Free writing

Hey I would really love to hear what you all have to say about the subject of free writing.  What benefits does giving students time to free write everyday in class give to the students if any at all?  I would really appreciate any thoughts!

In one of my classes last week my professor asked the everyone in the class to raise their hands if they like homework.  Everyone in the class looked at one another waiting for someone to raise their hand.  Slowly hands started going up and my professor called on a girl and asked her why she believed homework was not beneficial for students.  She had no idea what to say.  He then asked everyone to take out a piece of paper and take a stance on more or less homework in schools and support their opinion.  I took the stance of less homework in schools which is what I have always believed, but I had trouble justifying that opinion.  I believe that class time should be utilized in a way that does not require students to do an enormous amount of work outside of school because they have work and other activities to participate in.  Many students also have families to help take care of and other obligations.  I have always thought that more students would be successful in school if not forced to do so much work outside of school.  However, since I will only have my students in the classroom for 45 minutes a day I can imagine the challenge that would arise if I actually tried to assign very little homework.  What do you think are the benefits and disadvantages of assigning homework?  Is there a way to educate students properly with less homework?  Or is homework important for students to make time for?