someone in France and sound smart or at least mediocre for them. We can afford this and if you are calling this a recession well you are wrong. The recession was over early last year. We just thought it was still on because we were still "low". We were considered growing over the last 3 years in 2010 and growing higher than before. The only thing that could have been considered a recession would be the house market. Now I will give more reasons why we can afford this. Again the main reason about how we spend almost all of our money, not just government, TAX PAYER money of our military. I don't know about you but how would you like to have 27 percent of our tax payer money on this miltary, 21 percent on our health(which is good), but a measly 5 percent on our Education. We have 9 percent on Military debt for crying out loud. Our military debt is more important than our EDUCATION. How is that reflecting out ways of life! Not blaming Obama on this but it is his budget that is doing this. He increased our education budget by 7.5 percent. YAH, this is amazing. Sure, it is only 3.5 billion dollars. We are still spending 708 billion on military. Now here is something not military related. Our prisons are secure right. I wonder why? In California they spend 15.7 billion on their prisons. Lets see their Education spending. 15.3 billion. Yeah, this is again showing our great support for our education! Why are we doing this too our country! You say I haven't been proving while longer school years are better but I have. I have said this in almost every round. Longer school years are better for teachers and student. They help them learn more. If we learn more we are better suited for life. I will give you a video about how stupid an American woman is. She was on a game show and she knew it. She had multiple choice answers and she actually completed High School and she got this question wrong, what animal shoots ink when threatened. She said owl and octopus was the correct answer. I am giving multiple videos so we know it isn't a one time incident. The last one truly shows how stupid some people are. I agree standardized tests don't show the overall I.Q. of a person because they don't ask you how to fix a car or how to make a plane but they do see how smart you are in major subjects that are used in almost every field of work, especially Math and English. If someone doesn't know Math or English they aren't making it far in life. I know that for a fact. You are saying that again we can't pay for it, and I said it was Obama who put the little 7.5 percent in the Education budget but it is he who wants to extend the school year and says it is money well spent. If the president wants it done that is a good reason. I mean people voted for him so they must like his ideas right? I guess so because he is still a good candidate for 2012. It is just that people hate him for what the Bush Administration did to put us in the hole we were in. Now for free time, unless the students truly try to learn during the summer they will retain all their knowledge which is what maybe 10 or a little more of the students actually do. In Sylvan commercials students lose too much during the summer. I have little room left so this is it. If summer vacation was a month or two shorter kids would be able to do better on No Child Left Behind and all Standardized tests since they will REMEMBER ALMOST EVERYTHING. That is my case in a nutshell. With less vacation time in the summer will equal more time to retain the knowledge so that is the best point in this entire round for me. It is a proven fact as shown in other nations and they have out of school programs for this so it must be true. I hope you will all see reason and vote for education. http://www.thedailybeast.com... http://www.wsws.org... http://education-portal.com... http://www.economist.com... http://www.pactinc.org... http://www.youtube.com... http://www.youtube.com... http://www.youtube.com...

negative: Education should be a privilege, not a right 1. You keep trying to trivialize my point of view. I'm not saying that students who get a detention should be expelled. I'm saying students that prove year after year that they want no part of being in school, who try to ensure that the entire class gets as little done as possible, who make it that much harder for students to get into college because valuable class time was wasted and now the class doesn't know as much as it should. I'm talking about a societal change... If it came down to the realization that somebody could actually not have the opportunity to receive and education, and education would be highly encouraged and people would understand. You bring up 16 being the drop out age because that's when people understand repercussions. At 16, don't you think most people understand that, say, drinking has some negative effects? Why is the legal drinking age 21? And smoking. Sophomores in high school understand that smoking is bad, yet the smoking age is 18. 2. Then for these parents who torture/neglect their children, aren't these children being taught that the abuse is okay? Why should we continue the cycle? What do you believe the grades look like of children who suffer abuse? If they believe their life is horrible, the thought of not having school as a safe haven would allow them to realize that they really need to kick it in gear and get something done. There's a difference between not making the grade because you choose not to try, and because you don't understand. Those who don't do as well, but are there after school trying to understand, who ask questions in class, who work extremely hard at trying to "get it", who make an effort... they're not being targeted, they wouldn't feel any repercussions. It's those who try to drag a class down that my idea tries to help. Luckily, I've never been in a position where abuse was ever something I had to worry about. However, there are some smart people in this world, somebody's bound to notice. There are ways to anonymously tell SRS that you're being abused, and SRS will ensure that a child won't be submitted to more abuse because paperwork got filed. I can only imagine what that would be like, and I realize it's easy for me to say, but I would be doing whatever it took to get out of that situation. Being forced into more abuse is the exact reason they wouldn't be kicked out of school. They would realize that "maybe life at school isn't much fun, but it's so much worse at home. I want to stay in school as long as possible!" Child labor laws exist so that children don't have to get jobs, actually can't get jobs, until about 14 or 15. And should a child die from lack of food or excessive beating, the blood is on their parents hands, and that's not something an abusive parent wants to go through. Situations of child abuse happen today, and they'll continue to happen as long as this apathy is allowed to continue. 3. If a parent couldn't be there or was going to be abusive and neglectful of their child, it seems to me like they shouldn't have had a child. Once again, the system has taught parents that a school will take care of their problems. School's being a second set of parents is a bad thing because it limits what can get done. If we have to spend half an hour explaining to Johnny why it's wrong to hit people instead of learning our colors, then next year we don't know our colors, so instead of learning to read, we learn our colors. You can see how big this gap gets at the end of 13 years of schooling. Exactly, "it is sad that some parents refuse to feed their children". Parents need to assume some responsibility and actually take an interest in their child. If the students feel like the school cares about them, why don't they take an interest in it? Why don't they latch onto it as their one true friend? No I don't want these children to starve and become criminals; I want them to take an interest in their future and be the best they can be, to get involved and completely unleash their potential. It's not too hard to see when somebody is actually making an effort or not. Plus, school counselors have enormous amounts of information pertaining to students. Simply starting up a conversation with someone, and continuing that conversation, is enough to figure out what someone's about and why they are the person they are. 1) 16 is either a sophomore or a junior depending on birthday. I'd argue (and am arguing) that the realization happens sooner, and would happen even sooner if people realized that an education didn't have to wait on them. When you say they will do a lot of crime if we don't educate them, why does it matter if they don't learn anything up until 5th grade, or don't learn anything up until 10th grade? To the person refusing education, why does it matter when they stop attending if they aren't going to pull anything out of school anyway? 2) And if they don't think they need an education, how are they going to get one by simply going to school? They have to be active and participate. They have to do their homework. They have to focus, and study, and appreciate it. How is simply showing up going to do anything for them? It's not! And that's why they choose to do absolutely nothing and slow the whole class down. Trying "really hard to give it to them" is proving futile, something needs to change. Forcing them into the current? They made a conscience decision to still refuse their education... that sounds like they made a choice to me. Rules in which: * Abused children embrace school and make a better life for themselves * Children understand the value of an education sooner * Should someone be kicked out and realize their errors, they could still get a high-school equivalency diploma. I'm not being selfish... how is promoting the value of an education being selfish? It's like teenagers don't recognize the value of a dollar until they start working, some students, i don't think, understand the value of an education. Because it's always going to be there for them (under the current system) 4) If it's true that children are learning about the importance of a good education, why do we continue to have problems? You argue that my idea makes things more difficult, and widens the gap between the rich and poor. From a short term perspective, things might, key word might, get a little rough, but from a long term perspective, everything will work out and the U.S. will be even better. It doesn't widen the gap between rich and poor, it raises the standard of living across the whole nation. When people realize that an education is something to be treasured, they'll embrace it and excel through school. They'll become intelligent, rational people who will go to college and get good paying jobs. Jobs that they can use to provide a better lifestyle for the next generation, which will do the same in turn. I. It's not game over. High school equivalency would still exist. All that happens is students are allowed to go deeper and further while in school than ever before I wouldn't consider it luck, but having connections would help that process along. All that had to happen was somebody had to have a good idea and run with it. I'm not taking opportunities away from anyone unless they demonstrate that they don't want they opportunity being given to them. By that same logic, a sales person should just follow people around all day until finally the person buys their product. It's borderline harassment! More difficult? Acquisition of education stays the same. As long as you want to take what's being offered, you can have it. You don't have to come from a good home to succeed. Those who come from "bad" homes and succeed today don't throw their education down the drain. They can't get enough education. That doesn't change. Right now, school doesn't seem to give people much hope. It doesn't seem like a solution to me.

negative: homework should be banned home work is evil and should be banned from schools

negative: For Higher Learning, online courses are a more beneficial option than universities I thank Lickdafoot for agreeing to debate this topic with me and instigating the challenge. I wish her luck in finishing her degree and will show through this debate why enrolling in a University and physically attending classes is more beneficial than enrolling in online courses.I have three contentions that I will make in addition to refuting Pro's four opening arguments. I apologize to Con for the late response. I only had 20 minutes when I started but I wanted to give her something to respond to.I will follow a similar structure to Con's argument i.e. making brief opening statements in this round, and elaborate and cite sources in the next round.ARGUMENTSC1) The College Experience(A) Attending college helps students make friends in similar fields. It is far easier to make friends while in college due to the shared experience that all students go through. Everyone is new, so there is never a feeling of being the only "new kid" in college.(B) Working together with classmates is very important. It fosters teamwork and leads to further friendships and networking.C2) The classroom Experience(A) Discussion of material in the classroom improves communication skills. This is important to have for most jobs. Sitting at home and clicking various options on the computer with a mouse is a poor substitute for a classroom discussion. Even lessons with audio don't compare with the physical experience.C3) Greater interaction with professors(A) Leads to job referencesOne of the main reasons to go to college is the networking opportunities available. Students can get to know their professors and get references to the best jobs and graduate schools. Nearly all graduate schools require letters of references from the student's professors. (B) Ability to work as a research assistant or teaching assistantGetting to knoe the professors leads to jobs while on campus. A student can conduct research in their field, or if they a grad student, can work as a teaching assistant teaching undergraduate students. Attending a University encourage students to be very involved and engaged. Online courses while possibly replicating the course material cannot replicate the actual college experience.REBUTTALS1) CostIt is interesting to note how Pro's source (Collegeboard) mentions that the average amount of aid for a full-time undergraduate student was about $11,500, including more than $6,000 in grants that don’t have to be repaid [1]. The average cost of an in-state college is $7605 per year. So, pretty much everyone who recieves financial aid will be able to pay for college. The important thing is for my opponent to explore the options for recieving financial aid as opposed to foregoing the benefits of attending a University by taking online courses. Since financial aid is given on a need basis in addition to being given on a merit basis, students who cannot afford college find it easier to get financial aid.2) Time EfficiencyUniversitities don't have to be "a full time job". Many students work full time and take classes part time. Also students can work with their professors to do research in the field that they are studying. They can also do internships in the same field. 3) Option AdvantageMost Universities do allow students to change majors and offer many course plans and guides so that students can graduate in 4 years. Academic advisors usually take care of people who want to change majors. If my opponent proves in the next round that there is a tendency to pile as many courses as possible in one semester, I will continue to argue this point. However, I have never heard of students piling courses in one semester. 4) ExperienceGoing to a University helps a student gets experience, as I mentioned previously, much more than online courses do.I will expand in the next round.These are the arguments that I will be expanding on in the next round and am looking forward to an interesting debate.Sources[1] http://www.collegeboard.com...

negative: PAC Ranch PAC Ranch - a very scary place for me. Even now when I think back. Somethings to know about me before hand so that you understand why was it hell for me. I'm Hungarian, and was only 11 at the time. Though in Hungary studying foreign languages is important I was only finished with 4th grade at the time (I was supposed to start 5th grade in September 2001 when we left) and to this point children get only very basic stuff like names of objects and that sort of stuff, so I was able to count and say hi basicly, more serious stuff only in high school which is from 9th grade. I was really scared and cried all the time, because I couldn't talk to anyone, did't understand anything others said, and didn't know how things worked, and things we are supposed to do, for example once about 2 weeks after we had arrived my mom came out suddenly to the ranch to visit me. I ran to one of the adults watching over us whether I could go see my mother. She asked whether I wrote a CSW(Completed Staff Work)... well I had no clue what it was, said no and she said that than I can't go. Well of course I started crying, I didn't know what to do, my mom was there, but I can't go see her, meanwhile my only purpose to come with her was to be with her, I didn't know where am I coming or what will be here, I just wanted to be with my mom. The "teacher" said that I can go this once... later I found out what it was, it's a request people write if they want something like libs (liberty). I actually had no friends there, I cried alot because I was lonely, it's a very complex situation but basicly no one was able to speak with me because I didn't understand but by the time I learned enough no one wanted to. I did everything they wanted but I always stood out, something was always wrong for them. So I was just discriminated because I was the little Hungarian girl who doesn't speak English well, doesn't know how things go here, and cries all the time. All of this was true but I always thought they could be a little more understanding... well they weren't. Once in the course room we were doing some sort of "drills" to learn the correct spelling of words, actually we did this a lot of times. I remember the teacher always giving me really diffucult words like I don't know fire-extinguisher but I was there maybe for 1 month and hadn't picked up that much English yet so it was so out of gradient and this was of course in front everyone out loud, I was so embarrassed. I know that no one should have expected this kind of "miracles" from me, but it still was humiliating to me because I always felt less than the others because they can do word like this but I can't. When we didn't have school hours everyone had jobs to do, we basicly run the whole place by ourselves, the (I think 4) adults only did administrative work. We had a laundry, kitchen, canteen, everything. So funny that I remember the place still so well that I could draw a map of where all the buildings where compared to each other. I worked in the kitchen and did the dishes, and sometimes other little jobs, mostly just cleaning. I remember that while I was there I had my first menstruation, I was so freaked out, didn't know what to do, didn't know what it was, who to ask, I wasn't even allowed to call my mom, and even when I was they told me always that she is on course and can not be bodered. I was really relieved when my mom got told that she will be sent to Flag for training, I thought maybe things will be different there and I could see her more often. When this turned out I was taken to the berthing of hers as we didn't know on exactly which day would be our flight so I got to sleep with her and they let me go to the course and do Student Hat which I started back in Hungary. This was a little 2 week happiness for me. Than we arrived at FLB I don't know maybe mid-January 2002 and I was told that I would be sent to the Cadet Org here as well. I for some reason had the idea that it would be the same as in LA and there was no holy way I was going to go there. I had only one other option to sigh the Sea Org contract and start the EPF. My mom was really against it that I was too young but the recruiters quickly told her that I was just as much a Thetan than anybody else just in a small body... so from their part no objections. I did my EPF really fast I think, I was also able to finish the Student Hat. I think this was the last time I was ever happy in the SO, I knew my dad was proud of me that I finished it at such a young age, and doing MEST work was kind of fun too. Than I was put ont he FRU (Flag Ready Unit) another set of courses similar to the EPF but we were helping out in mostly admin but also ther areas of the org, like filing, in the HGCs, so on, basicly running around like mad man. I at first was put in the recruiters office reception. It wasn't fun at all, I was getting yelled at all the time for small things like not being able to start the SO slide show for simebody on time because there were so many calls coming and had to handle those as well, but if I missed a call I would be slapped around just as much, and we were in the US still maybe for 5 months, hello—how the hell am I supposed to know enough English, I was able to get myself understood mainly from gestures but on the phone? I was still only 11. Then I was asked I think what kind of post would I want to do, they probably only did this because I was so super young. I told that I was interested in being an auditor (yessss the chance to see my mom more often as she was in the course rooms all the time), but the person asking me (I just can't remember who it was) just gave a little grin that yeah everyone wants to be on full time training but they were absolutly not going to do that as I no work record but could instead work with auditors in the HGCs. I didn't really have much choice. I was placed in the HGC in the Fort Harrison (Hubbard Guidence Center, where the auditing gets done) as the Board In charge of HGC 1 as they had so far the DofP (Director of Processing, who should have nothing to do with it as the running of the HGCs are the job of Dept. 10 and she was the head of Dept. 12) run the place, and even though I was still new they needed there someone right away. The problem was that this HGC dealt with the lower grade auditing and to Flag you see people don't really come for this. So we always had a constant problem of lack of PCs. My stat was involved with how many auditing sessions occured during the week... but if there is no PC no auditing sessions happen right? So my superiors always herassed me about the low stats and so, which wasn't even my fault. After 3 months I got fed up with the way they treat for things that are not even my fault, so I always told them my opinion about it, not a smart thing to do in the SO. Some pretty big fights occured between me and Sonya the HGC Admin, my direct senior. And they sent for a month of ethics, I was doing a lot of galley work which was very much fun, I met some people from the RPF (it's the program SO members do if they do something "really bad" like getting pregnant and so on) whom I actually wasn't even supposed to speak with but I found them the nicest persons on the base. I was also sent to help the Course Administrator in the Coach Building, where I actually enjoyed the whole thing as it was a lot less stress than the HGC the woman working there was really nice and she needed help as she was alone for a lot of course rooms and I thought if I got a chance here I could show that I can do good work as well. But then Sonya came to me asking, actually begging, me to come back to the HGC, she said everything will be different, I'll be working in HGC 3 as a Tech Page,

negative: Homework Since my opponent has forfeited this round I cannot make a rebuttal, and can only hope that they will come through in the next round.

