it is neither healthy nor humane to put kids through an already screwed up and draining education system five days a week and then turn around and put even morestress on them by making them do extra work out of school and punishing them if they don’t do it, despite the fact that it’s often inaccessible for some kids. like how do you make kids’ lives hell and then wonder why so many of them have anxiety and depression
There’s something perversely fascinating about educational policies that are clearly at odds with the available data. Huge schools are still being built even though we know that students tend to fare better in smaller places that lend themselves to the creation of democratic caring communities. Many children who are failed by the academic status quo are forced to repeat a grade even though research shows that this is just about the worst course of action for them. Homework continues to be assigned – in ever greater quantities – despite the absence of evidence that it’s necessary or even helpful in most cases… Supporters of homework rarely look at things from the student’s point of view, though; instead, kids are regarded as inert objects to be acted on: Make them practice and they’ll get better… Children cannot be made to acquire skills. They aren’t vending machines such that we put in more homework and get out more learning.
- Alfie Kohn, 2006, The Truth About Homework(Kohn is a researcher and educator focused on the ways we teach; in 2006 he released a controversial book called The Homework Myth compiling research for the argument that homework as it stands should be abolished.)
[ID: The “it’s free real estate” meme edited to read “it’s intentional normalisation of overtime so that capital can benefit from free labour” /end ID]
In the United States, the accepted guideline, which is supported by both the National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association, is the 10-minute rule: Children should have no more than 10 minutes of homework each day for each grade reached. In 1st grade, children should have 10 minutes of daily homework; in 2nd grade, 20 minutes; and so on to the 12th grade, when on average they should have 120 minutes of homework each day, which is about 10 hours a week. It doesn’t always work out that way.
In 2013, the University of Phoenix College of Education commissioned a survey of how much homework teachers typically give their students. From kindergarten to 5th grade, it was just under three hours per week; from 6th to 8th grade, it was 3.2 hours; and from 9th to 12th grade, it was 3.5 hours.
There are two points to note. First, these are the amounts given by individual teachers. To estimate the total time children are expected to spend on homework, you need to multiply these hours by the number of teachers they work with. High school students who work with five teachers in different curriculum areas may find themselves with 17.5 hours or more of homework a week, which is the equivalent of a part-time job.
Emphasis added. (“Second” was a mention that not all kids work at the same rate; there is no such thing as “one hour’s worth of homework.”)
I would love to see parents get together and challenge school districts, even on the recommended amounts, pointing out that a normal workday is 8 hours and it would be very unreasonable to expect children to work MORE than adults (…also, it is illegal to require children to work for pay for that many hours, so, it should also be illegal to require them to work without pay).
And as the fallback position: “I will allow the school to assign 10 min/day/grade of homework, non-cumulative: No skipping the homework one day and doubling it the next. My kid should be able to come home, immediately do between 10 minutes and 2 hours of homework (for a 12th grader), and then not look at school content again until they’re back in school. No weekend assignments. If you can’t teach these subjects in the time allotted to you by law, you are failing at your jobs. If you believe students absolutely need more practice than fits in that time… petition your local legislature to change the school hours. My time with my family is valuable to me, and you don’t get to encroach on it at will.”
