Atlantic piece: "My Daughter's Homework is Killing Me"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not true. ^^ I find it very frustrating that whenever the subject of TOO MUCH HOMEWORK comes up, someone - usually a male voice who wasn't much help to his wife when the kids were growing up and now enjoys beating people up on the internet as a retirement hobby - makes this remarks about 'screens". Sorry, 18:36 is that is not your demographic. But it is a pattern and in so many cases it is simply not true. In our household we have rigid screens, phone, Iphone and computer rules. NO TV during the school week etc. Homework comes first. But the kids are still going to bed at midnight and getting up at 5:30 and it has nothing to do with screens or phones. Sorry 18:36 for the vent, but I'm tired of this prattle every time a serious poster compalins about too much homework. Too much homework has ruined our homelife, our kids' lives, and our ability to enjoy and do a lot of activities.

Well, you got my demographic wrong -- woman, of childbearing years, lol, AND I'm in the workforce! And sorry, your rhetoric -- homework that has ruined your homelife and kids' lives?! -- sounds, shall we say, overheated.

On a more serious note, if your children are getting only 5.5 hours of sleep a night they are either (a) over-committed to activities; (b) in a school that is too hard for them and you should re-assess; and/or (c) are putting too much pressure on themselves to be perfect, whether or not you are putting on such pressure.

I apologize for getting your demographic wrong. I have seen this happen so many times. Parents complain about too much homework. And then someone (usually male who had no involvement in taking care of the kids or homework - I do ask - btw, how old are your children?) pops in to lecture what poor mothers we are and that our kids are lazy and are spending all their time on Iphones, playing games, or on the computer (for non-school work). In all the families that I know who are suffering under the homework burden, irresponsible kids with too much screen time is not the problem. As to your questions
(a) they (my kids) have no activities to "Over-commit" to because of the homework - which also means they are getting flabby from sitting all the time, which I don't like; (b) they are in public school so there is no where else to go; and (c) they are not perfectionists. They are simply trying to get through the assignments for seven classes, including prep for tests and ongoing "projects" (make a diorama; make a poster; make a diagram of your house). They do not get enough sleep which is why I support SLEEP.

[Anonymous]

Whats interesting is the overwhelming number of posts here saying there's too much homework, which is pretty much what I hear from all parents. So why is this happening? Who is supporting it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whats interesting is the overwhelming number of posts here saying there's too much homework, which is pretty much what I hear from all parents. So why is this happening? Who is supporting it?

There are some parents on this thread that don't think 3 hours is too much and they just think kids are busy on social media, exercise too much and spend too much time volunteering and that is the problem.

If they would just stop doing sports and helping others the hw problem will go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you are supposed to tell us what you think first. otherwise, you are in violation of TOS.

Wow the second poster b**#ch strikes again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look for half of DCUM to discredit him because he smoked weed at the end.

Who didn't smoke it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look for half of DCUM to discredit him because he smoked weed at the end.

Who didn't smoke it?

PP Here: I want to make a correction. I think that there are some people on DCUM who didn't smoke it but desperately need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whats interesting is the overwhelming number of posts here saying there's too much homework, which is pretty much what I hear from all parents. So why is this happening? Who is supporting it?

Like the article says, there is always a clique of parents who think the homework burden is "just fine". They are generally outliers in terms of their level of achievement and ability--Exceptionally capable and perhaps their kids maturity level is way above the norm. But these parents have been allowed to frame the conversation. Admins like to feel they are promoting "exceptionalism" even if it leaves the bulk of the class scuffling along to keep up with no personal life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whats interesting is the overwhelming number of posts here saying there's too much homework, which is pretty much what I hear from all parents. So why is this happening? Who is supporting it?

There are some parents on this thread that don't think 3 hours is too much and they just think kids are busy on social media, exercise too much and spend too much time volunteering and that is the problem.

If they would just stop doing sports and helping others the hw problem will go away.

I don't think three hours of homework is too much for a high school student. If an elementary school student is getting that much homework, I would agree.