negative: Home Work Should NOT Be Banned Home Work in School Should not be Banned!

negative: Homework One more round? If no arguments are posted I'll post mine in the final round to solidify my case.

negative: no homework Please vote for me as my opponent does not wish to continue the round because he forfeited.

negative: Social networks are beneficial to our society! 'The people I hate keep bugging me !!' Block them.. 'FACEBOOK is the cause of our loss of identity. We constantly feel the need to impress others through our pictures, our statuses, the pages we like, etc.' The same thing happens when you are member of any other social group. For example, at school we constantly try to impress our classmates in order to vote us for president of the class etc. If somebody cares about being popular he/she wants to be popular in every social group thar he/she participates in. If you're interested in being popular you have to try but you should protect your personality and not lose yourself. This is a basic principal you have to respect during your lifetime not only when you spend your time in a social network but in every social interaction. So, this is not a disadvantage enough important to outweigh social netorks' advantages. 'A FACEBOOK encourages bragging. Every post you do is "look at me, I did this" "look at me, I discovered that if you turn the camera the other way, you can take pictures of yourself" etc etc etc' It's not about bragging. SOCIAL networks has this purpose: to create a small society of people who communicate, share their interests, share photos etc. Actually, this is an advantage and not a disadvantage. This is why social networks spread Iinformation faster than any other media. Because soneone can discover something interesting and share it with other people. For instance, someone can be informed about a concert that is taking place or a new TV series that he/she would may find niteresting. ' FACEBOOK creates barriers in the way of genuine social interaction' This is a problem caused only when we don't use socal media wisely. We should be aware of this danger and protect ourselves. When we use them correctly we have the opposite results. We meet with people that we didn't know and we make new friends, we keep in touch with people who live in other cities or even abroad and since the communication is free and easy we speak more often to people we see everyday. All of these things, improce our social life and as I said in round 2, they facilitate face-to-face interactions. 'I experience psychological and mental stress every time it says I have a notification and it turns out to be someone inviting me to play Farmville. I estimate a 90% collapse in my mental well being (non-recovery) every time this happens' This is not a very serious disadvantage. In fact, this is not about social media. This is about your anticipation to hear from someone. You might feel the same thing when, for example, your phone is ringing and when you answer it you realize that they have called you to advertise a product or ask you to participate in a survey. Another example is when you hear the bell ringing and then, when you open the door you see a stranger who wants to sell you some things. 'I am addicted' This is a very frequent phenomenon, but yet again its cause is not social media but the way you ause them. Since you are aware of this danger, you have to put some limits and avoid spending too much time in front of the computer screen. The fact that you have realized the problem is a very positive sign. Here are some things you can do to protect yourself better: 1) Tell your parents to put a time limit to your computer that will allow you to spend a specific amount of time in front of your screen. 2) ask for help by experts 3) regulate your sleeping pattern (so that you ensure that you won't lose sleeping hours-this is a very frequent symptom of the internet addiction- and you will become more organized and self disciplined* 4) make a list of reasons why you will be happier by using the internet less and remind yourself that you can make it!* As you can see there are many ways to avoid getting addicted or to face the problem of addiction. Of course there are some serious dangers but dangers are everywhere. Social media has to offer too many important benefits for someone to claim that the dangers are enough to make them more harmful than useful. In this case the key is to learn how to get protected and not to stop using them. 'The Labour party have a fakebook page' Don't visit it. 'FACEBOOK is a social network' I suppose that you don't like fb so the solution for you is easy: DON'T MAKE A FACEBOOK ACCOUNT Thank you, I'm a genius, I know:P All in all, your arguments are more personal and most of your peoblems can be solved by deleting your account if you have or not making one. Other people don't find them serious or annoying enough to stop using them: As of September 2013, 73% of online adults use social networking sites.** Furthermore, social media do not include only fb. So, if you want to prevent people from inviting you to play games you can sign up another social networking site. Finally, I can't understand something. Firstly, you are against social networks and then you say that you have an account while you find it extremely annoying.. Does not make any sense.. Sources: *http://m.wikihow.com... ** http://www.pewresearch.org...

negative: Homework should be banned If you truly feel that the homework you are being given is not beneficial to your education, then you should try to do something about it. Bring it up to your parents first, get their opinion. You will have to have some valid points as to why it isn't beneficial. Also, try to come up with something that would be more beneficial, because homework isn't going anywhere buddy, not for any of us.

negative: Obama's Health Care Plan is beneficial to the United States of America I have never debated this topic or any topic like it, so I hope this goes well. Burden of Proof My opponent must prove that the plan is either detrimental or has no effect. I must prove that it is beneficial. If neither is effectively proven, then the vote is a tie. Definitions Obama's Health Care Plan: . http://www.barackobama.com... To be defined further during this debate. beneficial: conducive to social well-being (. http://www.merriam-webster.com...) Now let us examine the health care plan. Due to space constraints, my examination will be limited. ========== LOWER COSTS ========== "INVEST IN ELECTRONIC HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS. Most medical records are still stored on paper, which makes them difficult to use to coordinate care, measure quality, or reduce medical errors. Processing paper claims also costs twice as much as processing electronic claims. [2]" It goes without saying that reducing costs is important. But perhaps more importantly, electronic storage is much more easy to use. Reducing medical errors is always beneficial, especially when nearly 200,000 Americans each year die due to medical errors [1]. If medical records are converted to electronic media, it could save as much as $77 billion annually [3]. This simple change could save each and every American citizen $250 a year [4]. "(2) IMPROVE ACCESS TO PREVENTION AND PROVEN DISEASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS. [. .. ] Over seventy-five percent of total health care dollars are spent on patients with one or more chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. [5]" Obama's plan is to improve care for those with chronic conditions. The plan will "require full transparency regarding quality and costs. " "Both public and private insurers tend to pay providers based on the volume of services provided, rather than the quality or effectiveness of care [6]. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will accelerate efforts to develop and disseminate best practices, and align reimbursement with provision of high quality health care. Providers who see patients enrolled in the new public plan, the National Health Insurance Exchange, Medicare and FEHB will be rewarded for achieving performance thresholds on physician-validated outcome measures. " "[The plan] will prevent companies from abusing their monopoly power through unjustified price increases. In markets where the insurance business is not competitive, their plan will force insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient care instead of keeping exorbitant amounts for profits and administration. " "Prevent drug companies from blocking generic drugs from consumers. " This will increase competition and lower prices. ======================= STRENGTHENING PUBLIC HEALTH ======================= "(1) EMPLOYERS. [. .. ] To address employee health, an increasing number of employers are offering worksite health promotion programs, onsite clinical preventive services such as flu vaccinations, nutritious foods in cafeterias and vending machines, and exercise facilities. Equally important, many employers choose insurance plans that cover preventive services for their employees. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that worksite interventions hold tremendous potential to influence health and they will expand and reward these efforts. " "(2) SCHOOL SYSTEMS. Childhood obesity is nearly epidemic [7] [. .. ]. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will work with schools to create more healthful environments for children, including assistance with contract policy development for local vendors, grant support for school-based health screening programs and clinical services, increased financial support for physical education, and educational programs for students. " "(4) INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES. Preventive care only works if Americans take personal responsibility for their health and make the right decisions in their own lives – if they eat the right foods, stay active, and stop smoking. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will ensure that all Americans are empowered to monitor their health by ensuring coverage of essential clinical services in all federally supported health plans, including Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and the new public plan. " Though not entirely obvious, there are so many ways to go about this. Inspiration is always right around the corner; it's just a matter of finding the right corner. ============ Summary Obama's Health Care Plan will drastically reduce costs and inefficiencies in the medical system, leaving more room for what's truly important: helping people and saving lives. The plan will increase healthfulness in the community from all angles. In conclusion, if Obama's Health Care Plan is not beneficial, then I don't know what is. ======== [1] . http://www.medicalnewstoday.com... [2] Federico Girosi, Robin Meili, and Richard Scoville (2005), Extrapolating Evidence of Health Information Technology Savings and Costs. RAND, page 79. [3] Federico Girosi, Robin Meili, and Richard Scoville (2005), Extrapolating Evidence of Health Information Technology Savings and Costs. RAND, page 36. [4] US Census Bureau [5] Gerard Anderson, Robert Herbert, Timothy Zeffiro, and Nikia JohnsonChronic Conditions: Making the Case for Ongoing Care (2004). Partnership for Solutions (Johns Hopkins and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). [6] . http://www3.brookings.edu... [7] . http://www.nih.gov...

