Is homework really that important?
Dear friends,
I no longer teach in public schools, but I did for what seems like 100 years. During my long career, I did the best I knew how to do at the time, based on where I was in life and what I had learned about teaching.
However, by being parents and teaching both, sometimes we learn things too late. If I could go back, I would do a lot of things differently. One thing I would handle differently would be homework.
Today I am going to tackle a topic that makes many people’s hair stand on end: homework. The task is so revered in our culture that opposing it can almost result in being declared a heretic.
I’m going to tell you about the proverbial straw that prompted me to finish the task for good. (That is, except for the optional homework I gave so that children whose parents wanted something to occupy their children at home other than television would have something constructive to do.)
One day I heard:
“Help! Help my mommy! She’s hitting her! And she took the baby! Help !?”
Those are the words of a real girl named Lisa, who called 911 in California when her father was in one of his violent fits of rage. A tape of the actual phone call was played at a domestic violence meeting I attended a few years ago in Atlanta.
We heard how the six-year-old cried and begged the police to get to her mom before it was too late. We could hear sounds in the background that reminded us that the situation was urgent and real.
I could almost imagine the woman being hit to the ground while her drunken husband held the baby on top of her with a smile, reminding her that he would take that baby away and that she would never see him again if he didn’t get up and do the same. he ordered right then and there.
The police arrived and the tape ended. I felt my face wet with tears that did not stop when the speaker pressed the stop button.
As I sat there, my “teacher” mind began to think. If that girl was in a typical classroom, the next morning, Lisa would walk into her class at school, pretending that everything was fine. Even at six, he knew how to play.
And then before long, the teacher was asking for homework. Lisa looked through her backpack, hoping that somehow, the task would magically appear. But, of course, the miracle that he needed at that moment did not happen. (I needed that miracle a lot more the night before, but is that a completely different problem).
A moment later, she would hear her name being called. He would go to the teacher’s desk and the teacher would speak firmly to him. “Lisa? I don’t see your homework. Where is it? Did you forget to do it again?”
Lisa lowered her head, nodding nervously. “Yes, Mom,” he would say.
“Lisa, I don’t know what we’re going to do with you, but I can tell you right now that at this rate, you’ll get an F on your report card. You won’t do your homework.” I have six zeros written in my gradebook for you, and this is only the second week of the trimester, “the teacher informs Lisa.
Lisa says nothing, but inside she feels her little body tense.
“Lisa!” growls the teacher. “I talked to you. WHY did you win? Do you do your homework? Did you certainly win? I’ll pass first grade if you keep up like this! What happened to the note I sent home to your parents? Did you show it to them? You didn’t, because I know your dad, and I know that he would see to it that you do your homework if he knew what’s going on. “
Lisa’s eyes widen and she begins to speak, but she can’t get a word out.
“Lisa! WHERE IS THE NOTE I SENT HOME YESTERDAY?” says the teacher. Lisa hears giggling sounds coming from the other students, who are probably relieved that SHE is the one getting in trouble, not them.
“Ummm … I have it at home. I forgot to show it to my mom, but I’ll do it tonight,” Lisa says.
“Did you forget? Bring that note AND homework tomorrow!” responds the teacher. “But!”
Suddenly the lights came on and I realized that the meeting was over. He was in no mood to socialize with the other attendees. All I could focus on was getting out of the meeting.
I had been learning how to finish my students’ homework, but after listening to that tape, I knew that I would never make homework a topic again. From what he knew, all the kids in the classroom could be having similar nightmares at home. In the grand scheme of life, is homework REALLY that important?
Quote of the week:
“If a man doesn’t keep up with his peers, it might be because he’s listening to a different drummer. Let him walk to the beat of the music he hears, however measured or distant. – Henry Thoreau (1817-1862)
I wish you peace.
Karyl
Reluctant traveler