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By Caroline Williams

HOMEWORK: IT'S BORING BUT WILL HELP YOU OUT IN THE LONG RUN

Hi All,

So I'm here to write about my opinions about K-12 education. Not that I'm qualified with some degree (I'm just a freshman at a Big Ten University), but I've spent some time thinking about the topic. Right now I want to write about homework and the correlation to the real world (yep, I know it sounds like a boring topic).

First off, I came from what I was told a good school district. When my parents got divorced and my mom started looking for a new house she made sure that our house was in the same school district even though it cost a little more because she believed my school district was the best among the neighboring communities. With this I was also in the Talented and Gifted (TAG) program from third through eighth grade. I was classified as "smart" when people met me because I was a "TAG fag." But I would never necessarily call myself smart, I was just very logical when taking my TAG placement test in second grade. When placed into TAG, the teachers assumed that since I was logical I must be a good reader and writer. This was not the case. I was reading Junie B. Jones while the rest of the class was reading the fourth Harry Potter. There were three different levels of spelling lists and I was always on the lowest one, I never felt confident in this area because teachers ASSUMED that we were somehow already taught these topics. When it came to math, science and social studies though I was fine but never the top test-taker (stereotypically always the same group of Asians and Indians...I'll probably talk about minorities and education later).

For me, K-8th grade was all about beating the system. I would always finish my homework 100%. I always looked for the easiest answer and most logical answer that would make the homework go by more quickly. Once I got to high school, out of TAG and into the real world, I couldn't understand people who just wouldn't do their homework. I thought of it as free points, you do the busy work, maybe learn a little and it helps you get better grades on the tests.

At what point did the kids who just didn't do their homework get away with it? Did the teachers talk to them about it? Did they contact the parents? What were the kids doing at the time that they decided was more important than the simple homework assignments? Now maybe I'm just freaking out about simply finishing homework but I feel like it transfers into a lot of things.

Choosing to not do homework is like receiving an assignment from a boss and simply not doing it because you don't feel like it. Or being assigned a simple chore from a parent and refusing to do it. I feel like these things add up.

It's a combination of the teachers and parents. Teachers accepting the fact that students are not always going to do their homework. But then again teachers cannot force a student to do homework. They can't go home with them and nag them, or force them to look at their planner with their daily assignments once they get home. And then parents allowing their kids to do whatever they feel like doing instead of the homework that may be boring but will be beneficial.

It's possible that the source of the problem might begin when there is a tough homework assignment and the students are afraid to ask a question. After all, we do live in a society where if you ask questions or don't quite understand a problem you are automatically perceived as incompetent or dumb. So what would motivate kids to ask questions? Parents ignore their kids schooling more and more these days because they're too busy with their own lives. And once again these ignored students just don't bother to do the homework so they "fake it till they make it" (at least that's my theory).

They continue with the cycle, get passed on grade to grade waiting for something to interest them. When all that they are really interested in is the sports that they play, or the video games, or the make-up. They could care less about the topics they're learning in science and such because the homework that they are given just makes them feel dumb. No one wants to feel dumb so they once again, they don't complete the homework. Now they get to their senior year in high school realizing that they need to pass this one math class to graduate but they really have no idea what's going on because they haven't done their homework on the fundamentals of math for the past 5 years yet was still passed on grade to grade. How are they suppose to pass? Well they'll do what they know best: fake it till they make it, and if that doesn't quite cut it they will go to the teacher and try to manipulate them so that they can have more "make-up" opportunities.

And we see the results of this attitude in the work force. Lobbyists manipulating senators and House reps so that their views will get put into law even if they are not the best thing for the country. Companies asking for loans from the government so they can make up for the mistakes they new they were committing in the past. Employees ignoring rules put into effect by their managers on dress code or the importance of punctuality. In general people having a lack of respect for their job just like they did for their education. This results in employees treating customers poorly because they don't care about their job.

Or even not admitting to the fact that they don't have a high-paying job so they can't afford everything that they want (just like when they didn't admit that they don't know the answer to the homework problem and never found the solution for themselves). But since what you have and what you're wearing is the only thing that matters these days people are willing to take the endless debt and "fake it till they make it." In other words they're always hoping they'll win the lottery or somehow get the magical promotion when in reality this will not happen and they will remain in debt.

Now of course this is not the case for everyone. I would say that this is not the case for all my fellow classmates who were in TAG with me or many other people. I guess I just like to categorize people in logical ways (can you tell I'm quite a math person?). But for the big picture of America I feel like this is a problem that should be addressed in order to progress our society.

Ways I feel this problem could be solved:

Parents should take a slight amount of time in elementary and middle school to ask how school is going for them on a mostly daily basis. It would remind the kids that schooling is a priority that the parent takes seriously.

Parents should remind their kids that assignments and deadlines are not given as a punishment but rather a way to help them in the long-run (they will learn the material and concepts)

Teachers across America should put effort in encouraging kids to do their homework. Maybe by taking a bit extra time to adjust the assignment so the kids are actually interested in the topic. Maybe try to relate the topic to experiences they have or will have.

And overall an increase in respect for people's differences. Accepting the fact that not everyone learns the same way, it's okay to ask a question and you won't be thought less of, and knowing that there are (or should be) a wide variety of people willing to help.

I feel like schools are heading in this direction but they are changing their ways at different rates. The lower-quality schools are moving at a slower rate while schools with higher standards are changing more quickly.

I just hope that when ever I have kids and they start school, people with be more respectful and kind yet still have high standards of schooling.

Thanks for reading! Comment if you would like!