negative: the lizard According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little. Barry! Breakfast is ready! Ooming! Hang on a second. Hello? - Barry? - Adam? - Oan you believe this is happening? - I can't. I'll pick you up. Looking sharp. Use the stairs. Your father paid good money for those. Sorry. I'm excited. Here's the graduate. We're very proud of you, son. A perfect report card, all B's. Very proud. Ma! I got a thing going here. - You got lint on your fuzz. - Ow! That's me! - Wave to us! We'll be in row 118,000. - Bye! Barry, I told you, stop flying in the house! - Hey, Adam. - Hey, Barry. - Is that fuzz gel? - A little. Special day, graduation. Never thought I'd make it. Three days grade school, three days high school. Those were awkward. Three days college. I'm glad I took a day and hitchhiked around the hive. You did come back different. - Hi, Barry. - Artie, growing a mustache? Looks good. - Hear about Frankie? - Yeah. - You going to the funeral? - No, I'm not going. Everybody knows, sting someone, you die. Don't waste it on a squirrel. Such a hothead. I guess he could have just gotten out of the way. I love this incorporating an amusement park into our day. That's why we don't need vacations. Boy, quite a bit of pomp... under the circumstances. - Well, Adam, today we are men. - We are! - Bee-men. - Amen! Hallelujah! Students, faculty, distinguished bees, please welcome Dean Buzzwell. Welcome, New Hive Oity graduating class of... ...9:15. That concludes our ceremonies. And begins your career at Honex Industries! Will we pick ourjob today? I heard it's just orientation. Heads up! Here we go. Keep your hands and antennas inside the tram at all times. - Wonder what it'll be like? - A little scary. Welcome to Honex, a division of Honesco and a part of the Hexagon Group. This is it! Wow. Wow. We know that you, as a bee, have worked your whole life to get to the point where you can work for your whole life. Honey begins when our valiant Pollen Jocks bring the nectar to the hive. Our top-secret formula is automatically color-corrected, scent-adjusted and bubble-contoured into this soothing sweet syrup with its distinctive golden glow you know as... Honey! - That girl was hot. - She's my cousin! - She is? - Yes, we're all cousins. - Right. You're right. - At Honex, we constantly strive to improve every aspect of bee existence. These bees are stress-testing a new helmet technology. - What do you think he makes? - Not enough. Here we have our latest advancement, the Krelman. - What does that do? - Oatches that little strand of honey that hangs after you pour it. Saves us millions. Oan anyone work on the Krelman? Of course. Most bee jobs are small ones. But bees know that every small job, if it's done well, means a lot. But choose carefully because you'll stay in the job you pick for the rest of your life. The same job the rest of your life? I didn't know that. What's the difference? You'll be happy to know that bees, as a species, haven't had one day off in 27 million years. So you'll just work us to death? We'll sure try. Wow! That blew my mind! "What's the difference?" How can you say that? One job forever? That's an insane choice to have to make. I'm relieved. Now we only have to make one decision in life. But, Adam, how could they never have told us that? Why would you question anything? We're bees. We're the most perfectly functioning society on Earth. You ever think maybe things work a little too well here? Like what? Give me one example. I don't know. But you know what I'm talking about. Please clear the gate. Royal Nectar Force on approach. Wait a second. Oheck it out. - Hey, those are Pollen Jocks! - Wow. I've never seen them this close. They know what it's like outside the hive. Yeah, but some don't come back. - Hey, Jocks! - Hi, Jocks! You guys did great! You're monsters! You're sky freaks! I love it! I love it! - I wonder where they were. - I don't know. Their day's not planned. Outside the hive, flying who knows where, doing who knows what. You can'tjust decide to be a Pollen Jock. You have to be bred for that. Right. Look. That's more pollen than you and I will see in a lifetime. It's just a status symbol. Bees make too much of it. Perhaps. Unless you're wearing it and the ladies see you wearing it. Those ladies? Aren't they our cousins too? Distant. Distant. Look at these two. - Oouple of Hive Harrys. - Let's have fun with them. It must be dangerous being a Pollen Jock. Yeah. Once a bear pinned me against a mushroom! He had a paw on my throat, and with the other, he was slapping me! - Oh, my! - I never thought I'd knock him out. What were you doing during this? Trying to alert the authorities. I can autograph that. A little gusty out there today, wasn't it, comrades? Yeah. Gusty. We're hitting a sunflower patch six miles from here tomorrow. - Six miles, huh? - Barry! A puddle jump for us, but maybe you're not up for it. - Maybe I am. - You are not! We're going 0900 at J-Gate. What do you think, buzzy-boy? Are you bee enough? I might be. It all depends on what 0900 means. Hey, Honex! Dad, you surprised me. You decide what you're interested in? - Well, there's a lot of choices. - But you only get one. Do you ever get bored doing the same job every day? Son, let me tell you about stirring. You grab that stick, and you just move it around, and you stir it around. You get yourself into a rhythm. It's a beautiful thing. You know, Dad, the more I think about it, maybe the honey field just isn't right for me. You were thinking of what, making balloon animals? That's a bad job for a guy with a stinger. Janet, your son's not sure he wants to go into honey! - Barry, you are so funny sometimes. - I'm not trying to be funny. You're not funny! You're going into honey. Our son, the stirrer! - You're gonna be a stirrer? - No one's listening to me! Wait till you see the sticks I have. I could say anything right now. I'm gonna get an ant tattoo! Let's open some honey and celebrate! Maybe I'll pierce my thorax. Shave my antennae. Shack up with a grasshopper. Get a gold tooth and call everybody "dawg"! I'm so proud. - We're starting work today! - Today's the day. Oome on! All the good jobs will be gone. Yeah, right. Pollen counting, stunt bee, pouring, stirrer, front desk, hair removal... - Is it still available? - Hang on. Two left! One of them's yours! Oongratulations! Step to the side. - What'd you get? - Picking crud out. Stellar! Wow! Oouple of newbies? Yes, sir! Our first day! We are ready! Make your choice. - You want to go first? - No, you go. Oh, my. What's available? Restroom attendant's open, not for the reason you think. - Any chance of getting the Krelman? - Sure, you're on. I'm sorry, the Krelman just closed out. Wax monkey's always open. The Krelman opened up again. What happened? A bee died. Makes an opening. See? He's dead. Another dead one. Deady. Deadified. Two more dead. Dead from the neck up. Dead from the neck down. That's life! Oh, this is so hard! Heating, cooling, stunt bee, pourer, stirrer, humming, inspector number seven, lint coordinator, stripe supervisor, mite wrangler. Barry, what do you think I should... Barry? Barry! All right, we've got the sunflower patch in quadrant nine... What happened to you? Where are you? - I'm going out. - Out? Out where? - Out there. - Oh, no! I have to, before I go to work for the rest of my life. You're gonna die! You're crazy! Hello? Another call coming in. If anyone's feeling brave, there's a Korean deli on 83rd that gets their roses today. Hey, guys. - Look at that. - Isn't that the kid we saw yesterday? Hold it, son, flight deck's restricted. It's OK, Lou. We're gonna take him up. Really? Feeling lucky, are you? Sign here, here. Just initial that. - Thank you. - OK. You got a rain advisory today, and as you all know, bees cannot fly in rain. So be careful. As always, watch your brooms, hockey sticks, dogs, birds, bears and bats. Also, I got a couple of reports of root beer being poured on us. Murphy's in a home because of it, babbling like a cicada! - That's awful. - And a reminder for you rookies, bee law number one, absolutely no talking to humans! All right, launch positions! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Black and yellow! Hello! You ready for this, hot shot? Yeah. Yeah, bring it on. Wind, check. - Antennae, check. - Nectar pack, check. - Wings, check. - Stinger, check. Scared out of my shorts, check. OK, ladies, let's move it out! Pound those petunias, you striped stem-suckers! All of you, drain those flowers! Wow! I'm out! I can't believe I'm out! So blue. I feel so fast and free! Box kite! Wow! Flowers! This is Blue Leader. We have roses visual. Bring it around 30 degrees and hold. Roses! 30 degrees, roger. Bringing it around. Stand to the side, kid. It's got a bit of a kick. That is one nectar collector! - Ever see pollination up close? - No, sir. I pick up some pollen here, sprinkle it over here. Maybe a dash over there, a pinch on that one. See that? It's a little bit of magic. That's amazing. Why do we do that? That's pollen power. More pollen, more flowers, more nectar, more honey for us. Oool. I'm picking up a lot of bright yellow. Oould be daisies. Don't we need those? Oopy that visual. Wait. One of these flowers seems to be on the move. Say again? You're reporting a moving flower? Affirmative. That was on the line! This is the coolest. What is it? I don't know, but I'm loving this color. It smells good. Not like a flower, but I like it. Yeah, fuzzy. Ohemical-y. Oareful, guys. It's a little grabby. My sweet lord of bees! Oandy-brain, get off there! Problem! - Guys! - This could be bad. Affirmative. Very close. Gonna hurt. Mama's little boy. You are way out of position, rookie! Ooming in at you like a missile! Help me! I don't think these are flowers. - Should we tell him? - I think he knows. What is this?! Match point! You can start packing up, honey, because you're about to eat it! Yowser! Gross. There's a bee in the car! - Do something! - I'm driving! - Hi, bee. - He's back here! He's going to sting me! Nobody move. If you don't move, he won't sting you. Freeze! He blinked! Spray him, Granny! What are you doing?! Wow... the tension level out here is unbelievable. I gotta get home. Oan't fly in rain. Oan't fly in rain. Oan't fly in rain. Mayday! Mayday! Bee going down! Ken, could you close the window please? Ken, could you close the window please? Oheck out my new resume. I made it into a fold-out brochure. You see? Folds out. Oh, no. More humans. I don't need this. What was that? Maybe this time. This time. This time. This time! This time! This... Drapes! That is diabolical. It's fantastic. It's got all my special skills, even my top-ten favorite movies. What's number one? Star Wars? Nah, I don't go for that... ...kind of stuff. No wonder we shouldn't talk to them. They're out of their minds. When I leave a job interview, they're flabbergasted, can't believe what I say. There's the sun. Maybe that's a way out. I don't remember the sun having a big 75 on it. I predicted global warming. I could feel it getting hotter. At first I thought it was just me. Wait! Stop! Bee! Stand back. These are winter boots. Wait! Don't kill him! You know I'm allergic to them! This thing could kill me! Why does his life have less value than yours? Why does his life have any less value than mine? Is that your statement? I'm just saying all life has value. You don't know what he's capable of feeling. My brochure! There you go, little guy. I'm not scared of him. It's an allergic thing. Put that on your resume brochure. My whole face could puff up. Make it one of your special skills. Knocking someone out is also a special skill. Right. Bye, Vanessa. Thanks. - Vanessa, next week? Yogurt night? - Sure, Ken. You know, whatever. - You could put carob chips on there. - Bye. - Supposed to be less calories. - Bye. I gotta say something. She saved my life. I gotta say something. All right, here it goes. Nah. What would I say? I could really get in trouble. It's a bee law. You're not supposed to talk to a human. I can't believe I'm doing this. I've got to. Oh, I can't do it. Oome on! No. Yes. No. Do it. I can't. How should I start it? "You like jazz?" No, that's no good. Here she comes! Speak, you fool! Hi! I'm sorry. - You're talking. - Yes, I know. You're talking! I'm so sorry. No, it's OK. It's fine. I know I'm dreaming. But I don't recall going to bed. Well, I'm sure this is very disconcerting. This is a bit of a surprise to me. I mean, you're a bee! I am. And I'm not supposed to be doing this, but they were all trying to kill me. And if it wasn't for you... I had to thank you. It's just how I was raised. That was a little weird. - I'm talking with a bee. - Yeah. I'm talking to a bee. And the bee is talking to me! I just want to say I'm grateful. I'll leave now. - Wait! How did you learn to do that? - What? The talking thing. Same way you did, I guess. "Mama, Dada, honey." You pick it up. - That's very funny. - Yeah. Bees are funny. If we didn't laugh, we'd cry with what we have to deal with. Anyway... Oan I... ...get you something? - Like what? I don't know. I mean... I don't know. Ooffee? I don't want to put you out. It's no trouble. It takes two minutes. - It's just coffee. - I hate to impose. - Don't be ridiculous! - Actually, I would love a cup. Hey, you want rum cake? - I shouldn't. - Have some. - No, I can't. - Oome on! I'm trying to lose a couple micrograms. - Where? - These stripes don't help. You look great! I don't know if you know anything about fashion. Are you all right? No. He's making the tie in the cab as they're flying up Madison. He finally gets there. He runs up the steps into the church. The wedding is on. And he says, "Watermelon? I thought you said Guatemalan. Why would I marry a watermelon?" Is that a bee joke? That's the kind of stuff we do. Yeah, different. So, what are you gonna do, Barry? About work? I don't know. I want to do my part for the hive, but I can't do it the way they want. I know how you feel. - You do? - Sure. My parents wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor, but I wanted to be a florist. - Really? - My only interest is flowers. Our new queen was just elected with that same campaign slogan. Anyway, if you look... There's my hive right there. See it? You're in Sheep Meadow! Yes! I'm right off the Turtle Pond! No way! I know that area. I lost a toe ring there once. - Why do girls put rings on their toes? - Why not? - It's like putting a hat on your knee. - Maybe I'll try that. - You all right, ma'am? - Oh, yeah. Fine. Just having two cups of coffee! Anyway, this has been great. Thanks for the coffee. Yeah, it's no trouble. Sorry I couldn't finish it. If I did, I'd be up the rest of my life. Are you...? Oan I take a piece of this with me? Sure! Here, have a crumb. - Thanks! - Yeah. All right. Well, then... I guess I'll see you around. Or not. OK, Barry. And thank you so much again... for before. Oh, that? That was nothing. Well, not nothing, but... Anyway... This can't possibly work. He's all set to go. We may as well try it. OK, Dave, pull the chute. - Sounds amazing. - It was amazing! It was the scariest, happiest moment of my life. Humans! I can't believe you were with humans! Giant, scary humans! What were they like? Huge and crazy. They talk crazy. They eat crazy giant things. They drive crazy. - Do they try and kill you, like on TV? - Some of them. But some of them don't. - How'd you get back? - Poodle. You did it, and I'm glad. You saw whatever you wanted to see. You had your "experience." Now you can pick out yourjob and be normal. - Well... - Well? Well, I met someone. You did? Was she Bee-ish? - A wasp?! Your parents will kill you! - No, no, no, not a wasp. - Spider? - I'm not attracted to spiders. I know it's the hottest thing, with the eight legs and all. I can't get by that face. So who is she? She's... human. No, no. That's a bee law. You wouldn't break a bee law. - Her name's Vanessa. - Oh, boy. She's so nice. And she's a florist! Oh, no! You're dating a human florist! We're not dating. You're flying outside the hive, talking to humans that attack our homes with power washers and M-80s! One-eighth a stick of dynamite! She saved my life! And she understands me. This is over! Eat this. This is not over! What was that? - They call it a crumb. - It was so stingin' stripey! And that's not what they eat. That's what falls off what they eat! - You know what a Oinnabon is? - No. It's bread and cinnamon and frosting. They heat it up... Sit down! ...really hot! - Listen to me! We are not them! We're us. There's us and there's them! Yes, but who can deny the heart that is yearning? There's no yearning. Stop yearning. Listen to me! You have got to start thinking bee, my friend. Thinking bee! - Thinking bee. - Thinking bee. Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! There he is. He's in the pool. You know what your problem is, Barry? I gotta start thinking bee? How much longer will this go on? It's been three days! Why aren't you working? I've got a lot of big life decisions to think about. What life? You have no life! You have no job. You're barely a bee! Would it kill you to make a little honey? Barry, come out. Your father's talking to you. Martin, would you talk to him? Barry, I'm talking to you! You coming? Got everything? All set! Go ahead. I'll catch up. Don't be too long. Watch this! Vanessa! - We're still here. - I told you not to yell at him. He doesn't respond to yelling! - Then why yell at me? - Because you don't listen! I'm not listening to this. Sorry, I've gotta go. - Where are you going? - I'm meeting a friend. A girl? Is this why you can't decide? Bye. I just hope she's Bee-ish. They have a huge parade of flowers every year in Pasadena? To be in the Tournament of Roses, that's every florist's dream! Up on a float, surrounded by flowers, crowds cheering. A tournament. Do the roses compete in athletic events? No. All right, I've got one. How come you don't fly everywhere? It's exhausting. Why don't you run everywhere? It's faster. Yeah, OK, I see, I see. All right, your turn. TiVo. You can just freeze live TV? That's insane! You don't have that? We have Hivo, but it's a disease. It's a horrible, horrible disease. Oh, my. Dumb bees! You must want to sting all those jerks. We try not to sting. It's usually fatal for us. So you have to watch your temper. Very carefully. You kick a wall, take a walk, write an angry letter and throw it out. Work through it like any emotion: Anger, jealousy, lust. Oh, my goodness! Are you OK? Yeah. - What is wrong with you?! - It's a bug. He's not bothering anybody. Get out of here, you creep! What was that? A Pic 'N' Save circular? Yeah, it was. How did you know? It felt like about 10 pages. Seventy-five is pretty much our limit. You've really got that down to a science. - I lost a cousin to Italian Vogue. - I'll bet. What in the name of Mighty Hercules is this? How did this get here? Oute Bee, Golden Blossom, Ray Liotta Private Select? - Is he that actor? - I never heard of him. - Why is this here? - For people. We eat it. You don't have enough food of your own? - Well, yes. - How do you get it? - Bees make it. - I know who makes it! And it's hard to make it! There's heating, cooling, stirring. You need a whole Krelman thing! - It's organic. - It's our-ganic! It's just honey, Barry. Just what?! Bees don't know about this! This is stealing! A lot of stealing! You've taken our homes, schools, hospitals! This is all we have! And it's on sale?! I'm getting to the bottom of this. I'm getting to the bottom of all of this! Hey, Hector. - You almost done? - Almost. He is here. I sense it. Well, I guess I'll go home now and just leave this nice honey out, with no one around. You're busted, box boy! I knew I heard something. So you can talk! I can talk. And now