Life for a child is suppose to be all fun and games. It is a time that no matter what you do, you can get away with it. It is a time where you have little responsibilities and almost nothing to worry about. You are still young and have a lot more to learn.
Today, as a child, fun and games are over once you start school. With the pressure of standardized testing and getting good grades to get into a good school, the pressure is intense for students. For many kids it is almost impossible to go out and have fun because they are too busy studying. To make things worse, teachers from each class piles tons of homework at you.
Peter Vallone Jr., a New York City council member and also a father of two daughters, proposed a plan that will limit the amount of homework teachers can give. He propose 2 ½ hours of homework a day.
His plan is a great idea. If the kids are spending most of the time sitting behind a desk doing homework, then they wont be able to go out and exercise. As a result, more kids will become obese. By giving less homework, kids would have more time to play or join a sports team. For the parents who sit and help their kids with their homework, will now have more free time. They can use the time to do more things as a family.
Sometimes getting too much of something can be a bad thing. Like staying out in the sun for long time can cause sunburn. The same thing applies for homework, the more homework you get, the less leisure time you have and weight problems start to become a issue.
For Howyda Othman and her 7 year old daughter, the stress of doing homework reached the boiling point when Howyda attacked her daughter for not doing her homework. She threw books at her 7 year old daughter and she bit her in the arm. This proves that there is a lot of pressure for doing homework. For Howyda’s 7 year old daughter she has to face a failing grade from the school and a beating of a life time from her mother.
From experience too much homework can be a bad thing. From kindergarten to 8th grade I attended a private school. The school treated us like college students. They gave us homework assignments that took almost the whole day to complete. For me it felt like I had 2 full time jobs. The first job is doing work in school and the second job is doing homework after school. Despite all the homework my grades weren’t the greatest. I was in the border line between failing and passing. Because of all the homework I lost my focus and I wasn’t motivated in my work. When doing my homework I was half a sleep, so I pretty much didn’t know what I was doing. For high school I decided to go to a public school. It was a great choice. They gave the right amount of homework, not too much and too little. I had plenty of time to enjoy life. I even had time to join the baseball team which made me a happier person and more motivated to do well in school. My grade skyrocketed from barley passing to a 90 average in high school.
I would love to see this plan go into effect. If I had kids (luckily I don’t), I would hate to be sitting at home for the whole day helping them finish their homework. I would rather see my kids athletic and smart, not fat and depress from all the homework. Hopefully this plan gets approved and it will be even more better if the plan includes college students.
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