The research shows American students are spending more screen time and doing less work than ever before (the numbers on college students are staggering). I am sympathetic to the poster whose kids are in public school and have homework in seven courses that is limiting them to an unhealthy amount of sleep -- that sounds terrible and perhaps is linked to the NCLB driven test frenzy?

However, as someone with kids in independent schools who taught in independent schools at the high school level a generation ago, I can tell you that the amount of homework does not appear to have increased. Same general amount of reading assigned in the English classes (and if anything, shorter English papers), same general amount of math homework, etc. What has increased is outside sports commitment (an athletic kid used to have his/her school team, now there is a club apparatus for almost all sports than can take up a tremendous amount of time, including on weekends); an increased anxiety about college admissions that appears to leave teenagers and parents thinking they need to be experts in a multiplicity of areas; and, yes, "screen time" -- just think honestly about how distracting the internet/cellphone/computer is for grown adults and then think back to what you would have done as a teenager with that magical device, the cell phone.

High school students who are able to use their time efficiently (and I'm not judging, I was a bit of a social gabber in high school myself) can generally knock off an hour or more of work during the school day and/or before school sports begin, and if they work efficiently at home and use the weekend to do some work (reading ahead for English and history, for example), there's no need for staying up to ungodly hours. But yeah, high school kids are not always efficient, and they want to hang out or get a snack before practice, and they want to chill out on the weekend because they are tired out from an admittedly fast-paced week. But, at least in the independent school world (can't speak to kids in public school carrying seven homework-assigning classes), to my relatively experienced eye it's not the schools that have changed in terms of homeowrk, it's the additional demands and distractions that have been added to the kids' lives.

[Anonymous]

I disagree that it is screen time. I think kids are choosing: sports, volunteering, art or an instrument.

If all of this is handled during school time, which many of the "balanced" schools offer, then 3 hours is okay.

But if most of the classes are academic and there are 3 hours of homework, you get ...

3-4: homework
4-6: sports (if there is no game)
7pm: home showered
7-7:30: eat dinner
7:30-9:30: homework (two straight hours, no breaks, I won't even go into how unhealthy that is)
10-6: 8 hours of sleep

Sounds reasonable...
But where is volunteering, practice an instrument, read your little sister a book, take the dog for a walk, visit your grandmother, do something you love besides the sports

We have created a generation that wakes up, goes to school, does homework, goes to bed and then does it all over again.
I know that so many parent pride themselves on working until 10pm at night, billing the most hours, etc. and they are passing this "work ethic" on to their kids.

I happen to disagree that it is a work ethic maybe work pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Is this mostly a DC/NYC thing? I wonder. In Chicago where I used to live the work ethic was...work your tail off from 9-5 but then go home and enjoy yourself. Hang out with family and friends. Are the kids in middle America doing 5-6 hours of homework a night plus all the other junk piled on? I have to assume they are but I just don't really know

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: Are there any MS/HS options in DC that offer both a sharp, engaged peer group and a light-to-manageable homework load?

Most schools have minimum core requirements. If somebody stuck to the minimum and forgo AP classes they would have less homework. But everybody is afraid to do that in fear of going to a lesser college.

I took lots of APs, got 5s on everything, and did maybe -- MAYBE -- ten hours of homework a week, all in. I can't believe that a similar course load today really *requires* 2-3 times that.

Well good for you. But the private big three I went to did not allow that. If you had only spent two hours a night on homework, you would have only finished half your homework a night and been crucified by the teachers and counseled out. Many kids are assigned four to five hour of homework a night, with even more to do over the weekend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whats interesting is the overwhelming number of posts here saying there's too much homework, which is pretty much what I hear from all parents. So why is this happening? Who is supporting it?

There are some parents on this thread that don't think 3 hours is too much and they just think kids are busy on social media, exercise too much and spend too much time volunteering and that is the problem.

If they would just stop doing sports and helping others the hw problem will go away.