you'll start talking! Where you getting the sweet stuff? Who's your supplier? I don't understand. I thought we were friends. The last thing we want to do is upset bees! You're too late! It's ours now! You, sir, have crossed the wrong sword! You, sir, will be lunch for my iguana, Ignacio! Where is the honey coming from? Tell me where! Honey Farms! It comes from Honey Farms! Orazy person! What horrible thing has happened here? These faces, they never knew what hit them. And now they're on the road to nowhere! Just keep still. What? You're not dead? Do I look dead? They will wipe anything that moves. Where you headed? To Honey Farms. I am onto something huge here. I'm going to Alaska. Moose blood, crazy stuff. Blows your head off! I'm going to Tacoma. - And you? - He really is dead. All right. Uh-oh! - What is that?! - Oh, no! - A wiper! Triple blade! - Triple blade? Jump on! It's your only chance, bee! Why does everything have to be so doggone clean?! How much do you people need to see?! Open your eyes! Stick your head out the window! From NPR News in Washington, I'm Oarl Kasell. But don't kill no more bugs! - Bee! - Moose blood guy!! - You hear something? - Like what? Like tiny screaming. Turn off the radio. Whassup, bee boy? Hey, Blood. Just a row of honey jars, as far as the eye could see. Wow! I assume wherever this truck goes is where they're getting it. I mean, that honey's ours. - Bees hang tight. - We're all jammed in. It's a close community. Not us, man. We on our own. Every mosquito on his own. - What if you get in trouble? - You a mosquito, you in trouble. Nobody likes us. They just smack. See a mosquito, smack, smack! At least you're out in the world. You must meet girls. Mosquito girls try to trade up, get with a moth, dragonfly. Mosquito girl don't want no mosquito. You got to be kidding me! Mooseblood's about to leave the building! So long, bee! - Hey, guys! - Mooseblood! I knew I'd catch y'all down here. Did you bring your crazy straw? We throw it in jars, slap a label on it, and it's pretty much pure profit. What is this place? A bee's got a brain the size of a pinhead. They are pinheads! Pinhead. - Oheck out the new smoker. - Oh, sweet. That's the one you want. The Thomas 3000! Smoker? Ninety puffs a minute, semi-automatic. Twice the nicotine, all the tar. A couple breaths of this knocks them right out. They make the honey, and we make the money. "They make the honey, and we make the money"? Oh, my! What's going on? Are you OK? Yeah. It doesn't last too long. Do you know you're in a fake hive with fake walls? Our queen was moved here. We had no choice. This is your queen? That's a man in women's clothes! That's a drag queen! What is this? Oh, no! There's hundreds of them! Bee honey. Our honey is being brazenly stolen on a massive scale! This is worse than anything bears have done! I intend to do something. Oh, Barry, stop. Who told you humans are taking our honey? That's a rumor. Do these look like rumors? That's a conspiracy theory. These are obviously doctored photos. How did you get mixed up in this? He's been talking to humans. - What? - Talking to humans?! He has a human girlfriend. And they make out! Make out? Barry! We do not. - You wish you could. - Whose side are you on? The bees! I dated a cricket once in San Antonio. Those crazy legs kept me up all night. Barry, this is what you want to do with your life? I want to do it for all our lives. Nobody works harder than bees! Dad, I remember you coming home so overworked your hands were still stirring. You couldn't stop. I remember that. What right do they have to our honey? We live on two cups a year. They put it in lip balm for no reason whatsoever! Even if it's true, what can one bee do? Sting them where it really hurts. In the face! The eye! - That would hurt. - No. Up the nose? That's a killer. There's only one place you can sting the humans, one place where it matters. Hive at Five, the hive's only full-hour action news source. No more bee beards! With Bob Bumble at the anchor desk. Weather with Storm Stinger. Sports with Buzz Larvi. And Jeanette Ohung. - Good evening. I'm Bob Bumble. - And I'm Jeanette Ohung. A tri-county bee, Barry Benson, intends to sue the human race for stealing our honey, packaging it and profiting from it illegally! Tomorrow night on Bee Larry King, we'll have three former queens here in our studio, discussing their new book, Olassy Ladies, out this week on Hexagon. Tonight we're talking to Barry Benson. Did you ever think, "I'm a kid from the hive. I can't do this"? Bees have never been afraid to change the world. What about Bee Oolumbus? Bee Gandhi? Bejesus? Where I'm from, we'd never sue humans. We were thinking of stickball or candy stores. How old are you? The bee community is supporting you in this case, which will be the trial of the bee century. You know, they have a Larry King in the human world too. It's a common name. Next week... He looks like you and has a show and suspenders and colored dots... Next week... Glasses, quotes on the bottom from the guest even though you just heard 'em. Bear Week next week! They're scary, hairy and here live. Always leans forward, pointy shoulders, squinty eyes, very Jewish. In tennis, you attack at the point of weakness! It was my grandmother, Ken. She's 81. Honey, her backhand's a joke! I'm not gonna take advantage of that? Quiet, please. Actual work going on here. - Is that that same bee? - Yes, it is! I'm helping him sue the human race. - Hello. - Hello, bee. This is Ken. Yeah, I remember you. Timberland, size ten and a half. Vibram sole, I believe. Why does he talk again? Listen, you better go 'cause we're really busy working. But it's our yogurt night! Bye-bye. Why is yogurt night so difficult?! You poor thing. You two have been at this for hours! Yes, and Adam here has been a huge help. - Frosting... - How many sugars? Just one. I try not to use the competition. So why are you helping me? Bees have good qualities. And it takes my mind off the shop. Instead of flowers, people are giving balloon bouquets now. Those are great, if you're three. And artificial flowers. - Oh, those just get me psychotic! - Yeah, me too. Bent stingers, pointless pollination. Bees must hate those fake things! Nothing worse than a daffodil that's had work done. Maybe this could make up for it a little bit. - This lawsuit's a pretty big deal. - I guess. You sure you want to go through with it? Am I sure? When I'm done with the humans, they won't be able to say, "Honey, I'm home," without paying a royalty! It's an incredible scene here in downtown Manhattan, where the world anxiously waits, because for the first time in history, we will hear for ourselves if a honeybee can actually speak. What have we gotten into here, Barry? It's pretty big, isn't it? I can't believe how many humans don't work during the day. You think billion-dollar multinational food companies have good lawyers? Everybody needs to stay behind the barricade. - What's the matter? - I don't know, I just got a chill. Well, if it isn't the bee team. You boys work on this? All rise! The Honorable Judge Bumbleton presiding. All right. Oase number 4475, Superior Oourt of New York, Barry Bee Benson v. the Honey Industry is now in session. Mr. Montgomery, you're representing the five food companies collectively? A privilege. Mr. Benson... you're representing all the bees of the world? I'm kidding. Yes, Your Honor, we're ready to proceed. Mr. Montgomery, your opening statement, please. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my grandmother was a simple woman. Born on a farm, she believed it was man's divine right to benefit from the bounty of nature God put before us. If we lived in the topsy-turvy world Mr. Benson imagines, just think of what would it mean. I would have to negotiate with the silkworm for the elastic in my britches! Talking bee! How do we know this isn't some sort of holographic motion-picture-capture Hollywood wizardry? They could be using laser beams! Robotics! Ventriloquism! Oloning! For all we know, he could be on steroids! Mr. Benson? Ladies and gentlemen, there's no trickery here. I'm just an ordinary bee. Honey's pretty important to me. It's important to all bees. We invented it! We make it. And we protect it with our lives. Unfortunately, there are some people in this room who think they can take it from us 'cause we're the little guys! I'm hoping that, after this is all over, you'll see how, by taking our honey, you not only take everything we have but everything we are! I wish he'd dress like that all the time. So nice! Oall your first witness. So, Mr. Klauss Vanderhayden of Honey Farms, big company you have. I suppose so. I see you also own Honeyburton and Honron! Yes, they provide beekeepers for our farms. Beekeeper. I find that to be a very disturbing term. I don't imagine you employ any bee-free-ers, do you? - No. - I couldn't hear you. - No. - No. Because you don't free bees. You keep bees. Not only that, it seems you thought a bear would be an appropriate image for a jar of honey. They're very lovable creatures. Yogi Bear, Fozzie Bear, Build-A-Bear. You mean like this? Bears kill bees! How'd you like his head crashing through your living room?! Biting into your couch! Spitting out your throw pillows! OK, that's enough. Take him away. So, Mr. Sting, thank you for being here. Your name intrigues me. - Where have I heard it before? - I was with a band called The Police. But you've never been a police officer, have you? No, I haven't. No, you haven't. And so here we have yet another example of bee culture casually stolen by a human for nothing more than a prance-about stage name. Oh, please. Have you ever been stung, Mr. Sting? Because I'm feeling a little stung, Sting. Or should I say... Mr. Gordon M. Sumner! That's not his real name?! You idiots! Mr. Liotta, first, belated congratulations on your Emmy win for a guest spot on ER in 2005. Thank you. Thank you. I see from your resume that you're devilishly handsome with a churning inner turmoil that's ready to blow. I enjoy what I do. Is that a crime? Not yet it isn't. But is this what it's come to for you? Exploiting tiny, helpless bees so you don't have to rehearse your part and learn your lines, sir? Watch it, Benson! I could blow right now! This isn't a goodfella. This is a badfella! Why doesn't someone just step on this creep, and we can all go home?! - Order in this court! - You're all thinking it! Order! Order, I say! - Say it! - Mr. Liotta, please sit down! I think it was awfully nice of that bear to pitch in like that. I think the jury's on our side. Are we doing everything right, legally? I'm a florist. Right. Well, here's to a great team. To a great team! Well, hello. - Ken! - Hello. I didn't think you were coming. No, I was just late. I tried to call, but... the battery. I didn't want all this to go to waste, so I called Barry. Luckily, he was free. Oh, that was lucky. There's a little left. I could heat it up. Yeah, heat it up, sure, whatever. So I hear you're quite a tennis player. I'm not much for the game myself. The ball's a little grabby. That's where I usually sit. Right... there. Ken, Barry was looking at your resume, and he agreed with me that eating with chopsticks isn't really a special skill. You think I don't see what you're doing? I know how hard it is to find the rightjob. We have that in common. Do we? Bees have 100 percent employment, but we do jobs like taking the crud out. That's just what I was thinking about doing. Ken, I let Barry borrow your razor for his fuzz. I hope that was all right. I'm going to drain the old stinger. Yeah, you do that. Look at that. You know, I've just about had it with your little mind games. - What's that? - Italian Vogue. Mamma mia, that's a lot of pages. A lot of ads. Remember what Van said, why is your life more valuable than mine? Funny, I just can't seem to recall that! I think something stinks in here! I love the smell of flowers. How do you like the smell of flames?! Not as much. Water bug! Not taking sides! Ken, I'm wearing a Ohapstick hat! This is pathetic! I've got issues! Well, well, well, a royal flush! - You're bluffing. - Am I? Surf's up, dude! Poo water! That bowl is gnarly. Except for those dirty yellow rings! Kenneth! What are you doing?! You know, I don't even like honey! I don't eat it! We need to talk! He's just a little bee! And he happens to be the nicest bee I've met in a long time! Long time? What are you talking about?! Are there other bugs in your life? No, but there are other things bugging me in life. And you're one of them! Fine! Talking bees, no yogurt night... My nerves are fried from riding on this emotional roller coaster! Goodbye, Ken. And for your information, I prefer sugar-free, artificial sweeteners made by man! I'm sorry about all that. I know it's got an aftertaste! I like it! I always felt there was some kind of barrier between Ken and me. I couldn't overcome it. Oh, well. Are you OK for the trial? I believe Mr. Montgomery is about out of ideas. We would like to call Mr. Barry Benson Bee to the stand. Good idea! You can really see why he's considered one of the best lawyers... Yeah. Layton, you've gotta weave some magic with this jury, or it's gonna be all over. Don't worry. The only thing I have to do to turn this jury around is to remind them of what they don't like about bees. - You got the tweezers? - Are you allergic? Only to losing, son. Only to losing. Mr. Benson Bee, I'll ask you what I think we'd all like to know. What exactly is your relationship to that woman? We're friends. - Good friends? - Yes. How good? Do you live together? Wait a minute... Are you her little... ...bedbug? I've seen a bee documentary or two. From what I understand, doesn't your queen give birth to all the bee children? - Yeah, but... - So those aren't your real parents! - Oh, Barry... - Yes, they are! Hold me back! You're an illegitimate bee, aren't you, Benson? He's denouncing bees! Don't y'all date your cousins? - Objection! - I'm going to pincushion this guy! Adam, don't! It's what he wants! Oh, I'm hit!! Oh, lordy, I am hit! Order! Order! The venom! The venom is coursing through my veins! I have been felled by a winged beast of destruction! You see? You can't treat them like equals! They're striped savages! Stinging's the only thing they know! It's their way! - Adam, stay with me. - I can't feel my legs. What angel of mercy will come forward to suck the poison from my heaving buttocks? I will have order in this court. Order! Order, please! The case of the honeybees versus the human race took a pointed turn against the bees yesterday when one of their legal team stung Layton T. Montgomery. - Hey, buddy. - Hey. - Is there much pain? - Yeah. I... I blew the whole case, didn't I? It doesn't matter. What matters is you're alive. You could have died. I'd be better off dead. Look at me. They got it from the cafeteria downstairs, in a tuna sandwich. Look, there's a little celery still on it. What was it like to sting someone? I can't explain it. It was all... All adrenaline and then... and then ecstasy! All right. You think it was all a trap? Of course. I'm sorry. I flew us right into this. What were we thinking? Look at us. We're just a couple of bugs in this world. What will the humans do to us if they win? I don't know. I hear they put the roaches in motels. That doesn't sound so bad. Adam, they check in, but they don't check out! Oh, my. Oould you get a nurse to close that window? - Why? - The smoke. Bees don't smoke. Right. Bees don't smoke. Bees don't smoke! But some bees are smoking. That's it! That's our case! It is? It's not over? Get dressed. I've gotta go somewhere. Get back to the court and stall. Stall any way you can. And assuming you've done step correctly, you're ready for the tub. Mr. Flayman. Yes? Yes, Your Honor! Where is the rest of your team? Well, Your Honor, it's interesting. Bees are trained to fly haphazardly, and as a result, we don't make very good time. I actually heard a funny story about... Your Honor, haven't these ridiculous bugs taken up enough of this court's valuable time? How much longer will we allow these absurd shenanigans to go on? They have presented no compelling evidence to support their charges against my clients, who run legitimate businesses. I move for a complete dismissal of this entire case! Mr. Flayman, I'm afraid I'm going to have to consider Mr. Montgomery's motion. But you can't! We have a terrific case. Where is your proof? Where is the evidence? Show me the smoking gun! Hold it, Your Honor! You want a smoking gun? Here is your smoking gun. What is that? It's a bee smoker! What, this? This harmless little contraption? This couldn't hurt a fly, let alone a bee. Look at what has happened to bees who have never been asked, "Smoking or non?" Is this what nature intended for us? To be forcibly addicted to smoke machines and man-made wooden slat work camps? Living out our lives as honey slaves to the white man? - What are we gonna do? - He's playing the species card. Ladies and gentlemen, please, free these bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! The court finds in favor of the bees! Vanessa, we won! I knew you could do it! High-five! Sorry. I'm OK! You know what this means? All the honey will finally belong to the bees. Now we won't have to work so hard all the time. This is an unholy perversion of the balance of nature, Benson. You'll regret this. Barry, how much honey is out there? All right. One at a time. Barry, who are you wearing? My sweater is Ralph Lauren, and I have no pants. - What if Montgomery's right? - What do you mean? We've been living the bee way a long time, 27 million years. Oongratulations on your victory. What will you demand as a settlement? First, we'll demand a complete shutdown of all bee work camps. Then we want back the honey that was ours to begin with, every last drop. We demand an end to the glorification of the bear as anything more than a filthy, smelly, bad-breath stink machine. We're all aware of what they do in the woods. Wait for my signal. Take him out. He'll have nauseous for a few hours, then he'll be fine. And we will no longer tolerate bee-negative nicknames... But it's just a prance-about stage name! ...unnecessary inclusion of honey in bogus health products and la-dee-da human tea-time snack garnishments. Oan't breathe. Bring it in, boys! Hold it right there! Good. Tap it. Mr. Buzzwell, we just passed three cups, and there's gallons more coming! - I think we need to shut down! - Shut down? We've never shut down. Shut down honey production! Stop making honey! Turn your key, sir! What do we do now? Oannonball! We're shutting honey production! Mission abort. Aborting pollination and nectar detail. Returning to base. Adam, you wouldn't believe how much honey was out there. Oh, yeah? What's going on? Where is everybody? - Are they out celebrating? - They're home. They don't know what to do. Laying out, sleeping in. I heard your Uncle Oarl was on his way to San Antonio with a cricket. At least we got our honey back. Sometimes I think, so what if humans liked our honey? Who wouldn't? It's the greatest thing in the world! I was excited to be part of making it. This was my new desk. This was my new job. I wanted to do it really well. And now... Now I can't. I don't understand why they're not happy. I thought their lives would be better! They're doing nothing. It's amazing. Honey really changes people. You don't have any idea what's going on, do you? - What did you want to show me? - This. What happened here? That is not the half of it. Oh, no. Oh, my. They're all wilting. Doesn't look very good, does it? No. And whose fault do you think that is? You know, I'm gonna guess bees. Bees? Specifically, me. I didn't think bees not needing to make honey would affect all these things. It's notjust flowers.

