We don’t have galley slaves chained to their oars anymore; but we do have California high school students chained to… homework.
Their complaints seem extravagant, demonstrating poor time-budgeting skills more than anything else, but California’s government means to take action. Gov. Gavin Nudnick has signed into law a measure to reduce the “burden” of homework, to take effect this year.
Every normal kid hates homework. Every normal kid wants to get out of doing homework. How seriously should we take this?
[Hold it! Stop! It’s New Year’s Day–why am I writing about public education? When the reasonable, sane, and praiseworthy thing to do would be to abolish it?
Let’s enjoy a day off!]
Now that you mention it, every important job I’ve ever had has included homework — editing, military, and college teaching. I remember my mother once saying, “If you want an easy job where you can just close your desk at the end of the day and not have to think about work once you leave for the day, get a job as a file clerk. Of course, then you’ll have to get a file clerk’s pay.” Someone needs to tell students this.
Something tells me it won’t be the California Assembly.
Privatize all education like our forefathers did. Let competition have its way. There are many good curriculums to choose from these days for homeschoolers. Put family first, not careers and material things.
I was poor at homework, but I wish I had taken it more seriously. Homework teaches how to manage one’s own time and to complete projects. Of course, nothing that useful can be tolerated in California.
True! I hated homework so much, it forced me to learn to manage my time efficiently.
Yep.