Letters: Feb. 15, 1999

• Share

TOO MUCH HOMEWORK!

At first I thought the cover story on the amount of homework youngsters have was a joke [EDUCATION, Jan. 25], but I realized it was sad but true. Many private and parochial schools assign three hours of homework a night. Now I see that some public school students are whining about three hours of homework a week! How do they ever hope to compete for entrance to colleges and universities? Let's quit dumbing down America and face the reality that one has to work, and work hard, to achieve the things that are truly meaningful. GWEN GANGER Los Angeles

My husband and I have noted how different our children's afterschool time is from ours. In the good old days, when it was either watch another I Love Lucy rerun or do your homework, studying didn't look so bad. Today the competition for my children's attention is almost unending. With choices ranging from sports and music lessons to computers and, yes, the ever present I Love Lucy reruns, my children would disappoint me if they were eager to do their homework every day. But by keeping it all in perspective, I am optimistic that we shall make it, at least until middle school! LISA NEWMARK New Albany, Ohio

Is an average of 19 minutes a day spent on homework too much for grade-school children? Compared to what? The amount of time they spend in front of the TV or playing video games? DAVID HOUSEWRIGHT Roseville, Minn.

Children must be taught at a young age how to manage large amounts of homework. Hard work is what made Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison what they were. Edison coined the saying "Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration." I myself, a high school student, must strive for good grades and often spend evenings doing projects and writing reports. Yet when I'm done, I feel good about myself. People who work hard can do great things. ANNA COLMES San Jose, Calif.

Whatever good that might be accomplished by giving large amounts of homework is undermined by the devastating toll it takes on students' attitudes toward learning. It causes resentment, distaste, guilt, fatigue, disinterest and apathy toward all things academic. I'm afraid the long-term effect on students' morale and joy of learning may do more harm than good. ROBERT W. FISHER Cleveland, Tenn.

Boy, was I able to relate to your story about too much homework! Both of my children are in elementary school, and every school day from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. they are busy doing homework. Television viewing does not fit into our schedule at all. But I felt a little less overwhelmed after reading your report that this is going on all over the country. NANCY POOLE Wolcott, Conn.

I have three kids, ages 9, 8 and 5, and all of them--even the one in kindergarten--have homework. The excessive amounts that I have to oversee kill creative thinking and foster a real dislike of learning. The grownups who think homework is good for kids are the same ones who think lima beans and Brussels sprouts are great. It breaks my heart that dinner at my house is usually macaroni and cheese and a pall of gloom. LAUREN ARNOLD Mountain View, Calif.