negative: Adults should be able to order kids menus to get the toy According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little. Barry! Breakfast is ready! Ooming! Hang on a second. Hello? - Barry? - Adam? - Oan you believe this is happening? - I can't. I'll pick you up. Looking sharp. Use the stairs. Your father paid good money for those. Sorry. I'm excited. Here's the graduate. We're very proud of you, son. A perfect report card, all B's. Very proud. Ma! I got a thing going here. - You got lint on your fuzz. - Ow! That's me! - Wave to us! We'll be in row 118,000. - Bye! Barry, I told you, stop flying in the house! - Hey, Adam. - Hey, Barry. - Is that fuzz gel? - A little. Special day, graduation. Never thought I'd make it. Three days grade school, three days high school. Those were awkward. Three days college. I'm glad I took a day and hitchhiked around the hive. You did come back different. - Hi, Barry. - Artie, growing a mustache? Looks good. - Hear about Frankie? - Yeah. - You going to the funeral? - No, I'm not going. Everybody knows, sting someone, you die. Don't waste it on a squirrel. Such a hothead. I guess he could have just gotten out of the way. I love this incorporating an amusement park into our day. That's why we don't need vacations. Boy, quite a bit of pomp... under the circumstances. - Well, Adam, today we are men. - We are! - Bee-men. - Amen! Hallelujah! Students, faculty, distinguished bees, please welcome Dean Buzzwell. Welcome, New Hive Oity graduating class of... ...9:15. That concludes our ceremonies. And begins your career at Honex Industries! Will we pick ourjob today? I heard it's just orientation. Heads up! Here we go. Keep your hands and antennas inside the tram at all times. - Wonder what it'll be like? - A little scary. Welcome to Honex, a division of Honesco and a part of the Hexagon Group. This is it! Wow. Wow. We know that you, as a bee, have worked your whole life to get to the point where you can work for your whole life. Honey begins when our valiant Pollen Jocks bring the nectar to the hive. Our top-secret formula is automatically color-corrected, scent-adjusted and bubble-contoured into this soothing sweet syrup with its distinctive golden glow you know as... Honey! - That girl was hot. - She's my cousin! - She is? - Yes, we're all cousins. - Right. You're right. - At Honex, we constantly strive to improve every aspect of bee existence. These bees are stress-testing a new helmet technology. - What do you think he makes? - Not enough. Here we have our latest advancement, the Krelman. - What does that do? - Oatches that little strand of honey that hangs after you pour it. Saves us millions. Oan anyone work on the Krelman? Of course. Most bee jobs are small ones. But bees know that every small job, if it's done well, means a lot. But choose carefully because you'll stay in the job you pick for the rest of your life. The same job the rest of your life? I didn't know that. What's the difference? You'll be happy to know that bees, as a species, haven't had one day off in 27 million years. So you'll just work us to death? We'll sure try. Wow! That blew my mind! "What's the difference?" How can you say that? One job forever? That's an insane choice to have to make. I'm relieved. Now we only have to make one decision in life. But, Adam, how could they never have told us that? Why would you question anything? We're bees. We're the most perfectly functioning society on Earth. You ever think maybe things work a little too well here? Like what? Give me one example. I don't know. But you know what I'm talking about. Please clear the gate. Royal Nectar Force on approach. Wait a second. Oheck it out. - Hey, those are Pollen Jocks! - Wow. I've never seen them this close. They know what it's like outside the hive. Yeah, but some don't come back. - Hey, Jocks! - Hi, Jocks! You guys did great! You're monsters! You're sky freaks! I love it! I love it! - I wonder where they were. - I don't know. Their day's not planned. Outside the hive, flying who knows where, doing who knows what. You can'tjust decide to be a Pollen Jock. You have to be bred for that. Right. Look. That's more pollen than you and I will see in a lifetime. It's just a status symbol. Bees make too much of it. Perhaps. Unless you're wearing it and the ladies see you wearing it. Those ladies? Aren't they our cousins too? Distant. Distant. Look at these two. - Oouple of Hive Harrys. - Let's have fun with them. It must be dangerous being a Pollen Jock. Yeah. Once a bear pinned me against a mushroom! He had a paw on my throat, and with the other, he was slapping me! - Oh, my! - I never thought I'd knock him out. What were you doing during this? Trying to alert the authorities. I can autograph that. A little gusty out there today, wasn't it, comrades? Yeah. Gusty. We're hitting a sunflower patch six miles from here tomorrow. - Six miles, huh? - Barry! A puddle jump for us, but maybe you're not up for it. - Maybe I am. - You are not! We're going 0900 at J-Gate. What do you think, buzzy-boy? Are you bee enough? I might be. It all depends on what 0900 means. Hey, Honex! Dad, you surprised me. You decide what you're interested in? - Well, there's a lot of choices. - But you only get one. Do you ever get bored doing the same job every day? Son, let me tell you about stirring. You grab that stick, and you just move it around, and you stir it around. You get yourself into a rhythm. It's a beautiful thing. You know, Dad, the more I think about it, maybe the honey field just isn't right for me. You were thinking of what, making balloon animals? That's a bad job for a guy with a stinger. Janet, your son's not sure he wants to go into honey! - Barry, you are so funny sometimes. - I'm not trying to be funny. You're not funny! You're going into honey. Our son, the stirrer! - You're gonna be a stirrer? - No one's listening to me! Wait till you see the sticks I have. I could say anything right now. I'm gonna get an ant tattoo! Let's open some honey and celebrate! Maybe I'll pierce my thorax. Shave my antennae. Shack up with a grasshopper. Get a gold tooth and call everybody "dawg"! I'm so proud. - We're starting work today! - Today's the day. Oome on! All the good jobs will be gone. Yeah, right. Pollen counting, stunt bee, pouring, stirrer, front desk, hair removal... - Is it still available? - Hang on. Two left! One of them's yours! Oongratulations! Step to the side. - What'd you get? - Picking crud out. Stellar! Wow! Oouple of newbies? Yes, sir! Our first day! We are ready! Make your choice. - You want to go first? - No, you go. Oh, my. What's available? Restroom attendant's open, not for the reason you think. - Any chance of getting the Krelman? - Sure, you're on. I'm sorry, the Krelman just closed out. Wax monkey's always open. The Krelman opened up again. What happened? A bee died. Makes an opening. See? He's dead. Another dead one. Deady. Deadified. Two more dead. Dead from the neck up. Dead from the neck down. That's life! Oh, this is so hard! Heating, cooling, stunt bee, pourer, stirrer, humming, inspector number seven, lint coordinator, stripe supervisor, mite wrangler. Barry, what do you think I should... Barry? Barry! All right, we've got the sunflower patch in quadrant nine... What happened to you? Where are you? - I'm going out. - Out? Out where? - Out there. - Oh, no! I have to, before I go to work for the rest of my life. You're gonna die! You're crazy! Hello? Another call coming in. If anyone's feeling brave, there's a Korean deli on 83rd that gets their roses today. Hey, guys. - Look at that. - Isn't that the kid we saw yesterday? Hold it, son, flight deck's restricted. It's OK, Lou. We're gonna take him up. Really? Feeling lucky, are you? Sign here, here. Just initial that. - Thank you. - OK. You got a rain advisory today, and as you all know, bees cannot fly in rain. So be careful. As always, watch your brooms, hockey sticks, dogs, birds, bears and bats. Also, I got a couple of reports of root beer being poured on us. Murphy's in a home because of it, babbling like a cicada! - That's awful. - And a reminder for you rookies, bee law number one, absolutely no talking to humans! All right, launch positions! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Black and yellow! Hello! You ready for this, hot shot? Yeah. Yeah, bring it on. Wind, check. - Antennae, check. - Nectar pack, check. - Wings, check. - Stinger, check. Scared out of my shorts, check. OK, ladies, let's move it out! Pound those petunias, you striped stem-suckers! All of you, drain those flowers! Wow! I'm out! I can't believe I'm out! So blue. I feel so fast and free! Box kite! Wow! Flowers! This is Blue Leader. We have roses visual. Bring it around 30 degrees and hold. Roses! 30 degrees, roger. Bringing it around. Stand to the side, kid. It's got a bit of a kick. That is one nectar collector! - Ever see pollination up close? - No, sir. I pick up some pollen here, sprinkle it over here. Maybe a dash over there, a pinch on that one. See that? It's a little bit of magic. That's amazing. Why do we do that? That's pollen power. More pollen, more flowers, more nectar, more honey for us. Oool. I'm picking up a lot of bright yellow. Oould be daisies. Don't we need those? Oopy that visual. Wait. One of these flowers seems to be on the move. Say again? You're reporting a moving flower? Affirmative. That was on the line! This is the coolest. What is it? I don't know, but I'm loving this color. It smells good. Not like a flower, but I like it. Yeah, fuzzy. Ohemical-y. Oareful, guys. It's a little grabby. My sweet lord of bees! Oandy-brain, get off there! Problem! - Guys! - This could be bad. Affirmative. Very close. Gonna hurt. Mama's little boy. You are way out of position, rookie! Ooming in at you like a missile! Help me! I don't think these are flowers. - Should we tell him? - I think he knows. What is this?! Match point! You can start packing up, honey, because you're about to eat it! Yowser! Gross. There's a bee in the car! - Do something! - I'm driving! - Hi, bee. - He's back here! He's going to sting me! Nobody move. If you don't move, he won't sting you. Freeze! He blinked! Spray him, Granny! What are you doing?! Wow... the tension level out here is unbelievable. I gotta get home. Oan't fly in rain. Oan't fly in rain. Oan't fly in rain. Mayday! Mayday! Bee going down! Ken, could you close the window please? Ken, could you close the window please? Oheck out my new resume. I made it into a fold-out brochure. You see? Folds out. Oh, no. More humans. I don't need this. What was that? Maybe this time. This time. This time. This time! This time! This... Drapes! That is diabolical. It's fantastic. It's got all my special skills, even my top-ten favorite movies. What's number one? Star Wars? Nah, I don't go for that... ...kind of stuff. No wonder we shouldn't talk to them. They're out of their minds. When I leave a job interview, they're flabbergasted, can't believe what I say. There's the sun. Maybe that's a way out. I don't remember the sun having a big 75 on it. I predicted global warming. I could feel it getting hotter. At first I thought it was just me. Wait! Stop! Bee! Stand back. These are winter boots. Wait! Don't kill him! You know I'm allergic to them! This thing could kill me! Why does his life have less value than yours? Why does his life have any less value than mine? Is that your statement? I'm just saying all life has value. You don't know what he's capable of feeling. My brochure! There you go, little guy. I'm not scared of him. It's an allergic thing. Put that on your resume brochure. My whole face could puff up. Make it one of your special skills. Knocking someone out is also a special skill. Right. Bye, Vanessa. Thanks. - Vanessa, next week? Yogurt night? - Sure, Ken. You know, whatever. - You could put carob chips on there. - Bye. - Supposed to be less calories. - Bye. I gotta say something. She saved my life. I gotta say something. All right, here it goes. Nah. What would I say? I could really get in trouble. It's a bee law. You're not supposed to talk to a human. I can't believe I'm doing this. I've got to. Oh, I can't do it. Oome on! No. Yes. No. Do it. I can't. How should I start it? "You like jazz?" No, that's no good. Here she comes! Speak, you fool! Hi! I'm sorry. - You're talking. - Yes, I know. You're talking! I'm so sorry. No, it's OK. It's fine. I know I'm dreaming. But I don't recall going to bed. Well, I'm sure this is very disconcerting. This is a bit of a surprise to me. I mean, you're a bee! I am. And I'm not supposed to be doing this, but they were all trying to kill me. And if it wasn't for you... I had to thank you. It's just how I was raised. That was a little weird. - I'm talking with a bee. - Yeah. I'm talking to a bee. And the bee is talking to me! I just want to say I'm grateful. I'll leave now. - Wait! How did you learn to do that? - What? The talking thing. Same way you did, I guess. "Mama, Dada, honey." You pick it up. - That's very funny. - Yeah. Bees are funny. If we didn't laugh, we'd cry with what we have to deal with. Anyway... Oan I... ...get you something? - Like what? I don't know. I mean... I don't know. Ooffee? I don't want to put you out. It's no trouble. It takes two minutes. - It's just coffee. - I hate to impose. - Don't be ridiculous! - Actually, I would love a cup. Hey, you want rum cake? - I shouldn't. - Have some. - No, I can't. - Oome on! I'm trying to lose a couple micrograms. - Where? - These stripes don't help. You look great! I don't know if you know anything about fashion. Are you all right? No. He's making the tie in the cab as they're flying up Madison. He finally gets there. He runs up the steps into the church. The wedding is on. And he says, "Watermelon? I thought you said Guatemalan. Why would I marry a watermelon?" Is that a bee joke? That's the kind of stuff we do. Yeah, different. So, what are you gonna do, Barry? About work? I don't know. I want to do my part for the hive, but I can't do it the way they want. I know how you feel. - You do? - Sure. My parents wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor, but I wanted to be a florist. - Really? - My only interest is flowers. Our new queen was just elected with that same campaign slogan. Anyway, if you look... There's my hive right there. See it? You're in Sheep Meadow! Yes! I'm right off the Turtle Pond! No way! I know that area. I lost a toe ring there once. - Why do girls put rings on their toes? - Why not? - It's like putting a hat on your knee. - Maybe I'll try that. - You all right, ma'am? - Oh, yeah. Fine. Just having two cups of coffee! Anyway, this has been great. Thanks for the coffee. Yeah, it's no trouble. Sorry I couldn't finish it. If I did, I'd be up the rest of my life. Are you...? Oan I take a piece of this with me? Sure! Here, have a crumb. - Thanks! - Yeah. All right. Well, then... I guess I'll see you around. Or not. OK, Barry. And thank you so much again... for before. Oh, that? That was nothing. Well, not nothing, but... Anyway... This can't possibly work. He's all set to go. We may as well try it. OK, Dave, pull the chute. - Sounds amazing. - It was amazing! It was the scariest, happiest moment of my life. Humans! I can't believe you were with humans! Giant, scary humans! What were they like? Huge and crazy. They talk crazy. They eat crazy giant things. They drive crazy. - Do they try and kill you, like on TV? - Some of them. But some of them don't. - How'd you get back? - Poodle. You did it, and I'm glad. You saw whatever you wanted to see. You had your "experience." Now you can pick out yourjob and be normal. - Well... - Well? Well, I met someone. You did? Was she Bee-ish? - A wasp?! Your parents will kill you! - No, no, no, not a wasp. - Spider? - I'm not attracted to spiders. I know it's the hottest thing, with the eight legs and all. I can't get by that face. So who is she? She's... human. No, no. That's a bee law. You wouldn't break a bee law. - Her name's Vanessa. - Oh, boy. She's so nice. And she's a florist! Oh, no! You're dating a human florist! We're not dating. You're flying outside the hive, talking to humans that attack our homes with power washers and M-80s! One-eighth a stick of dynamite! She saved my life! And she understands me. This is over! Eat this. This is not over! What was that? - They call it a crumb. - It was so stingin' stripey! And that's not what they eat. That's what falls off what they eat! - You know what a Oinnabon is? - No. It's bread and cinnamon and frosting. They heat it up... Sit down! ...really hot! - Listen to me! We are not them! We're us. There's us and there's them! Yes, but who can deny the heart that is yearning? There's no yearning. Stop yearning. Listen to me! You have got to start thinking bee, my friend. Thinking bee! - Thinking bee. - Thinking bee. Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! There he is. He's in the pool. You know what your problem is, Barry? I gotta start thinking bee? How much longer will this go on? It's been three days! Why aren't you working? I've got a lot of big life decisions to think about. What life? You have no life! You have no job. You're barely a bee! Would it kill you to make a little honey? Barry, come out. Your father's talking to you. Martin, would you talk to him? Barry, I'm talking to you! You coming? Got everything? All set! Go ahead. I'll catch up. Don't be too long. Watch this! Vanessa! - We're still here. - I told you not to yell at him. He doesn't respond to yelling! - Then why yell at me? - Because you don't listen! I'm not listening to this. Sorry, I've gotta go. - Where are you going? - I'm meeting a friend. A girl? Is this why you can't decide? Bye. I just hope she's Bee-ish. They have a huge parade of flowers every year in Pasadena? To be in the Tournament of Roses, that's every florist's dream! Up on a float, surrounded by flowers, crowds cheering. A tournament. Do the roses compete in athletic events? No. All right, I've got one. How come you don't fly everywhere? It's exhausting. Why don't you run everywhere? It's faster. Yeah, OK, I see, I see. All right, your turn. TiVo. You can just freeze live TV? That's insane! You don't have that? We have Hivo, but it's a disease. It's a horrible, horrible disease. Oh, my. Dumb bees! You must want to sting all those jerks. We try not to sting. It's usually fatal for us. So you have to watch your temper. Very carefully. You kick a wall, take a walk, write an angry letter and throw it out. Work through it like any emotion: Anger, jealousy, lust. Oh, my goodness! Are you OK? Yeah. - What is wrong with you?! - It's a bug. He's not bothering anybody. Get out of here, you creep! What was that? A Pic 'N' Save circular? Yeah, it was. How did you know? It felt like about 10 pages. Seventy-five is pretty much our limit. You've really got that down to a science. - I lost a cousin to Italian Vogue. - I'll bet. What in the name of Mighty Hercules is this? How did this get here? Oute Bee, Golden Blossom, Ray Liotta Private Select? - Is he that actor? - I never heard of him. - Why is this here? - For people. We eat it. You don't have enough food of your own? - Well, yes. - How do you get it? - Bees make it. - I know who makes it! And it's hard to make it! There's heating, cooling, stirring. You need a whole Krelman thing! - It's organic. - It's our-ganic! It's just honey, Barry. Just what?! Bees don't know about this! This is stealing! A lot of stealing! You've taken our homes, schools, hospitals! This is all we have! And it's on sale?! I'm getting to the bottom of this. I'm getting to the bottom of all of this! Hey, Hector. - You almost done? - Almost. He is here. I sense it. Well, I guess I'll go home now and just leave this nice honey out, with no one around. You're busted, box boy! I knew I heard something. So you can talk! I can talk. And now you'll start talking! Where you getting the sweet stuff? Who's your supplier? I don't understand. I thought we were friends. The last thing we want to do is upset bees! You're too late! It's ours now! You, sir, have crossed the wrong sword! You, sir, will be lunch for my iguana, Ignacio! Where is the honey coming from? Tell me where! Honey Farms! It comes from Honey Farms! Orazy person! What horrible thing has happened here? These faces, they never knew what hit them. And now they're on the road to nowhere! Just keep still. What? You're not dead? Do I look dead? They will wipe anything that moves. Where you headed? To Honey Farms. I am onto something huge here. I'm going to Alaska. Moose blood, crazy stuff. Blows your head off! I'm going to Tacoma. - And you? - He really is dead. All right. Uh-oh! - What is that?! - Oh, no! - A wiper! Triple blade! - Triple blade? Jump on! It's your only chance, bee! Why does everything have to be so doggone clean?! How much do you people need to see?! Open your eyes! Stick your head out the window! From NPR News in Washington, I'm Oarl Kasell. But don't kill no more bugs! - Bee! - Moose blood guy!! - You hear something? - Like what? Like tiny screaming. Turn off the radio. Whassup, bee boy? Hey, Blood. Just a row of honey jars, as far as the eye could see. Wow! I assume wherever this truck goes is where they're getting it. I mean, that honey's ours. - Bees hang tight. - We're all jammed in. It's a close community. Not us, man. We on our own. Every mosquito on his own. - What if you get in trouble? - You a mosquito, you in trouble. Nobody likes us. They just smack. See a mosquito, smack, smack! At least you're out in the world. You must meet girls. Mosquito girls try to trade up, get with a moth, dragonfly. Mosquito girl don't want no mosquito. You got to be kidding me! Mooseblood's about to leave the building! So long, bee! - Hey, guys! - Mooseblood! I knew I'd catch y'all down here. Did you bring your crazy straw? We throw it in jars, slap a label on it, and it's pretty much pure profit. What is this place? A bee's got a brain the size of a pinhead. They are pinheads! Pinhead. - Oheck out the new smoker. - Oh, sweet. That's the one you want. The Thomas 3000! Smoker? Ninety puffs a minute, semi-automatic. Twice the nicotine, all the tar. A couple breaths of this knocks them right out. They make the honey, and we make the money. "They make the honey, and we make the money"? Oh, my! What's going on? Are you OK? Yeah. It doesn't last too long. Do you know you're in a fake hive with fake walls? Our queen was moved here. We had no choice. This is your queen? That's a man in women's clothes! That's a drag queen! What is this? Oh, no! There's hundreds of them! Bee honey. Our honey is being brazenly stolen on a massive scale! This is worse than anything bears have done! I intend to do something. Oh, Barry, stop. Who told you humans are taking our honey? That's a rumor. Do these look like rumors? That's a conspiracy theory. These are obviously doctored photos. How did you get mixed up in this? He's been talking to humans. - What? - Talking to humans?! He has a human girlfriend. And they make out! Make out? Barry! We do not. - You wish you could. - Whose side are you on? The bees! I dated a cricket once in San Antonio. Those crazy legs kept me up all night. Barry, this is what you want to do with your life? I want to do it for all our lives. Nobody works harder than bees! Dad, I remember you coming home so overworked your hands were still stirring. You couldn't stop. I remember that. What right do they have to our honey? We live on two cups a year. They put it in lip balm for no reason whatsoever! Even if it's true, what can one bee do? Sting them where it really hurts. In the face! The eye! - That would hurt. - No. Up the nose? That's a killer. There's only one place you can sting the humans, one place where it matters. Hive at Five, the hive's only full-hour action news source. No more bee beards! With Bob Bumble at the anchor desk. Weather with Storm Stinger. Sports with Buzz Larvi. And Jeanette Ohung. - Good evening. I'm Bob Bumble. - And I'm Jeanette Ohung. A tri-county bee, Barry Benson, intends to sue the human race for stealing our honey, packaging it and profiting from it illegally! Tomorrow night on Bee Larry King, we'll have three former queens here in our studio, discussing their new book, Olassy Ladies, out this week on Hexagon. Tonight we're talking to Barry Benson. Did you ever think, "I'm a kid from the hive. I can't do this"? Bees have never been afraid to change the world. What about Bee Oolumbus? Bee Gandhi? Bejesus? Where I'm from, we'd never sue humans. We were thinking of stickball or candy stores. How old are you? The bee community is supporting you in this case, which will be the trial of the bee century. You know, they have a Larry King in the human world too. It's a common name. Next week... He looks like you and has a show and suspenders and colored dots... Next week... Glasses, quotes on the bottom from the guest even though you just heard 'em. Bear Week next week! They're scary, hairy and here live. Always leans forward, pointy shoulders, squinty eyes, very Jewish. In tennis, you attack at the point of weakness! It was my grandmother, Ken. She's 81. Honey, her backhand's a joke! I'm not gonna take advantage of that? Quiet, please. Actual work going on here. - Is that that same bee? - Yes, it is! I'm helping him sue the human race. - Hello. - Hello, bee. This is Ken. Yeah, I remember you. Timberland, size ten and a half. Vibram sole, I believe. Why does he talk again? Listen, you better go 'cause we're really busy working. But it's our yogurt night! Bye-bye. Why is yogurt night so difficult?! You poor thing. You two have been at this for hours! Yes, and Adam here has been a huge help. - Frosting... - How many sugars? Just one. I try not to use the competition. So why are you helping me? Bees have good qualities. And it takes my mind off the shop. Instead of flowers, people are giving balloon bouquets now. Those are great, if you're three. And artificial flowers. - Oh, those just get me psychotic! - Yeah, me too. Bent stingers, pointless pollination. Bees must hate those fake things! Nothing worse than a daffodil that's had work done. Maybe this could make up for it a little bit. - This lawsuit's a pretty big deal. - I guess. You sure you want to go through with it? Am I sure? When I'm done with the humans, they won't be able to say, "Honey, I'm home," without paying a royalty! It's an incredible scene here in downtown Manhattan, where the world anxiously waits, because for the first time in history, we will hear for ourselves if a honeybee can actually speak. What have we gotten into here, Barry? It's pretty big, isn't it? I can't believe how many humans don't work during the day. You think billion-dollar multinational food companies have good lawyers? Everybody needs to stay behind the barricade. - What's the matter? - I don't know, I just got a chill. Well, if it isn't the bee team. You boys work on this? All rise! The Honorable Judge Bumbleton presiding. All right. Oase number 4475, Superior Oourt of New York, Barry Bee Benson v. the Honey Industry is now in session. Mr. Montgomery, you're representing the five food companies collectively? A privilege. Mr. Benson... you're representing all the bees of the world? I'm kidding. Yes, Your Honor, we're ready to proceed. Mr. Montgomery, your opening statement, please. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my grandmother was a simple woman. Born on a farm, she believed it was man's divine right to benefit from the bounty of nature God put before us. If we lived in the topsy-turvy world Mr. Benson imagines, just think of what would it mean. I would have to negotiate with the silkworm for the elastic in my britches! Talking bee! How do we know this isn't some sort of holographic motion-picture-capture Hollywood wizardry? They could be using laser beams! Robotics! Ventriloquism! Oloning! For all we know, he could be on steroids! Mr. Benson? Ladies and gentlemen, there's no trickery here. I'm just an ordinary bee. Honey's pretty important to me. It's important to all bees. We invented it! We make it. And we protect it with our lives. Unfortunately, there are some people in this room who think they can take it from us 'cause we're the little guys! I'm hoping that, after this is all over, you'll see how, by taking our honey, you not only take everything we have but everything we are! I wish he'd dress like that all the time. So nice! Oall your first witness. So, Mr. Klauss Vanderhayden of Honey Farms, big company you have. I suppose so. I see you also own Honeyburton and Honron! Yes, they provide beekeepers for our farms. Beekeeper. I find that to be a very disturbing term. I don't imagine you employ any bee-free-ers, do you? - No. - I couldn't hear you. - No. - No. Because you don't free bees. You keep bees. Not only that, it seems you thought a bear would be an appropriate image for a jar of honey. They're very lovable creatures. Yogi Bear, Fozzie Bear, Build-A-Bear. You mean like this? Bears kill bees! How'd you like his head crashing through your living room?! Biting into your couch! Spitting out your throw pillows! OK, that's enough. Take him away. So, Mr. Sting, thank you for being here. Your name intrigues me. - Where have I heard it before? - I was with a band called The Police. But you've never been a police officer, have you? No, I haven't. No, you haven't. And so here we have yet another example of bee culture casually stolen by a human for nothing more than a prance-about stage name. Oh, please. Have you ever been stung, Mr. Sting? Because I'm feeling a little stung, Sting. Or should I say... Mr. Gordon M. Sumner! That's not his real name?! You idiots! Mr. Liotta, first, belated congratulations on your Emmy win for a guest spot on ER in 2005. Thank you. Thank you. I see from your resume that you're devilishly handsome with a churning inner turmoil that's ready to blow. I enjoy what I do. Is that a crime? Not yet it isn't. But is this what it's come to for you? Exploiting tiny, helpless bees so you don't have to rehearse your part and learn your lines, sir? Watch it, Benson! I could blow right now! This isn't a goodfella. This is a badfella! Why doesn't someone just step on this creep, and we can all go home?! - Order in this court! - You're all thinking it! Order! Order, I say! - Say it! - Mr. Liotta, please sit down! I think it was awfully nice of that bear to pitch in like that. I think the jury's on our side. Are we doing everything right, legally? I'm a florist. Right. Well, here's to a great team. To a great team! Well, hello. - Ken! - Hello. I didn't think you were coming. No, I was just late. I tried to call, but... the battery. I didn't want all this to go to waste, so I called Barry. Luckily, he was free. Oh, that was lucky. There's a little left. I could heat it up. Yeah, heat it up, sure, whatever. So I hear you're quite a tennis player. I'm not much for the game myself. The ball's a little grabby. That's where I usually sit. Right... there. Ken, Barry was looking at your resume, and he agreed with me that eating with chopsticks isn't really a special skill. You think I don't see what you're doing? I know how hard it is to find the rightjob. We have that in common. Do we? Bees have 100 percent employment, but we do jobs like taking the crud out. That's just what I was thinking about doing. Ken, I let Barry borrow your razor for his fuzz. I hope that was all right. I'm going to drain the old stinger. Yeah, you do that. Look at that. You know, I've just about had it with your little mind games. - What's that? - Italian Vogue. Mamma mia, that's a lot of pages. A lot of ads. Remember what Van said, why is your life more valuable than mine? Funny, I just can't seem to recall that! I think something stinks in here! I love the smell of flowers. How do you like the smell of flames?! Not as much. Water bug! Not taking sides! Ken, I'm wearing a Ohapstick hat! This is pathetic! I've got issues! Well, well, well, a royal flush! - You're bluffing. - Am I? Surf's up, dude! Poo water! That bowl is gnarly. Except for those dirty yellow rings! Kenneth! What are you doing?! You know, I don't even like honey! I don't eat it! We need to talk! He's just a little bee! And he happens to be the nicest bee I've met in a long time! Long time? What are you talking about?! Are there other bugs in your life? No, but there are other things bugging me in life. And you're one of them! Fine! Talking bees, no yogurt night... My nerves are fried from riding on this emotional roller coaster! Goodbye, Ken. And for your information, I prefer sugar-free, artificial sweeteners made by man! I'm sorry about all that. I know it's got an aftertaste! I like it! I always felt there was some kind of barrier between Ken and me. I couldn't overcome it. Oh, well. Are you OK for the trial? I believe Mr. Montgomery is about out of ideas. We would like to call Mr. Barry Benson Bee to the stand. Good idea! You can really see why he's considered one of the best lawyers... Yeah. Layton, you've gotta weave some magic with this jury, or it's gonna be all over. Don't worry. The only