Homework, Part I - The Worst Job in the World

The Ornery American ^ | Sept. 17, 2006 | Orson Scott Card

[7thson]

BS! I had a classmate in 9th grade art who couldn't draw a straight line using a ruler! Why have him waste his time in a class he is ill suited to learn anything and will end up hating! If a kid has no art talent, why have him take the class? Same with mandatory music classes. If a kid cannot sing or carry a note in a bucket, why waste the kids or teacher's time. Schools would be much better if they found out what talent a kid has and steer him in that direction.

[Lazamataz]

Do your f***in' homework and shut the hell up.

[Eepsy]

In art class, Id agree with you. In English or social studies, no way. Why should a kid be penalized if he can't draw a picture of Charlotte Bronte or accurately model a Ziggurat?

[Warren_Piece]

Do your f***in' homework and shut the hell up.

:)

[Lazamataz]

I always preferred "writing the term paper" over "the fun art project."

You've gotta be creative.

My "fun art project" usually involved the corpses of a few cats and a chainsaw.

And a poncho.

[Alberta's Child]

Very good point, Warren. What you've posted here also explains why most hughly-successful corporate executives these days were actually marginal students.

I'll add a politically-incorrect observation that I think sums the whole thing up pretty well . . .

I feared for the future of America when I saw how the Japanese build cars. I stopped worrying about it when I saw how they drive them.

[Eepsy]

Good Homework:

Distributed review of math problems.
Handwriting practice.
Reasonable amount of reading out of the textbook.

Bad Homework:

Shoebox diorama.
Styrofoam model of the solar system.
Interview parents for two page paper dissecting their bad health habits.

[chemicalman]

Poor guy didn't het paid for his 10 years of work.

[Warren_Piece]

Shoebox diorama.

Ugh. I've now lived through two generations of this.

[Eepsy]

My best "fun art project" was for World History. It involved a hollowed out doll, half a pound of chicken gizzards, three strategically placed water balloons, and an accurate demonstration of the Egyptian mummification process, complete with spike up the nasal passages.

[Warren_Piece]

I know you're joking, but my best friend won several awards in high school with a short film he made for filmmaking class. He was raised on a farm, but lived close enough to be bussed to my suburban school.

His film was called "Hog Killin'". It started with the shotgun to the head, followed by the skinning and entrail removal / cleaning, and various other things one does when preparing pork. It ended with a table full of bacon, ham, sausage, etc .

We suburban kids were totally freaked out, but this was an every year thing for his family and no big deal. Like I said, he won several awards.

Funny, post-Columbine, he'd probably be sent to a psychiatrist to make sure he wasn't a serial killer in the making.

[metmom]

ping pong

[Jack Hammer]

I can sympathize, but unfortunately any and all fields of study require considerable amounts of reading, writing, and memorization. In your shoes, I would suggest home-schooling.

[metmom]

I read the Little House series and Laura recounts having to do homework every evening. Of course, in those days, the kids were really taught something useful and learned it.

OTOH, if the teachers didn't have to waste so much classroom time on class discpline or teaching PC thiinking, they could actually teach in the time allotted.

[Oberon]

Ping for MUCH later.

[PCBMan]

Sheesh. When I was in school in the 70's - 80's, I always had at least 2-3 hours of homework per night in elementary school and 4-6 hours in high school. I actually had much less in college! We didn't have time to do any of that work in school because the teacher would spend the whole hour teaching, and then gave a large homework assignment. Sure, it was joyless and crushing, and left me burnt out by my senior year, but it was good college prep.

[wintertime]

That's a fair description of the lives of far too many of our school-age children.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

What if when at work you were teased or bullied mercilessly, or continually feared being the target of bullies and alpha girls? Would it feel like being pecked to death by chickens for 10 to 12 years? What if your "at home supervisor" responded by saying that this pecking was good for you? What if your "at home supervisor" discouraged you further by saying that this was the "real world", and then neglected to say that in the "real world" work conditions like this would win an adult millions in court.

What if you went to work and were subjected to compulsory searches of your personal effects and body?

What if your co-workers sexually harassed you both physically and verbally? What if your bosses did the same?

[Tax-chick]

The at-home supervisor is even harsher than the one at work and has more power to inflict annoying punishments if you fail to comply.

That's me ... harsh supervisor, annoying punishments ... *evil chortle*

[wintertime]

it's related to art class (which I hated even more than the science fair).

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This sentence is so sad. All children are naturally artistic. They are until institutionalized schooling kills it.

[Warren_Piece]

Hopefully, by the time your little girl is school aged, things will have changed. But don't expect any relief from private schools.

My children attend an academic catholic school. Their methods of teaching are VERY good - last year on their Iowa standardized tests my daughter averaged at a 5th grade level (at the end of 2nd grade), and my 3rd-grade boy tested at a 8TH GRADE LEVEL! AND - homework wasn't too bad, probably about an hour or so for my 3rd grader, 30 minutes for my second grader.

This year has been crazy. My girl is right about an hour a night (that's OK) - my boy averages between 2-4 hours a night! 4th grade!

We had a little parental mutiny, and for the past two weeks, they've had us chart how much homework our children are doing, arranged by subject. They won't let us include time studying for tests (which I find curious). I'm hoping the compilation of the data will bring them to their senses - they also expect our children to be involved in extracurricular activities, and to get at least 9 hours of sleep a night. Doesn't leave much time for anything else. And no, that's not acceptable. That's not a childhood.