It’s been a while since I was a parent of students, and even longer since I was a student myself, but there’s still a part of me that thinks the year really begins when fall semester starts. And another summer is gone - too fast for some - I don’t want to have to get up early to get to class, and too slow for others - I have got to get these kids out of the house and back to school.
(Kids enjoying a Knuckleball Comedy after school class)
So with the start of another school year, I’ve been intrigued by headlines announcing the demise of homework. Really? Isn’t homework as much a part of school life as science, gym, lunch room, recess? And in today’s world, isn’t having homework something that might keep kids off their devices after school and allow them to spend some quiet time with just their books, working out some math problems, maybe writing an essay?
But no, apparently not, according to the latest thinking by leaders in education and mental health. A recent Stanford survey revealed that 67% of high school students cited homework load as a major source of stress. That percentage increased to 80% among those doing three or more hours of homework daily. Ok, well three hours is a lot and we know there’s been a mental health crisis among older children, much of it tied to social media. So is a no-homework policy part of the answer?
Unclear, although researchers also found that the correlation between homework and academic achievement is hard to measure - with younger students, there’s not much research showing homework improves academics. Educators believe a no homework policy helps increase the overall social-emotional health of students, especially at the elementary level.
Then there’s also perhaps the elephant in the room - how many students are even really doing their homework when it is assigned these days? What’s the effect of AI - Artificial Intelligence, such as ChapGPT? According to a Pew survey, among teens who've heard of ChatGPT, about 20% say they’ve used it to help them with schoolwork, 69% say it’s acceptable to use it to research new topics, 39% say it’s acceptable to use it to solve math problems, and 20% say it’s acceptable to use it to write essays. Seems like these numbers are only likely to increase as AI becomes even more sophisticated and mainstreamed.
Leave it to California to address the homework issue head on - with legislation! They do seem to like passing laws in California and the one that just passed would recommend that school districts evaluate the mental and physical health impacts of homework assignments. The Assemblymember who proposed the bill said she did so after her 4th grade daughter asked her if she could “ban homework” when she was elected, and she realized the idea had merit.
As for me, I can’t help but wonder what these kids could do with the extra homework free after school hours? How about some fun after school activities - comedy improv with Knuckleball Comedy perhaps? Now that sounds like a pretty good idea.
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