"On Healing" November 2006

Posted on Mon, Nov. 27, 2006
Would less homework lead to more learning?
By Dan Gottlieb

My last column was about too much homework and what to do about it. I advised adolescents to form committees of students and parents to examine homework practices at their schools. I suggested they consult several recent books that argue that excessive homework does little good and a great deal of harm. I supported the position taken by many educators that homework should total no more than 10 minutes a night multiplied by grade level (90 minutes in ninth grade, for example). And I recommended that the newly formed committees meet with administrators and teachers to make their case.

Of course, I received dozens of e-mails. Most were from parents like Ginny DeLong, who said that when her daughter was in 10th grade, her English teacher would assign two hours of homework a night just for her class (one of six). When she complained, it turned out the school did have a homework policy - but no one was aware of it.

Jim O'Brien wrote that his adolescent daughter is "buried under homework; every night, every weekend and most holidays." I also heard from a friend whose child is in kindergarten; he is already hearing about excessive homework requirements in first and second grade!

Educators responded as well. A middle school math teacher from Gloucester County said she knew about the academic research and had cut way back on her homework assignments this year. The result? More students are completing homework and their overall understanding of the subject matter has increased, she wrote, "because the students feel the work is more manageable."

I heard from students like the high school senior who feels like he spends more time at school than at home, where he says he sleeps about six hours a night. He was not optimistic, and believes there is great resistance to change in education. Perhaps voices such as his have not been heard. Sara Bennett, coauthor of the recently released The Case Against Homework, e-mailed me to underscore the importance of including students in the dialogue about homework.

Not everybody agreed. David Scolnick, a father of three, thought I was all wrong. He suggested that much of the problem is children's attitudes and approaches to homework, and that efficient children spend less time. Even three to four hours of homework a night, he said, would leave a "couple of hours for instant messaging."

David did find common ground with many parents and teachers who feel the culprit is overscheduling. Certainly that is the bigger problem. But a letter from a young woman in a Philadelphia private school suggests we should be looking in another direction.

She began by saying she averages four to five hours of homework a night, and went on:

"I am continually enduring stress and sleepless nights, but I know it is for the good of my future. High schools are concerned about one thing: college. And they feel it is their duty to help their students be #1. This leads to many of the sleepless nights I have experienced, and I see no end in sight. But I still believe that in the future this lifestyle may help me."

The pressure to achieve is often about getting into the best college. Once there, the pressure continues. After graduation, it often gets even more intense. Why? It's all in the pursuit of security - and happiness!

The young lady in private school believes that enduring stress today will help her achieve security tomorrow. Yet we know that continued exposure to stress will not boost resilience, and can actually create depression and compromise the immune system. We also know that, above the poverty level, there is no relationship between money and happiness.

Sure, life's challenges are much bigger than stress caused by too much homework. But if adolescents can be empowered to solve this one problem, maybe that newfound strength will help them better care for themselves and the larger world in the future. After all, isn't that what we really want to get out of an education?

More on homework and stress is at http://go.philly.com/homework

Posted on Mon, Nov. 13, 2006
Teenagers drastically need more downtime
By Dan Gottlieb

To all adolescents,

You need more time.

Ninety percent of the high school students I speak with say they are under great stress. Most of it is time-related, and much of that is a combination of too much homework and too little sleep. You need time to sleep (physicians say nine hours a night at your age), to read whatever you want to read, to dream about your future, to just hang out. You and I are not the only ones who know this. A new study by local pediatrician Kenneth Ginsburg demonstrates how important unstructured play (a.k.a. hanging out) is for children's development. The same is true for adolescents.

Free time fosters creativity and emotional development. It gives you the opportunity to deepen relationships and learn about yourself. Without free time, I worry that you could grow into adulthood valuing yourself more for your performance than for your humanity - therefore putting yourself at greater risk of self-absorption, depression and anxiety disorders.

Mental health professionals all over the country are concerned, but nothing seems to change. Perhaps, in talking to adults, we've been addressing the wrong people.

So, how can you create more time? Let's start with homework. The three to four hours a night I'm told is typical is way too much. Many well-respected educators say students should be assigned about 10 minutes of homework per grade (20 minutes in second grade, etc.).

For seniors in high school, that means two hours or so a night. Harris M. Cooper, a psychology professor at Duke University and author of The Battle Over Homework, agrees; so does the National Parent Teacher Association. In their new book, The Case Against Homework, Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish find no evidence that homework helps elementary school students at all. And the U.S. Department of Education has said elementary students should be given a maximum of five math problems a night. Yet many children are sent home with dozens of math problems and words to memorize.

Convinced? Here's what you can do about it:

At each school, form a committee to deal with this issue. Check at least one of the above books out of the library and start gathering evidence for your argument.

Have every student on the committee document how much time he or she is spending on each subject - and tell each teacher how much time it all adds up to. Many teachers may not be aware of how much homework you get from other teachers.

Try to get parents on your committee. I know many parents resent all the homework because it virtually eliminates precious family time. But parents should not take the lead in this project. They should be there to support you because this is your project, not theirs.

Set up a meeting with school administrators. Show them your data. Ask them for evidence of the benefits provided by this amount of homework. Perhaps you could begin a dialogue about how much homework is reasonable and relevant - and how it could be coordinated among teachers.

Ask administrators if they would designate a "homework coordinator" so students are not buried by multiple large assignments.

If you believe you are not being heard, try getting more parents to join your committee, and then bring them - and your argument - to the PTA.

Finally, keep me posted on your successes and failures so we can continue the discussion.

Any good education teaches you how to navigate your way in life. If, when you graduate, you see injustice in the world, I hope you will feel a sense of responsibility backed by the power to do something about it.

Begin now. If you believe your homework assignments are unjust, do something about them. Do it for yourself, for your future, and for the younger children behind you. You might end up changing the culture.

Read the latest findings or listen to an interview about the benefits of play at http://go.philly.com/play

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