a tumblr post that really drives the point home

[Trar]

http://deathtasteslikechicken.tumblr.com...it-so-if-a

"So if a teenager is at school for roughly 8 hours, and they are doing homework for 6+ hours, and they need AT LEAST 9 HOURS OF SLEEP FOR THEIR DEVELOPING BRAINS, then they may have 0-1 hours for other activities like eating, bathing, exercise, socializing (which is actually incredibly important for emotional, mental, and physical health, as well as the development of skills vital to their future career and having healthy romantic relationships among other things), religious activities, hobbies, extra curriculars, medical care of any kind, chores (also a skill/habit development thing and required by many parents), relaxation, and family time? Not to mention that your parents may or may not pressure you to get a job, or you might need to get one for economic reasons."

A friend of mine, the one who put it on my tumblr dashboard, also said that in his opinion the worst part is when teachers try to justify it.


I was going to go to bed not 15 minutes ago but I just had to check tumblr before I did, and lo and behold I found this brilliant post on my dashboard(which FYI is basically a souped-up RSS/news feed for people I follow). Now obviously due to the part in my signature that says "unschooling" I don't have to put up with nearly as much bullshit as most of you fine folks might, and I already knew that public schooling as it is right now is pretty harmful, but this just...really drove the point home for me. I at the very least now know that I still have empathy for suffering youth and I am glad I have not chosen to forget this.

I suppose it's due to the fact that I have only set foot inside a high school once(to see Les Miserables performed by amateurs), and I already knew that homework is largely busywork and that highschoolers get a lot of it, and I also knew that the behemoth of public education was and still is already doing harm to students AND teachers AND the society they inhabit...and I suppose this post doesn't reflect every high schooler's experience, but I'm fairly sure it's typical for a lot of them.

And I guess it's the fact that public schooling has gotten so out of control, so wildly opposed to the very people it ostensibly benefits, that these students, this at the very least good chunk of the student body, sometimes get so much homework that they have literally less than one hour per day on some days to eat, shower, socialize, relax or live their lives as human beings. And you know that there are still a number of misguided and/or mis-educated teachers, officials, parents and authority figures that still feel like pointing fingers at video games or smartphones or what have you, ignoring the fact that nearly every generation throughout nearly every culture has usually grumbled about the succeeding generation while they're being shit on by their elders and their society. Remember that next time some asshole starts talking about that awful Time article.

Not to mention every bonehead who believes in the stereotypes and/or thinks that this is is the proper place for them because they have to respect authority. Or even worse, intimidate and incarcerate students who lash out and/or try to get out.

Jesus Christ.

I apologize if I seem like I'm recanting what may be obvious to you all, but, again, this was an eye-opener for me. And my eyes were already wide open. (Besides, reiteration is good. Probably.)

And, yes, this post is rather heated. Perhaps I'm getting tired of seeing this in our society, MY society. Perhaps I share more in common with my fellow forumers (their sense of anger) than I realized.

[Gwedin]

While I do appreciate the point of this Tumblr post, I have never known anyone who does six hours of homework every day.

Considering I'm not even at school yet, I still get worked up whenever I think about that place. This year's gonna be absolutely FUN!!

[Rusty Shackleford]

(01-22-2014 06:46 PM)Gwedin Wrote:  While I do appreciate the point of this Tumblr post, I have never known anyone who does six hours of homework every day.

Considering I'm not even at school yet, I still get worked up whenever I think about that place. This year's gonna be absolutely FUN!!

You're not going to spend a lot of time doing homework (I race through it in half an hour at most), but you are going to notice a huge decrease in your amount of spare time. Also, are you homeschooling or doing online school? Because you said you aren't at school yet.

[brainiac3397]

6+ hours for homework?

Whenever I bothered to actually do my work without cheating, it only took me an hour or two the most.

And I rarely studied for tests. Perhaps an hour if I really needed it.

[Gwedin]

(01-23-2014 02:11 AM)Rusty Shackleford Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 06:46 PM)Gwedin Wrote:  While I do appreciate the point of this Tumblr post, I have never known anyone who does six hours of homework every day.

Considering I'm not even at school yet, I still get worked up whenever I think about that place. This year's gonna be absolutely FUN!!

You're not going to spend a lot of time doing homework (I race through it in half an hour at most), but you are going to notice a huge decrease in your amount of spare time. Also, are you homeschooling or doing online school? Because you said you aren't at school yet.

Neither. It's still summer holidays in New Zealand.

[Trar]

Yeah, this is more of a theoretical situation. I was pretty tired when I posted this

I did most of my homework in the school library after hours. I probably overreacted here, but homework is still a problem.