Homework; The Elephant in the room

Educators' Lounge


Ask anyone on the street, no matter their age, about homework and you are bound to get an instant reaction. Vietnam acid-like flashbacks of a time gone by, or simply from the other day a school run through the mind. The drill sergeant of the classroom demanding more; more time, more effort and more commitment.

This unforgiving Mamal in the room has to be viewed from all perspectives, from Educators to Learners, Parental Guardians to Human Resources Dept and from Companies to Education Institutions. However this particular White Elephant can be boiled down to simply,
"Should we be setting and/or doing Homework?"

As Learners go back to school and we begin to negotiate balancing family time and take-home assignments, we relate and share that, Learners are stressed out and exhausted by the volume of homework they receive (so, too, are parents who say they've had to become drill sergeants in their own home to get it all done). Other parents say their kids aren't getting enough or any homework at all and they've had to create their own to keep their kids challenged. Some parents complained that their kids' homework is more busy work than helpful work to improve academic performance, while others said their kids' homework is just right -- and critical to competing in a global economy.
The concept of homework is so ingrained in our culture that people can't and won't think about what it might be like if we just stopped making our kids do homework, refuse to enforce more than 10 minutes of homework per grade level for each grade of learner, which is the guideline recommended by both the National PTA and the National Education Association, can significantly impact a Learner.

Homework: How much, how often?

On the other side of the debate is Ann Gunty, a mom of four in Flagstaff, Arizona, who doesn't understand -- or support -- the notion that children should have less homework or no homework at all.
"I just don't think it's the right thing to say, 'Oh, they don't need any homework. It's just too much. They should be out playing and adults relaxing after a hard days of work. They should only go to school,' " Gunty states. "Making it less and less and less is contributing to us being less competitive worldwide." Gunty's kids, who attend a school that runs from grade 5 through 12, get between one to two hours of homework, including 30 math problems every night, which she feels is appropriate, beneficial (her kids' school enjoys high test scores and strong college placement) and not intrusive on their ability to still be kids or enjoy family time.

Mozart Saint Cyr, a father or two in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, takes it bit further: He doesn't think kids today get enough homework and are so distracted by video games and social media that they're going downhill. He says parents should demand more from their kids: "If the school provided extra homework, some parents would force their kids to do (it)."

Author: Nicholas Blunsum

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*information and interviews sourced from CNN.