More from the race to nowhere...

[Periwinkle]

<p>I don’t agree with the dichotomy set up, that lots of homework = busywork. It is possible to have good homework. For example, if the homework includes reading for class the next day, it creates more interesting classes. </p>

<p>“Going outside to play” sounds great, but realistically, for many American kids, the extra time would be devoted to video games and tv. See the Kaiser Family Foundation study of children’s media habits:

Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). And because they spend so much of that time ‘media multitasking’ (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.

<a href=“http://www.kff.org/entmedia/mh012010pkg.cfm[/url]”>http://www.kff.org/entmedia/mh012010pkg.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Really, if they can spend 7 hours a day on entertainment media, they could devote some of that time to homework.</p>

<p>I also think that really bright kids need the opportunity to work hard. It is all too easy to skate through some schools, without learning to manage your time. Native brilliance is great, until you encounter a workload which requires a disciplined approach. Far better to realize that you can’t delay a large project to the night before it’s due.</p>

<p>On the other hand, there is a level of self-assigned work which is ridiculous. In the Wall Street Journal’s article today about the canceling of SAT scores from a NY high school:</p>

<p>

“It’s really unfair,” said Christine Burgin, whose son, Atlas Wegman, spent months studying for the chemistry SAT II subject test. “They were so geared up to do it, and it’s very hard to get to that place again.”</p>

<p>Mr. Wegman, a 17-year-old junior at Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School who hopes to attend Cornell University, took two practice tests every day for the past month to prepare for the test, he said. In addition, his advanced chemistry class dedicated each session to studying.</p>

<p>When he learned that his score was invalidated, “I thought it was a joke,” he said.

[SAT</a> Scores Tossed Out in Testing Site Glitch - WSJ.com](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303448404577408630792009046.html?mod=googlenews_wsj]SAT”>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303448404577408630792009046.html?mod=googlenews_wsj)</p>

<p>A practice test lasts an hour. For the past month, he’s been spending two hours a day preparing for an SAT subject test? And his chemistry class has been test prep? This has nothing to do with homework load, and everything to do with cutthroat college competition.</p>