Homework vs Family

Is Homework Necessary?

As the saying goes: Too much of a good thing can be bad for you.

On average school-age children spend 6 hours a day at school, under the watchful eyes of their teachers, but it doesn’t stop there. There is homework to do too. What is the purpose of homework? Do we think that by loading lots of homework on children it will somehow keep them out of trouble? This, in fact, produces an adverse effect, as it means less family time.

Whether you wish to admit it or not, the parents are the child’s primary teachers. Parents are teaching their children from the time they are born. It is the parents that have taught the child what is acceptable and not acceptable in our society, their manner of speech and in their manner of interaction with others around them. The less time children have with their parents and siblings, the more inclined they are to be anti-social. The less time parents spend with their children, the more the chances of the family being dysfunctional, thus leading to anti-socialisation.

Older teenagers who are doing their final years in general education should be able to have the support of family around them, instead of them ‘disappearing’ into their rooms – not to be seen for weeks on end, due to the heavy study load. Homework as we know, depletes the love for learning. The love of learning is what makes a child or even an adult excel in education.

When there is a love of learning, there is no stress, therefore resulting in higher achievement. Schools in this present age are like over-boiling pressure cookers. Teenagers, youngsters need to set virtually unobtainable goals to meet the pressure of deadlines. The stress is at an extreme high. “We want to prepare the students for what they will experience at University”. Is this to our advantage? No, in fact, the statistical level of ‘burn outs’, nervous breakdowns, mental disorders, and suicides are at the highest it has ever been in history and young people are experiencing this even before they enter the adult work force.

Children assess their worth by their achievements. With unrealistic expectations forced on them by general educational institutions, their self-esteem and self-value plummet. The need to feel successful causes them to become workaholics, many of whom do not even enjoy their work. The more work they do, the more stress they have, the more stress the more they feel the need to achieve – it’s a vicious cycle.

A love of learning, achieved by setting a realistic pace of education, enables the young adult entering the workforce to make the right choices as to their line of work and to ultimately enjoy what they do. People who love their work and their work environment are statistically said to be more productive and produce better results, thus in turn, contributing to society in a very positive way.

Let’s bring back the love of learning by lessening the need to meet expectations of an already burned out, crazy world. Let’s re-set the pace to where we can appreciate the good things we have in this life.


Copyright 2006. Rebecca Laklem.