I don't think three hours of homework is too much for a high school student. If an elementary school student is getting that much homework, I would agree.

The research shows American students are spending more screen time and doing less work than ever before (the numbers on college students are staggering). I am sympathetic to the poster whose kids are in public school and have homework in seven courses that is limiting them to an unhealthy amount of sleep -- that sounds terrible and perhaps is linked to the NCLB driven test frenzy?

However, as someone with kids in independent schools who taught in independent schools at the high school level a generation ago, I can tell you that the amount of homework does not appear to have increased. Same general amount of reading assigned in the English classes (and if anything, shorter English papers), same general amount of math homework, etc. What has increased is outside sports commitment (an athletic kid used to have his/her school team, now there is a club apparatus for almost all sports than can take up a tremendous amount of time, including on weekends); an increased anxiety about college admissions that appears to leave teenagers and parents thinking they need to be experts in a multiplicity of areas; and, yes, "screen time" -- just think honestly about how distracting the internet/cellphone/computer is for grown adults and then think back to what you would have done as a teenager with that magical device, the cell phone.

High school students who are able to use their time efficiently (and I'm not judging, I was a bit of a social gabber in high school myself) can generally knock off an hour or more of work during the school day and/or before school sports begin, and if they work efficiently at home and use the weekend to do some work (reading ahead for English and history, for example), there's no need for staying up to ungodly hours. But yeah, high school kids are not always efficient, and they want to hang out or get a snack before practice, and they want to chill out on the weekend because they are tired out from an admittedly fast-paced week. But, at least in the independent school world (can't speak to kids in public school carrying seven homework-assigning classes), to my relatively experienced eye it's not the schools that have changed in terms of homeowrk, it's the additional demands and distractions that have been added to the kids' lives.

But at least when I attended back in the 90s, the schools pressured the kids to do these things for college applications. I was an editor of my paper, did several arts activities, community service, debate club, a musical instrument, etc, and my college counselor to,d me I needed more activities! Even though I had something every single day! Absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: Are there any MS/HS options in DC that offer both a sharp, engaged peer group and a light-to-manageable homework load?

Most schools have minimum core requirements. If somebody stuck to the minimum and forgo AP classes they would have less homework. But everybody is afraid to do that in fear of going to a lesser college.

I took lots of APs, got 5s on everything, and did maybe -- MAYBE -- ten hours of homework a week, all in. I can't believe that a similar course load today really *requires* 2-3 times that.

Well good for you. But the private big three I went to did not allow that. If you had only spent two hours a night on homework, you would have only finished half your homework a night and been crucified by the teachers and counseled out. Many kids are assigned four to five hour of homework a night, with even more to do over the weekend.

My DC NEVER had only two hours of homework from Langley a night. DC was a diligent student - came home and went right to work. No screens. At midnight we would have to shove her off to bed, only to get up at 5:30 and start all over. If you have 7 subjects (yes I know staggered days) and each teacher is assigning a minimum of an hour in the subject, it takes that long to do it all. Plus the long term project. Plus the long term reading assignments. Never again.

[Anonymous]

Take a look!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6jZHNjc4Xk0

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: Are there any MS/HS options in DC that offer both a sharp, engaged peer group and a light-to-manageable homework load?

Most schools have minimum core requirements. If somebody stuck to the minimum and forgo AP classes they would have less homework. But everybody is afraid to do that in fear of going to a lesser college.

I took lots of APs, got 5s on everything, and did maybe -- MAYBE -- ten hours of homework a week, all in. I can't believe that a similar course load today really *requires* 2-3 times that.

Well good for you. But the private big three I went to did not allow that. If you had only spent two hours a night on homework, you would have only finished half your homework a night and been crucified by the teachers and counseled out. Many kids are assigned four to five hour of homework a night, with even more to do over the weekend.

New Poster here. I think this is a change over time. I attended Sidwell in the 70's and early 80's and don't remember more than an hour or two of homework a night, unless it was something I had put off and allowed to pile up.