I read an interesting article recently in my local Diablo Magazine. It was about homework and the crazy amounts that our children are now expected to undertake each night.
Now I know that the mind can play tricks on you as you get older, and details get little fuzzy, but I can honestly say that I do not recall having to deal with the same amount of homework as my children do today, at the same age.

The new school year is fast approaching - only a few days away in fact, and I’m already dreading the blood, sweat and tears at the kitchen table (not to mention the questions my 6th Grader will be asking me this year - last year was bad enough!). Couple that with the after school activities, that I think are so very important for the development of a well-rounded child, and the pressure simply keeps mounting and on the whole family, to be honest. Rushing from here to there but allowing enough time to get the homework squared away AND eat dinner AND have a little downtime before having to go to bed…. simply crazy.

But it’s not just the social aspects that are a worry for me. We’re also dealing with physiological ones. The weight of all this homework is quite literally back-breaking. A couple of years ago, when my son entered 4th grade, I resorted to buying the kids the wheelie back-packs so that they can at least roll all their clobber around rather than break their backs trying to lug that volume from class to class. Surveys have found that many students today are carrying 25-40 pounds on their backs, even though most pediatricians recommend that people not carry more than 10-15 percent of their body weight. This can lead to potential health problems later such as chronic back and neck pain.

So, with that all said, it was with interest that I stumbled upon the article. According to  the author, Ms Safipour, some parents are in favour of banning homework all together so that the children can spend more time outdoors and with their families. Sounds fabulous, but maybe a tad extreme. However, after researching it further, it was found that education experts actually frown upon more than two hours a night - even for the upper grades. This is actually good news as school districts are listening and changes to reduce the amount of homework assigned are already in the works at a number of San Francisco Bay Area schools. Hopefully it will pay off and we can find a good balance so that our children are prepared for the journey of going it alone but get to that point less stressed and less exhausted.

At my son’s 6th grade orientation meeting today one of the home room teachers told us to keep an eye on our kids as, with peer pressure also coming into play, they generally want to do their best and that “it shouldn’t become an obsession - they need to have a life”. I thought that to be a priceless comment. Her advice was that each homework assignment (at our school anyway) should take approximately 20 minutes per subject (with the dreaded math maybe taking a little longer). However, with around 5 subjects per night - that still adds up to about 90 - 120 minutes (OK - no comment on my math, please!)

I’m not sure about you, but my life has become one big rush, with the social revolution (as great as it is) making us available 24*7 and quite simply afraid to miss anything. If my iPhone is out of reach for more than 10 minutes then I start to hyperventilate. I never used to be like this. It crept up on me. Now our kids are now part of this culture and so the realisation that we may need to back it off a little  is a good one and will hopefully percolate down through all the layers of bureaucracy and family life, so that kids can be kids while they still have an excuse.