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The Homework Debate
Are kids being weighed down with too much homework at ever younger ages? The Case Against Homework is the latest book to make that argument.
Haven't read the book yet, but from what I have read about it, the book examines the research and concludes that lots of homework not only doesn't improve kids' academic performance but actually may sabotage it by creating stress and turning them off to school.
In the interests of disclosure, I know one of the co-authors, Nancy Kalish, have worked with her, and respect her work. And as a parent of elementary school kids, I certainly have seen some teachers load on the homework.
But I also have seen parents clamoring for it. I will never forget when a parent walked up to my daughter's second grade teacher at back to school night and requested--in a loud voice, for all to hear--that the teacher give her son extra math homework "to challenge him more." The teacher agreed.
Shortly after, I wrote a story for Child magazine that touched on the homework issue and found that there wasn't any evidence that lots of homework helped kids academically, especially during the early elementary school years.
However....a year or two after I wrote that article, the Brookings Institution released a bombshell of a report that questioned the whole notion that kids were being overloaded with homework. The media had misinterpreted previous research, this report found. In fact, according to Brookings, the data shows that the U.S. homework load is less than in other nations. The only increase is in the early elementary school years--and that increase was relatively minor (going from none, to a little).
So...do we have a homework crisis or not?
My guess: we once again are seeing the impact of socioeconomics. Many middle and upper class school districts--usually the ones that journalists send their kids to--are loading on the homework....but without much regard to what the research shows...Meanwhile, the underperforming, struggling school districts may be giving too little homework to the high school students, crushing students with low expectations.
 Stumble It!
Do you nag?
I'm supposed to be writing an essay about nagging.
I'm stuck.
Mainly because the whole notion of nagging feels so retro.
A woman nags when she feels powerless. Women in the 50s felt powerless because they were economically beholden to their mates. And because back then, a woman over a certain age--say 25?--was considered almost worthless if she wasn't married. So women really needed to be married.
Hence, the lack of power.
Hence, the need to nag.
But I am not in that position. Nor are many of the women that I know.
So why are we nagging?
Here's another question. Are we really nagging...or is that something husbands say because the accusation has such power, it's so loaded?
I'd like to hear from you ladies. Either privately or on this post.
Stumble It!
The Helicopter Parents' New Tool
Technology is once again being used by parents to track their kids.
The current issue of Newsweek has a story about new online systems, like MealPayPlus.com, which enable parents to prepay for their kids' school lunches and then see online what their kids are buying. Parents even can specify which foods are no-nos; if the kid tries to buy the food, an alert will flash on the cashier's computer.
What's wrong with this? This system is being used by parents of teenagers. The opening anecdote is about a 15-year-old boy whose mom discovered he was buying pizza, Gatorade and cookies for lunch, instead of the healthy entree. Maybe I'll feel differently when my kids are teens, but I think at some point, we--as parents--have to give kids some space to make decisions. Set the guidelines, yes, but trust them and give them the autonomy to decide what they eat for lunch when they're teens. Otherwise, when they're in college three years later, they'll be helpless without Mom and Dad's constant intervention.
The reverse is also true, I think. Giving kids independence--and showing that you have confidence in them to make the right decisions--is incredibly empowering.
Stumble It!
Women Love their Tech Toys
Women would rather buy a plasma TV than a diamond necklace, and they prefer a cool cell phone to designer shoes. That was the finding of a survey by Oxygen Network, which was reported on in an article in today's USA Today.
Oxygen surveyed women between the ages of 15 and 49 and concluded that women love their gadgets and are as tech savvy as men. That certainly is in keeping with what I see among my friends (and in my home). In fact, in my own home, I was the one who pushed for the iPod, TIVO, wireless broadband, etc. A good friend of mine is practically the tech support in her household--her kids and her husband call her to figure it out whenever one of their computers get fussy.
So how long is it going to take before television shows and movies stop depicting women as obsessed with Jimmy Choos and helpless when it comes to technology?
Stumble It!
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