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The issue here might be overload of homework that kids have these days. Teachers are often literally going insane; you can see this at top universities and it's

by bitL 9y ago

The issue here might be overload of homework that kids have these days. Teachers are often literally going insane; you can see this at top universities and it's trickling down to elementary schools. Work like crazy, dread finals, do this till you die.

cyberferret 9y ago
I totally agree that the homework load can be crazy. My son I mentioned above used to bring home an inordinate amount of homework a couple of years ago. But it seems that his school has seen the light, as we've noticed that he and his brother do have a much lighter daily homework load this year. But that seems to have been replaced with more longer term projects and assignments (all of which they leave till the last minute - ^sigh^)
- thriftwy 9y ago
  You can't expect children to plan assignments! Heck, you don't expect adults to plan anything either, until they hit management. For specialists and even team leaders, they do what's on their plate and everything which isn't, they don't. It is madness to expect from undergrads to not do everything at the last minute, but for school students it's laughable. I can plan one thing. I can't plan five assignments that just fell on me, with due date far in the future. If my work would be structured like that I'd fail it either.
  - jacobolus 9y ago
    School is horrible at teaching people to tackle non-trivial projects, because almost no time is spent practicing it. Figuring out how to break a large job into small pieces, do one piece at a time, and stick with the project until all of the pieces are done is a critical skill which can only be learned through practice. Someone who is 8 or 10 years old should be able to start doing projects that take hours of sustained effort stretched over a few days (as compared to the typical schoolwork which consists of externally specified small exercises that require a few minutes each), with a lot of hand holding. By age 18, after 10 years of consistent practice at the edge of their ability, students can certainly learn to deal with projects taking a month or more of sustained independent effort for a little bit of time every day.
cududa 9y ago
Back when I was in middle school (11-13 years old) in the early 2000's our public school got tons of state funds for our "great performance". This led to teachers compensation being tied to said performance. That meant each teacher would try and assign at least an hour of homework to stuff more and more into their students heads. The school had to implement a "maximum 4 hours of homework" policy. It didn't really do anything - teachers in different departments didn't coordinate. The next year they chose specific days teachers could assign homework... Two years ago my younger cousin went to the same school - he caught mono and pneumonia, requiring a long stay at home. As a 13 year old he started getting anxiety attacks for fear of the compounding work. Public schools are broken, and I don't think most parents realize the pressure put upon their children by teachers trying to get a bonus. All around a mess
- Khelavaster 9y ago
  When teachers are so poor those piddling bonuses overrule putting childrens' needs first--and when bonuses encourage things other than putting childrens' needs first--there are far greater problems.
  - cududa 9y ago
    Probably about 40-60% of the problem right there

by bitL 9y ago

cyberferret 9y ago

I totally agree that the homework load can be crazy. My son I mentioned above used to bring home an inordinate amount of homework a couple of years ago. But it seems that his school has seen the light, as we've noticed that he and his brother do have a much lighter daily homework load this year. But that seems to have been replaced with more longer term projects and assignments (all of which they leave till the last minute - ^sigh^)

thriftwy 9y ago
You can't expect children to plan assignments! Heck, you don't expect adults to plan anything either, until they hit management. For specialists and even team leaders, they do what's on their plate and everything which isn't, they don't. It is madness to expect from undergrads to not do everything at the last minute, but for school students it's laughable. I can plan one thing. I can't plan five assignments that just fell on me, with due date far in the future. If my work would be structured like that I'd fail it either.
- jacobolus 9y ago
  School is horrible at teaching people to tackle non-trivial projects, because almost no time is spent practicing it. Figuring out how to break a large job into small pieces, do one piece at a time, and stick with the project until all of the pieces are done is a critical skill which can only be learned through practice. Someone who is 8 or 10 years old should be able to start doing projects that take hours of sustained effort stretched over a few days (as compared to the typical schoolwork which consists of externally specified small exercises that require a few minutes each), with a lot of hand holding. By age 18, after 10 years of consistent practice at the edge of their ability, students can certainly learn to deal with projects taking a month or more of sustained independent effort for a little bit of time every day.

cududa 9y ago

Back when I was in middle school (11-13 years old) in the early 2000's our public school got tons of state funds for our "great performance". This led to teachers compensation being tied to said performance. That meant each teacher would try and assign at least an hour of homework to stuff more and more into their students heads. The school had to implement a "maximum 4 hours of homework" policy. It didn't really do anything - teachers in different departments didn't coordinate. The next year they chose specific days teachers could assign homework... Two years ago my younger cousin went to the same school - he caught mono and pneumonia, requiring a long stay at home. As a 13 year old he started getting anxiety attacks for fear of the compounding work. Public schools are broken, and I don't think most parents realize the pressure put upon their children by teachers trying to get a bonus. All around a mess

Khelavaster 9y ago
When teachers are so poor those piddling bonuses overrule putting childrens' needs first--and when bonuses encourage things other than putting childrens' needs first--there are far greater problems.
- cududa 9y ago
  Probably about 40-60% of the problem right there