Dear young reader: This column is not a cunning ploy to gain your trust. However …
You may be interested to know that a growing movement is afoot. It argues, much like many of you do, that homework just stinks.
Perhaps it’s time to crack open that piggy bank and buy your parents a book. Two new ones should catch your attention: “The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It” by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish and “The Homework Myth” by Alfie Kohn.
When you hand it over, let your parents know that according to a 2004 national survey of 2,900 children conducted by the University of Michigan, the amount of time you spend on homework is up 51 percent since 1981.
And – because they’re really old – your parents may not realize you’re dealing with a lot more pressure than they had.
I have no strong opinion or experience regarding this matter, as my children are too young, but what I hear from those parents with elementary-school-age students is: Man, my kids have a ton of homework.
Do your teachers know that Duke University professor Harris Cooper, one of the nation’s leading psychology experts, claims that elementary students, outside of some basic skills, get no academic benefit from homework?
According to Cooper, middle school students are kaput after an hour and a half of homework. You high school students, you’re no good to anyone after two hours.
Yet many parents contend their children are facing a minimum of three hours of homework each night. They do homework on weekends and on vacations.
It’s not necessarily counterproductive to push kids to be competitive, but is this sort of rigorous schedule especially helpful in children’s achievement?
Some experts point out that in places like Japan and Denmark, where kids are outperforming the U.S. on student achievement tests, teachers assign far less homework than they do here.
Now comes the tough part. I’m going to try to get an education professional to admit on the record that homework is a waste of everyone’s time.
Phillip Chung is the project director for the Colorado After School Network. He thinks after-school programs should advance academic achievement, and programs that integrate homework help.
“From our perspective,” he explains, “we like to see a balance of opportunities provided in those after-school hours. So it’s not just homework help, but it’s opportunity for learning. Learning that is framed off the context of other things, like art, music, leadership development, and even recreational activities.”
Chung tells me that the hours between 3 and 6 p.m. are a crucial time to keep your kids busy. Most local and national research confirms that these are the hours in which kids tend to engage in drug abuse, crime and sexual activity.
When I speak to Mable Young, the executive director of Bennie E. Goodwin After School Academic Program in Aurora, she tells me homework, especially focusing on reading and math, is imperative to help struggling students catch up to their grade level.
Shane Spence, a counselor at Place Middle School in Denver and a former teacher, says she used to assign homework because time constraints meant that not all the material could be covered in class.
What this tells us, perhaps, is that each child is different. Some children may need more, others less.
So it will certainly be worth paying attention to the homework debate as it develops. As of now, I’m undecided.
While engaged in researching this topic, I ran across discussion on a “National Youth Rights” Web forum. A poster from Colorado Springs wrote, “… my elementary school aged siblings get more homework than I ever did in high school. It’s utterly rediculous.”
Now, who among us isn’t guilty of the occasional typo? Maybe with a little more homework, this sort of thing wouldn’t happen.
David Harsanyi’s column appears Monday and Thursday. He can be reached at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
