Homework
Homework, homework, homework… I’m sick of it and my kids are too. Did we (Gen-X or whatever the heck I am) have this kind of homework growing up? Hell no. More importantly, is it helping? I’m not convinced. My kids are stressed out and hating school right now. They are uninspired and really like my (recently copyrighted and patented) idea of working or going to school on Saturday and Sunday. Then having Monday through Friday off.
Seriously though, I don’t see the advantage to piling on the homework. In China, they work the kids to the bone. They are in school longer, by the year and per number of hours in a day. I hear from my friends there that the kids also hate school and think it is too difficult. Some of these kids are up until 10:00 or 11:00 at night finishing homework, daily, after 8-10 hours at school.
So are the people who went through school in the 50’s and 60’s here in the US less capable than the kids from more recent decades? I seriously doubt it. In fact, the polls, survey’s, and tests that typically rank US students behind those from other countries don’t take into consideration quality of life. I don't think people realize that these other countries that produce “really” smart kids, are also depriving them from experiencing some of the most important times of their childhood. These kids don’t know what its like to have fun after school. They never leave school.
Children today will be the grown-ups of tomorrow so this is why education is such an important topic. Unfortunately, I don’t think our current approach will actually improve our situation. Burning kids out to the point where they have no desire to continue to go to school does not seem right. My kids constantly ask me if it’s going to get any easier. I can only tell them the truth, no. College is tough and is meant to be so.
I don’t think we have any idea what the consequences and results of our modified educational curriculum will be. Homework only reduces the amount of time children have for real life. If our educational system of years past was so bad, then everyone we hold to be brilliant from then are strictly anomalies. Scholars, philosophers, physicists, doctors, lawyers, politicians, astronomers, etc. from our recent past, everyone’s accomplishments that have resulted in today’s society were actually freak exceptions that happened to leak through the system. I don’t think so.
To simply say that because students from other countries out perform students from the US, implies that US educational standards are inadequate is outright false. There are so many other dynamics that contribute to an individual’s intelligence that have nothing to do with a countries educational system.
Sorry for the rant.
Fej.
Seriously though, I don’t see the advantage to piling on the homework. In China, they work the kids to the bone. They are in school longer, by the year and per number of hours in a day. I hear from my friends there that the kids also hate school and think it is too difficult. Some of these kids are up until 10:00 or 11:00 at night finishing homework, daily, after 8-10 hours at school.
So are the people who went through school in the 50’s and 60’s here in the US less capable than the kids from more recent decades? I seriously doubt it. In fact, the polls, survey’s, and tests that typically rank US students behind those from other countries don’t take into consideration quality of life. I don't think people realize that these other countries that produce “really” smart kids, are also depriving them from experiencing some of the most important times of their childhood. These kids don’t know what its like to have fun after school. They never leave school.
Children today will be the grown-ups of tomorrow so this is why education is such an important topic. Unfortunately, I don’t think our current approach will actually improve our situation. Burning kids out to the point where they have no desire to continue to go to school does not seem right. My kids constantly ask me if it’s going to get any easier. I can only tell them the truth, no. College is tough and is meant to be so.
I don’t think we have any idea what the consequences and results of our modified educational curriculum will be. Homework only reduces the amount of time children have for real life. If our educational system of years past was so bad, then everyone we hold to be brilliant from then are strictly anomalies. Scholars, philosophers, physicists, doctors, lawyers, politicians, astronomers, etc. from our recent past, everyone’s accomplishments that have resulted in today’s society were actually freak exceptions that happened to leak through the system. I don’t think so.
To simply say that because students from other countries out perform students from the US, implies that US educational standards are inadequate is outright false. There are so many other dynamics that contribute to an individual’s intelligence that have nothing to do with a countries educational system.
Sorry for the rant.
Fej.
posted by Fej at 11:24 PM
3 Comments:
Hi Fej
I think that in every country nowadays, this is a very political debate. Politicians are modifying the educational systems just for public confidence. Whether the system is improving is another question.
Anyway, I can see that you list is getting bigger. This will grow and you'll get more traffic.
IT's also interesting to note how most of the school districts are thinking about dropping arts classes completely. Best example, Music programs. When I was in HS, classes like these were a reprieve from the usual boredom of regular classes. Killing such programs could signal the death of creativity.
It's still hasn't been long enough to forget the horrors of Middle School and HS. I drive past my old MS and HS everyday and can still recall the old memories I have.
Yeah, even back then we had homework on the first day of school and the last day of Christmas break. In HS when we had block schedule's, and we started new classes after X-mas, we still had homework for those new classes which usually included reading an entire book.
I think what was worse than homework, was the lugging 15 lbs of books around.
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