The homework wars

Perennial debate: How much is enough? Too much?

The Lunbecks and Schwarzes live at opposite ends of the same block, but they're on the same page when it comes to homework.

"All I do know is," says Axel Lunbeck, "compared to my brother and sister, I get a lot less homework."

Axel, 11, is a fifth-grader at Ensign Elementary School. His brother John, 14, is a freshman at West High School. Sister Emma, 16, is a senior at West. The "h" word makes for one quiet house most weeknights.

It's the same down the street for 6-year-old John Schwarz, who averages less than a half-hour of homework a night in first grade at Our Lady of Lourdes. But older sister Maria, 11, who also attends Lourdes, will sometimes spend four hours after school on homework.

"Some nights it's overwhelming," says her dad, Marty Schwarz.

As children in both families get older, the more homework — or, sometimes, "busy work" — they report having. Studies support their claims that homework increases exponentially over the elementary and high school years.

It cuts into social time with friends and family. It cramps extracurricular activities. It causes stress.

But in the next breath, these same students say it forces them to be better organized. And admittedly, like having a favorite subject, there are some kinds of homework they actually enjoy doing.

Still, it's not often you hear, "Teachers don't assign enough homework."

So, when do teachers assign too much homework — or do they? How much is too much?

Serves a purpose

Yes, despite what some children or parents may think, there is value in homework.

According to an Education World article, homework helps students to:

• Review and practice what they learn;

• Prepare for class;

• Learn how to use libraries and reference materials;

• Put more time into learning about a particular subject.

But too much homework equals no time to be a kid, some would argue. The latest research, though, says students in this country have it easy compared to other countries.

The Brookings Institution in Washington, RAND Corp. and Brown Center on Education Policy analyzed data that shows, out of 20 countries, U.S. students had one of the lightest homework loads. Students in France, Italy, Russia and South Africa report spending twice as much time on homework as those in the United States, according to the Third International Math and Science Study.

And a 1999 survey by the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that a clear majority of children aged 9, 13 and 17 reported having less than an hour of homework each night.

Getting too much homework, Brown Center director Tom Loveless reports in a Brookings press release, is not a common problem.

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