Oy, the stress. Of doing stuff. It’s nonstop.
If a California lawmaker gets her way, it will stop, though, at least in the schools. Or at least slow way down.
Consider the pressure, the horrible grinding pressure of having to practice math problems, peer at chemical formulas, read assigned readings, summarize, spell, grammarize, memorize names and dates and Spanish vocabulary, and on and on and on … en casa.…
It’s the kind of thing that can curdle a kid’s physical and mental health. Not to mention cut into playtime.
So is the legislation AB2999 justified?
Is Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo warranted in hoping to require school boards to ponder the “reasonable amount of time spent on homework per student that should not be exceeded” or whether “homework should be assigned … in any elementary school grade, inclusive” or perhaps that homework be “optional and not graded,” et cetera?
Well, if we think about this, we must admit that there is one and only one reason to ever require students to spend time at home mastering what is introduced in class. Only to prepare them for earning a living and living life by helping them obtain knowledge and skills and realize their potential.
But that’s it. That’s the only reason.
Of course, individual teachers, if competent and conscientious, already think about what homework is appropriate to assign. They must, we hope, want their students to function capably in life. And maybe also to learn that learning is not torture.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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