EDUCATORS have been arguing about homeworks role in education since it became commonplace in the mid-19th century. Since then, the amount of homework assigned has increased and decreased in keeping with political ideologies. Whenever there has been widespread public concern about falling standards, schools have responded to the crisis by assigning more homework. After the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the US was warned of its incipient educational mediocrity, and the amount of homework assigned in US schools increased. Many of my patients and their parents tell me that teachers assign too much homework. They complain that their after-school time has been hijacked for childrens academic needs, undermining sport, music and drama, and all the other useful activities that schools have...
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