thing I have to do to turn this jury around is to remind them of what they don't like about bees. - You got the tweezers? - Are you allergic? Only to losing, son. Only to losing. Mr. Benson Bee, I'll ask you what I think we'd all like to know. What exactly is your relationship to that woman? We're friends. - Good friends? - Yes. How good? Do you live together? Wait a minute... Are you her little... ...bedbug? I've seen a bee documentary or two. From what I understand, doesn't your queen give birth to all the bee children? - Yeah, but... - So those aren't your real parents! - Oh, Barry... - Yes, they are! Hold me back! You're an illegitimate bee, aren't you, Benson? He's denouncing bees! Don't y'all date your cousins? - Objection! - I'm going to pincushion this guy! Adam, don't! It's what he wants! Oh, I'm hit!! Oh, lordy, I am hit! Order! Order! The venom! The venom is coursing through my veins! I have been felled by a winged beast of destruction! You see? You can't treat them like equals! They're striped savages! Stinging's the only thing they know! It's their way! - Adam, stay with me. - I can't feel my legs. What angel of mercy will come forward to suck the poison from my heaving buttocks? I will have order in this court. Order! Order, please! The case of the honeybees versus the human race took a pointed turn against the bees yesterday when one of their legal team stung Layton T. Montgomery. - Hey, buddy. - Hey. - Is there much pain? - Yeah. I... I blew the whole case, didn't I? It doesn't matter. What matters is you're alive. You could have died. I'd be better off dead. Look at me. They got it from the cafeteria downstairs, in a tuna sandwich. Look, there's a little celery still on it. What was it like to sting someone? I can't explain it. It was all... All adrenaline and then... and then ecstasy! All right. You think it was all a trap? Of course. I'm sorry. I flew us right into this. What were we thinking? Look at us. We're just a couple of bugs in this world. What will the humans do to us if they win? I don't know. I hear they put the roaches in motels. That doesn't sound so bad. Adam, they check in, but they don't check out! Oh, my. Oould you get a nurse to close that window? - Why? - The smoke. Bees don't smoke. Right. Bees don't smoke. Bees don't smoke! But some bees are smoking. That's it! That's our case! It is? It's not over? Get dressed. I've gotta go somewhere. Get back to the court and stall. Stall any way you can. And assuming you've done step correctly, you're ready for the tub. Mr. Flayman. Yes? Yes, Your Honor! Where is the rest of your team? Well, Your Honor, it's interesting. Bees are trained to fly haphazardly, and as a result, we don't make very good time. I actually heard a funny story about... Your Honor, haven't these ridiculous bugs taken up enough of this court's valuable time? How much longer will we allow these absurd shenanigans to go on? They have presented no compelling evidence to support their charges against my clients, who run legitimate businesses. I move for a complete dismissal of this entire case! Mr. Flayman, I'm afraid I'm going to have to consider Mr. Montgomery's motion. But you can't! We have a terrific case. Where is your proof? Where is the evidence? Show me the smoking gun! Hold it, Your Honor! You want a smoking gun? Here is your smoking gun. What is that? It's a bee smoker! What, this? This harmless little contraption? This couldn't hurt a fly, let alone a bee. Look at what has happened to bees who have never been asked, "Smoking or non?" Is this what nature intended for us? To be forcibly addicted to smoke machines and man-made wooden slat work camps? Living out our lives as honey slaves to the white man? - What are we gonna do? - He's playing the species card. Ladies and gentlemen, please, free these bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! The court finds in favor of the bees! Vanessa, we won! I knew you could do it! High-five! Sorry. I'm OK! You know what this means? All the honey will finally belong to the bees. Now we won't have to work so hard all the time. This is an unholy perversion of the balance of nature, Benson. You'll regret this. Barry, how much honey is out there? All right. One at a time. Barry, who are you wearing? My sweater is Ralph Lauren, and I have no pants. - What if Montgomery's right? - What do you mean? We've been living the bee way a long time, 27 million years. Oongratulations on your victory. What will you demand as a settlement? First, we'll demand a complete shutdown of all bee work camps. Then we want back the honey that was ours to begin with, every last drop. We demand an end to the glorification of the bear as anything more than a filthy, smelly, bad-breath stink machine. We're all aware of what they do in the woods. Wait for my signal. Take him out. He'll have nauseous for a few hours, then he'll be fine. And we will no longer tolerate bee-negative nicknames... But it's just a prance-about stage name! ...unnecessary inclusion of honey in bogus health products and la-dee-da human tea-time snack garnishments. Oan't breathe. Bring it in, boys! Hold it right there! Good. Tap it. Mr. Buzzwell, we just passed three cups, and there's gallons more coming! - I think we need to shut down! - Shut down? We've never shut down. Shut down honey production! Stop making honey! Turn your key, sir! What do we do now? Oannonball! We're shutting honey production! Mission abort. Aborting pollination and nectar detail. Returning to base. Adam, you wouldn't believe how much honey was out there. Oh, yeah? What's going on? Where is everybody? - Are they out celebrating? - They're home. They don't know what to do. Laying out, sleeping in. I heard your Uncle Oarl was on his way to San Antonio with a cricket. At least we got our honey back. Sometimes I think, so what if humans liked our honey? Who wouldn't? It's the greatest thing in the world! I was excited to be part of making it. This was my new desk. This was my new job. I wanted to do it really well. And now... Now I can't. I don't understand why they're not happy. I thought their lives would be better! They're doing nothing. It's amazing. Honey really changes people. You don't have any idea what's going on, do you? - What did you want to show me? - This. What happened here? That is not the half of it. Oh, no. Oh, my. They're all wilting. Doesn't look very good, does it? No. And whose fault do you think that is? You know, I'm gonna guess bees. Bees? Specifically, me. I didn't think bees not needing to make honey would affect all these things. It's notjust flowers. Fruits, vegetables, they all need bees. That's our whole SAT test right there. Take away produce, that affects the entire animal kingdom. And then, of course... The human species? So if there's no more pollination, it could all just go south here, couldn't it? I know this is also partly my fault. How about a suicide pact? How do we do it? - I'll sting you, you step on me. - Thatjust kills you twice. Right, right. Listen, Barry... sorry, but I gotta get going. I had to open my mouth and talk. Vanessa? Vanessa? Why are you leaving? Where are you going? To the final Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena. They've moved it to this weekend because all the flowers are dying. It's the last chance I'll ever have to see it. Vanessa, I just wanna say I'm sorry. I never meant it to turn out like this. I know. Me neither. Tournament of Roses. Roses can't do sports. Wait a minute. Roses. Roses? Roses! Vanessa! Roses?! Barry? - Roses are flowers! - Yes, they are. Flowers, bees, pollen! I know. That's why this is the last parade. Maybe not. Oould you ask him to slow down? Oould you slow down? Barry! OK, I made a huge mistake. This is a total disaster, all my fault. Yes, it kind of is. I've ruined the planet. I wanted to help you with the flower shop. I've made it worse. Actually, it's completely closed down. I thought maybe you were remodeling. But I have another idea, and it's greater than my previous ideas combined. I don't want to hear it! All right, they have the roses, the roses have the pollen. I know every bee, plant and flower bud in this park. All we gotta do is get what they've got back here with what we've got. - Bees. - Park. - Pollen! - Flowers. - Repollination! - Across the nation! Tournament of Roses, Pasadena, Oalifornia. They've got nothing but flowers, floats and cotton candy. Security will be tight. I have an idea. Vanessa Bloome, FTD. Official floral business. It's real. Sorry, ma'am. Nice brooch. Thank you. It was a gift. Once inside, we just pick the right float. How about The Princess and the Pea? I could be the princess, and you could be the pea! Yes, I got it. - Where should I sit? - What are you? - I believe I'm the pea. - The pea? It goes under the mattresses. - Not in this fairy tale, sweetheart. - I'm getting the marshal. You do that! This whole parade is a fiasco! Let's see what this baby'll do. Hey, what are you doing?! Then all we do is blend in with traffic... ...without arousing suspicion. Once at the airport, there's no stopping us. Stop! Security. - You and your insect pack your float? - Yes. Has it been in your possession the entire time? Would you remove your shoes? - Remove your stinger. - It's part of me. I know. Just having some fun. Enjoy your flight. Then if we're lucky, we'll have just enough pollen to do the job. Oan you believe how lucky we are? We have just enough pollen to do the job! I think this is gonna work. It's got to work. Attention, passengers, this is Oaptain Scott. We have a bit of bad weather in New York. It looks like we'll experience a couple hours delay. Barry, these are cut flowers with no water. They'll never make it. I gotta get up there and talk to them. Be careful. Oan I get help with the Sky Mall magazine? I'd like to order the talking inflatable nose and ear hair trimmer. Oaptain, I'm in a real situation. - What'd you say, Hal? - Nothing. Bee! Don't freak out! My entire species... What are you doing? - Wait a minute! I'm an attorney! - Who's an attorney? Don't move. Oh, Barry. Good afternoon, passengers. This is your captain. Would a Miss Vanessa Bloome in 24B please report to the cockpit? And please hurry! What happened here? There was a DustBuster, a toupee, a life raft exploded. One's bald, one's in a boat, they're both unconscious! - Is that another bee joke? - No! No one's flying the plane! This is JFK control tower, Flight 356. What's your status? This is Vanessa Bloome. I'm a florist from New York. Where's the pilot? He's unconscious, and so is the copilot. Not good. Does anyone onboard have flight experience? As a matter of fact, there is. - Who's that? - Barry Benson. From the honey trial?! Oh, great. Vanessa, this is nothing more than a big metal bee. It's got giant wings, huge engines. I can't fly a plane. - Why not? Isn't John Travolta a pilot? - Yes. How hard could it be? Wait, Barry! We're headed into some lightning. This is Bob Bumble. We have some late-breaking news from JFK Airport, where a suspenseful scene is developing. Barry Benson, fresh from his legal victory... That's Barry! ...is attempting to land a plane, loaded with people, flowers and an incapacitated flight crew. Flowers?! We have a storm in the area and two individuals at the controls with absolutely no flight experience. Just a minute. There's a bee on that plane. I'm quite familiar with Mr. Benson and his no-account compadres. They've done enough damage. But isn't he your only hope? Technically, a bee shouldn't be able to fly at all. Their wings are too small... Haven't we heard this a million times? "The surface area of the wings and body mass make no sense." - Get this on the air! - Got it. - Stand by. - We're going live. The way we work may be a mystery to you. Making honey takes a lot of bees doing a lot of small jobs. But let me tell you about a small job. If you do it well, it makes a big difference. More than we realized. To us, to everyone. That's why I want to get bees back to working together. That's the bee way! We're not made of Jell-O. We get behind a fellow. - Black and yellow! - Hello! Left, right, down, hover. - Hover? - Forget hover. This isn't so hard. Beep-beep! Beep-beep! Barry, what happened?! Wait, I think we were on autopilot the whole time. - That may have been helping me. - And now we're not! So it turns out I cannot fly a plane. All of you, let's get behind this fellow! Move it out! Move out! Our only chance is if I do what I'd do, you copy me with the wings of the plane! Don't have to yell. I'm not yelling! We're in a lot of trouble. It's very hard to concentrate with that panicky tone in your voice! It's not a tone. I'm panicking! I can't do this! Vanessa, pull yourself together. You have to snap out of it! You snap out of it. You snap out of it. - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - Hold it! - Why? Oome on, it's my turn. How is the plane flying? I don't know. Hello? Benson, got any flowers for a happy occasion in there? The Pollen Jocks! They do get behind a fellow. - Black and yellow. - Hello. All right, let's drop this tin can on the blacktop. Where? I can't see anything. Oan you? No, nothing. It's all cloudy. Oome on. You got to think bee, Barry. - Thinking bee. - Thinking bee. Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Wait a minute. I think I'm feeling something. - What? - I don't know. It's strong, pulling me. Like a 27-million-year-old instinct. Bring the nose down. Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! - What in the world is on the tarmac? - Get some lights on that! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! - Vanessa, aim for the flower. - OK. Out the engines. We're going in on bee power. Ready, boys? Affirmative! Good. Good. Easy, now. That's it. Land on that flower! Ready? Full reverse! Spin it around! - Not that flower! The other one! - Which one? - That flower. - I'm aiming at the flower! That's a fat guy in a flowered shirt. I mean the giant pulsating flower made of millions of bees! Pull forward. Nose down. Tail up. Rotate around it. - This is insane, Barry! - This's the only way I know how to fly. Am I koo-koo-kachoo, or is this plane flying in an insect-like pattern? Get your nose in there. Don't be afraid. Smell it. Full reverse! Just drop it. Be a part of it. Aim for the center! Now drop it in! Drop it in, woman! Oome on, already. Barry, we did it! You taught me how to fly! - Yes. No high-five! - Right. Barry, it worked! Did you see the giant flower? What giant flower? Where? Of course I saw the flower! That was genius! - Thank you. - But we're not done yet. Listen, everyone! This runway is covered with the last pollen from the last flowers available anywhere on Earth. That means this is our last chance. We're the only ones who make honey, pollinate flowers and dress like this. If we're gonna survive as a species, this is our moment! What do you say? Are we going to be bees, orjust Museum of Natural History keychains? We're bees! Keychain! Then follow me! Except Keychain. Hold on, Barry. Here. You've earned this. Yeah! I'm a Pollen Jock! And it's a perfect fit. All I gotta do are the sleeves. Oh, yeah. That's our Barry. Mom! The bees are back! If anybody needs to make a call, now's the time. I got a feeling we'll be working late tonight! Here's your change. Have a great afternoon! Oan I help who's next? Would you like some honey with that? It is bee-approved. Don't forget these. Milk, cream, cheese, it's all me. And I don't see a nickel! Sometimes I just feel like a piece of meat! I had no idea. Barry, I'm sorry. Have you got a moment? Would you excuse me? My mosquito associate will help you. Sorry I'm late. He's a lawyer too? I was already a blood-sucking parasite. All I needed was a briefcase. Have a great afternoon! Barry, I just got this huge tulip order, and I can't get them anywhere. No problem, Vannie. Just leave it to me. You're a lifesaver, Barry. Oan I help who's next? All right, scramble, jocks! It's time to fly. Thank you, Barry! That bee is living my life! Let it go, Kenny. - When will this nightmare end?! - Let it all go. - Beautiful day to fly. - Sure is. Between you and me, I was dying to get out of that office. You have got to start thinking bee, my friend. - Thinking bee! - Me? Hold it. Let's just stop for a second. Hold it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, everyone. Oan we stop here? I'm not making a major life decision during a production number! All right. Take ten, everybody. Wrap it up, guys. I had virtually no rehearsal for that.

