HOMEWORK

Is homework a waste of time?

Children have long suspected it, and now research confirms it: homework is a waste of time. Anxiety, boredom, fatigue and emotional exhaustion are all side-effects of bringing schoolwork home, according to a review of 75 years of study into the issue.

Even those who believe homework improves their performance in the classroom resent the encroachment on their spare time. How many kids actually enjoy homework? Why do most kids dread homework to the point where each night there is a struggle with parents over whether or not it is done, sometimes ending in tears, anger, fighting and punishment?

Students are in school for up to seven hours per day. What could they be doing instead of homework?



1. Pursuing their own interests and hobbies (art, independent study, building things, writing, role playing, games, etc.)
2. Physical activities or sports (Riding bike, skateboarding, swimming, snowboarding, basketball, gymnastics, dance, etc.)
3. Spending time with family
4. Hanging out with friends
5. Spending time in solitude just thinking or inventing
6. Reading for themselves
7. Exploring and traveling (the woods, the pond, the ocean, the city, etc.)
8. Letting your curiosity run wild
9. Making up adventures

What is the purpose of homework, anyway?
Teachers will tell you that homework helps kids put into practice what they've learned in school.
Not according to one leading academic."Homework generally is worthless. It's all pain and no gain," said Alfie Kohn, author of "The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing." "No study has ever demonstrated any academic benefit to doing homework before high school."




What can you do?

Ask your parents to write a note to the teacher saying that you are only allowed to do � hour of homework per night due to family responsibilities.
Ask your teacher if she/he will allow you to put together an independent study of your choice instead of the regularly assigned homework.
Use academic notes for large reading projects or learn to speed read by skimming headings (you�ll need to learn that skill for uni homework!).
Instead of reading 50 pages of your history textbook, ask if you could read books that aren't textbooks- Textbooks are often biased and don't present the whole truth about history and politics.
Try to get all of your homework done during free periods and lunch time. You'll have more free time later!
If your homework doesn't count for a big portion of your grade, boycott homework and only do work at home for big projects or term papers that account for a big part of your grade.
Do homework only for the classes in which grades and credits are most important and for classes that you enjoy.
If you are in a situation where you cannot sacrifice your grade point average and your parents are unwilling to take your side, try to put homework into perspective: Your high school grades do not determine your career, nor how successful you will be as an adult.