- Jun 23, 2001
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http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/05/19/parents-in-n-j-town-start-movement-to-abolish-homework/
I'm kinda thinking some of these students are grossly over reporting how much time they spend on home work. Or their time management skills are just pathetic and they're struggling to do everything in the 11th hour.
MAPLEWOOD, N.J. (CBSNewYork) A lot of kids complain about homework, but now some parents are saying their children are getting too much and want it abolished.
Even during their lunch break, high school students in Maplewood try to squeeze in some homework.
Two or three hours, freshman Maddy Reichman told CBS 2s Cindy Hsu, referring to how much homework she gets on average per night.
Friends said its sometimes as much as four hours and makes for a very hard balancing act.
I play sports so its really tough to have practice right after school and come home at 6:30 and then do my homework, eat, do my chores, do everything, Reichman said.
High school junior Jeremy Walrond said his nightly homework load is massive.
In terms of hours, I guess like around five or six, Walrond said.
Now while youll find lots of students who want to cut down on the amount of homework, theres actually a parent who wants to get rid of it altogether. She sent out an e-mail to other parents in the South Orange/Maplewood area, asking them to organize to help abolish homework.
Education expert Sy Fliegel said not having homework is not the answer.
Its like someone saying to you too much food is no good for you, whats the solution? Lets not eat anything, said Fliegel, of the Center for Educational Innovation. What has to happen is more attention has to be paid to the quality of the homework assignment.
Fliegel said schools need to follow homework amount guidelines, such as 10 minutes for first graders, 20 minutes for second graders and so on, with the maximum load of homework reaching two hours in high school.
He said teachers should coordinate with each other.
My daughter is frequently up until midnight doing homework, sometimes past. Last night it was 2 a.m., parent Jeff Schnorr said.
Even some students think abolishing homework is going too far.
I think it would be nice, but Im not sure we could ever abolish it 100 percent, because it helps me sometimes, freshman Molly Brett said.
But students told Hsu, with really effective teachers, less can mean more when it comes to learning.
Education experts said homework is also a good tool to let parents know whats going on in class and for teachers to monitor a students progress.
I'm kinda thinking some of these students are grossly over reporting how much time they spend on home work. Or their time management skills are just pathetic and they're struggling to do everything in the 11th hour.