A question of homework: tenafly parents protest the load, joining nationwide trend
DECEMBER 8, 2014 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY DEENA YELLIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
TENAFLY — Pressured by parents, school district officials are considering lowering the stress of homework with such measures as homework-free nights and vacations, and giving students more information about the demands they will face in choosing courses.
The district also will organize workshops for parents on reducing children’s stress.
The measures are being taken after a group of high school parents confronted the school board, arguing that homework is wreaking havoc on their children’s lives.
Tenafly is just the latest of many districts nationwide trying new approaches amid the high-stakes competition for college that has fueled an intense schedule of testing and nightly homework in local districts.
The parents’ group, Rational Homework Review, says the heavy workload prevents their children from maintaining a healthy lifestyle and getting adequate sleep. They also argue that some assignments lack educational value.
Other school districts statewide, including Ridgewood and Glen Rock, have reexamined homework policies or changed them in recent years to help balance students’ lives. Nationally, an anti-homework backlash has been spurred in part by studies on sleep deprivation among teens, a plethora of books about the homework craze and a documentary called “Race to Nowhere” about students in a pressured educational environment.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/parents-push-back-on-homework-1.1148358