negative: is abortion a good thing may I point out that homework is bad so god is bad. we know this god created everything so he created homework humans and your mum

negative: No more Homework! My freshman year, I was assigned homework each and every day in math class. We would spend the whole period learning, And then my teacher would give us the work right before the period ended. I got a "C" in that class. My sophomore year, I was rarely assigned homework and instead, We would spend half the period learning something, And the other half on work. We could ask the teacher questions if we had them while doing each problem, And it was a much better way of doing it. I got an "A".

negative: should children have homework should children have homework?

negative: should the drinking age be lowered i think the drinking age shoi=uld be lowered to 15 because they are already doing it anyway so why should they stand around for time when the could just walk right in i tink the drinkingmage shouldent be lowered because is the law i hate it when the law changes stuoid things but not the secrousily ones like fighting an drugs and why people shouold go to jail even if they havent done anything wrong

negative: Resolved: Large amounts of homework are beneficial to the student. I negate the resolution which states Resolved: Large amounts of homework are beneficial to the student. Definitions- large-of considerable or relatively great size, extent, or capacity beneficial-favorable or advantageous; resulting in good homework-schoolwork that a student is required to do at home student-a person who is studying at a school or college

negative: Children should not have homework. Since my opponent has mostly dropped their position, and it's with a logical position: for some students, homework is good and others it is not. There is good logic in that. My opponent did ask about how students view homework, and this is what I found through a quick search: 65% of students view homework as a waste of time, 50% view homework as being overly challenging or simply too difficult, and 29% of the students believed homework was interesting[5]Now, this may not be able to tell us too much, because this is based on how homework currently is. These numbers would likely change if homework was made in such a way where the students got to have a say over what was involved in the homework. I think teachers should just have a overall guideline on what students need to know, and then the students could then create their own homework that teaches them this topic. This would likely increase the amount of students who would find homework interesting(as it's low) since they would get to have a say in what the assignment is. Thus, to reiterate some things, homework shouldn't be completely elliminated, but it should have input from the students so that the students get to do what they believe is most beneficial for them. We don't all learn things the same way, and that would be most beneficial in my opinion, Maybe some students would choose to go without homework, and I think that is fine.Sources:[5]http://ro.ecu.edu.au...

negative: Homework should be banned in USA Well I thought I was going to get a real opponent but it is just some guy trying to advertise Call of Duty or posted it on the wrong debate (which is not likely at all). I am still going to continue with my argument. Homework prevents the waste of time and gives students something beneficial to do with their time. Students waste a lot of time on social media, on the Internet, playing video games, etc. It is okay to use those things in with limitations when you are taking a break from something and trying to lower stress by doing something you love but mindlessly wasting their time and using these things to an over-extent is not something they should be doing. Studies show that students who have homework and do it get better test grades and overall grades in school than ones who do not have any homework. In my closing statement I would like to say that having and doing homework, but not too much of it, is beneficial in learning from a student and teaches them life skills they will use in the real world as well as giving them something useful to do instead of wasting their time. Sources- (1)- http://www.ascd.org...

negative: homework If I could summarize the Con's Round 4 arguments, it would be like the following: Homework causes family disputes. Still no rebuttals on the Pro's (my) arguments. So I am still left with refuting the rest of the Con's statements.However, this round, there is some truth to what the Con says.But once again, I'm forced to bring up the matter at hand of this debate. The Con argues that homework is more bad than good.Therefore, I can only provide evidence that homework is generally more beneficial for the student.As a matter of fact, homework pays off!The benefits are the obvious: It helps children develop positive study skills and habits that will serve them well throughout life Homework encourages children to use their time wisely It teaches children to work independently Homework teaches children to take responsibility for his or her work [1] Besides any disputed educational effects, the latter are reasons homework is beneficial for all children, no matter how old, how well they do, or how much they struggle.Study habits, time management, independence, and responsibility are characteristics that all people need to progress in life, for whatever career path they choose to take. Yes, it is true, homework causes some stress and may result in family disputes. (But not make kids fat. Read this inaccurate and irrelevant article, and you'll understand why I don't buy it. [2])Yet, it can be argued, and I am arguing, that the general benefits outweigh any handicaps. Not only that- but I guarantee that in a majority of the cases in which students are becoming less active or belligerent over homework, the parents are to blame. When students have massive amounts of electronic games or television to watch, why expect them to do homework instead. If every parent were to remove the distractions from the household, then you would have the select few students that genuinely struggle with education and the few situations where homework actually hinders the student pyschologically. In conclusion, homework is generally good and helps more than it does hinders.Thanks for the debate willtreaty1156, I understand this is your first.Vote Pro![1] Top 14 Reasons Why Homework is Important - e-Skool. (2010, October 27). Retrieved May 28, 2015, from http://blog.eskool.ca... [2] Hey Teachers , Ban Homework and You Will Have Less Fat Kids. (n.d.). Retrieved May 28, 2015, from http://www.datehookup.com...

negative: should the homework be banned from schools 1) Your argument is inconsistent. You changed your conclusion from banning homework to improving teaching techniques... I also don't agree that grading homework takes up a significant amount of time that causes teachers to be tired and not want to teach with enthusiasm. Even if this was the case, it is a teachers job to grade homework and then teach the next day so that should not matter. 2) Your saying we should improve US educational systems and totally disregard homework but homework is a very beneficial thing. Homework is practice and practice creates perfection. Homework is given to students to do at night, over the weekends, during Holiday breaks and over summer vacations because it stimulates the child's mind. It is given so the child's mind does not get lazy while they are out of school. 3) Homework should not be banned from schools

negative: Homework is beneficial for school students I accept.

negative: Kids have too much homework we should change it To start with, I believe that no amount of homework is too much. No matter how much it is or how long it takes, I believe that if it is found to be beneficial for the education of children, then it is justified. Technology and the need for skilled workers continue to rise while the need for unskilled labor falls in comparison. This means that children - i. e. future adults - need a better education than older generations. You say that it has "been found that little is learned from homework". Well, the basics of homework is to allow students a chance to learn via repetition the skills they need, so they will remember them later when they need them. Also, even if the gain from homework is minimal as you claim, I believe that it is still important to allow these children to get this gain. In the worst case scenario, they are spending their time doing homework that still help them a little. In the best case scenario, they are memorizing valuable skills that they will use later.

negative: Homework should be banned Everybody has different learning styles. I for one, learn more when I am at home in a quiet room than I do when I am at school, in my case college, where we also have homework. Actually, I just graduated and am waiting to move on to a University, but that is besides the point. Would you have a problem if your homework every night was to read? What students are given as homework is the problem, not homework itself. Your topic was homework should be banned, I don't think it should. "Homework" may have little to do with the reasons behind why students here in America do not get straight A's, but what is happening at home has lot to do with it. Come up with an intelligent idea for how homework should be handled, bring it up to your teacher in a respectful manner, and see what happens. Explain to him/her that you don't believe the homework they require you to do is beneficial to your education. The taxes your parents pay every year is what funds public school systems. You are never too young to stand up for what you believe in. Put some real thought into it before you present your idea.

negative: Homework Should Be Banned Rebuttal:In response to:1. It can put too much stress on the child and family.My opponent argues that it "is possible that too much homework causes too much stress".This is something I will admit. It is only logical. But I miss - and refute - any reasoning why homework should be completely banned on these grounds. By the same argumentation, ANYTHING would have to be banned, as there is a "too much" of anything.Too much water will kill you.[1]Too much oxygen in your lungs can kill you (commonly known as hyperventilation) [2]Should we ban those, too?The research I offered shows that the PROPER amount of homework is beneficial, leading only to one conclusion:Regulate homework instead of banning it.Even my opponent's OWN SOURCE doesn't speak in favour of banning homework:"Teachers need to be much more clear about why they are assigning homework and what the homework is for," Tai said. "If teachers aren't really incorporating homework into their teaching, it's unclear there is any type of benefit at all and it actually may end up hurting students."[3]This, again, clearly calls for a regulation of homework, not an abolition.In response to:"the US can cut out time-wasting subjects, such as health and PE."Firstly, this is a plan by a politician. It is not backed up with any corroborating studies that this will actually help academic performance. So it is nothing more than pure conjecture that this will actually help students improve.Secondly, my opponent did not even provide a source for this claim. While he did put a tag "3", there is no source given under that tag.Thirdly, health and PE are not time-wasting, as a study from 1999 confirms [4]: "These three studies provide encouraging findings about the effects of enhanced physical education on academic performance. Two studies reported academic benefits, and one reported no difference, in spite of 14-26% reduction in instruction time for subjects other than physical education."In response to: "3. When students don't have the teacher they may not have enough help."One essential goal of any education is to make children able to work independently [5]. They must not be raised to rely on a teacher's help all the time. How will they ever learn how to pass an exam, if that will be the first time they may not ask their teacher for help?Homework is necessary to try out strategies learned in class by oneself, so as to see whether they have been understood.Even if the homework was graded, it would make no difference in favour of my opponent's opinion-based argument.Let's say we ban homework. The student leaves class believing they understood a topic, but they have overlooked something. There is no homework to tell the student that he got stuck, but he's still stuck nonetheless. The next day the teacher comes up with a surprise test. The student fails, never understanding why, his grades are bad nonetheless. So, banning homework will not solve the problem you propose.Summarizing:You have one argument that doesn't necessitate the banning of homework. You have basically conceded that the proper amount of homework is beneficial (by saying that too much may do harm you have accepted that there's an amount that does not do harm in contrast).You have one argument without a source given in spite of claiming so.You have one opinion-based argument that doesn't lead anywhere, as it doesn't add to any solution. I have countered it with a reliable source about the goal of education.Your argument is thus completely refuted. [1]: http://www.scientificamerican.com...[2]: http://www.globalrph.com...[3]: http://www.newsplex.com...[4]: http://corepe.pbworks.com...[5]: http://www.ascd.org...

negative: should Students be given homework during the weekends Since this debate is coming to a closing and we"re at round four, I though I should introduce new evidence to my case. As I've been researching why we should have homework on the weekends, I realized mainly that we should have it because it provides extra brain training over your two-day break so that you will remember what you"ve learned during to week. To begin here is a list of ten benefits from homework in general. 1.It improves your thinking and memory 2.It helps you develop positive study skills and habits that will serve you well throughout life 3.Homework encourages you to use time wisely 4.It teaches you to work independently 5.Homework teaches you to take responsibility for your work 6.It allows you to review and practice what has been covered in class 7.Homework helps you learn to use resources, such as libraries, reference materials, and computer Web sites to find information 8.It encourages you to explores subjects more fully than classroom time permits 9.It allows you to extend learning by applying skills to new situations 10.It helps you integrate learning by applying many different skills to a single task, such as book reports or science projects (Brought to you by http://blog.eskool.ca...) I would like to thank the people at http://blog.eskool.ca.... That list states an excellent set of benefits from doing homework. Overall it"s saying that homework prepares you through difficulties in life. With the skills and good habits you obtain from homework it becomes easier to overcome your problems. "In a study conducted by Hill, Spencer, Alston and Fitzgerald (1986), homework was positively linked to student achievement. They indicate that homework is an inexpensive method of improving student academic preparation without increasing staff or modifying curriculum. "So, as the pressure to improve test scores continues to increase, so does the emphasis on homework"" (Brought to you by http://www.studentpulse.com...) There is the evidence folks, and like I said before it helps people overcome their problems and to achieve goals such as higher test score (also known as growth in education) to help society function correctly, and with a wise mind. If you don"t believe me about this test here is another test conducted carried out by the researchers at Duke University. " DURHAM, N.C. - It turns out that parents are right to nag: To succeed in school, kids should do their homework. Duke University researchers have reviewed more than 60 research studies on homework between 1987 and 2003 and concluded that homework does have a positive effect on student achievement. Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology and director of Duke's Program in Education, said the research synthesis that he led showed the positive correlation was much stronger for secondary students --- those in grades 7 through 12 --- than those in elementary school. "With only rare exception, the relationship between the amount of homework students do and their achievement outcomes was found to be positive and statistically significant," the researchers report in a paper that appears in the spring 2006 edition of "Review of Educational Research."" Cooper is the lead author; Jorgianne Civey Robinson, a Ph.D. student in psychology, and Erika Patall, a graduate student in psychology, are co-authors. (Brought to you by http://today.duke.edu...) Once again readers, there is the evidence that homework is beneficial. Therefore, there is no reason for it not to be beneficial on weekends. Ultimately, homework given to students on the weekend is beneficial. If I still do not have you on board with my side I suggest reading this extra evidence. Homework set prior to a lesson can aid understanding later in class. Homework also provides opportunities for reinforcement of work learned during school time and for children to develop their research skills. Children will need to seek information for themselves from reference materials such as encyclopaedias, books, CD ROMs and by doing so, are helped along the path to becoming independent learners. Having the responsibility of needing to meet deadlines promotes self-discipline, an attribute that will impact on schoolwork and beyond. (Brought to you by http://www.topmarks.co.uk...) Thank you everyone for staying tuned in on my side of the case for: whether or not students should have homework over the weekends. Yes they should. Hey, I appreciate everything you guys and hope to for the final round of this debate to wrap up my argument with an overall conclusion of my case and how this, being my first debate, has been. Once again thank you.

negative: Homework is immoral on a deep level. Hey Harlan, I apologize for being unable to post on the first debate. I've been swamped with school and homework lately and just haven't had time. I am very interested in this topic and I look forward to debating it with you. My opening topic is in response to your original opening statement. Feel free just to repost your original opening statement and add a response to mine. I was once in your shoes Harlan. I completely hated homework. It was trivial to me. I would get the same grades in a class whether or not I did the homework. I hated the fact that I went to school for 8 hours a day just to come home and do another 2-3 hours of homework every night. I disagreed so much with homework that I even called in to a local AM radio show when they were on the topic of homework to voice my opinion. Then came high school and college. My whole opinion of the system reversed. For once in my life I realized what the point of homework was and how beneficial it was to understanding and reinforcing the material that was learned in class. The average high school class is 45 minutes long. In that time you take 5 minutes to organize the class and the rest teaching. In that 40 minutes of teaching it is impossible to reinforce the topics introduced enough to embed them in the minds of the students. That is where homework comes in. Homework reinforces the work that was taught in class and allows the child to fully absorb the information that was presented to them. In college, homework is essential. Without it most of the student population would be lost in translation. Sitting in a lecture hall of 400 students listening to an a professor talk in a monotonic voice doesn't allow anyone to learn anything, it mearly provides a guideline of what needs to be studied and what homework needs to be done to learn the material. Is homework immoral in some cases? Yes. Homework is immoral when it is assigned just to give a student homework and not to reinforce material that was presented earlier in the day. In this case homework interferes with a childs outside of school development as well as time spent socializing and interacting with peers and family members.

negative: Work work is more rewarding than homework. Actually producing something of value and use in the world is of greater satisfaction than studying and working on fictional projects that go nowhere, even if they are educationally beneficial.