Homework is how society helps keep the lower classes down. Who’s likelier to succeed in school if a good chunk of what you’re expected to demonstrate depends on what happens outside of school? Would it be the middle-class kids who always have someone at home when they get out of school; no need for a job; no need to watch younger siblings; a clean, quiet, well lighted place to study; access to books and the Internet; a full stomach; encouraging parents; and no racket from brawls in the halls or gunfights in the streets? Or somebody without those advantages who’s nonetheless held to the same standards?
Homework is the great magnifier of existing social disparities. We’d be better off without it.
Homework is how society helps keep the lower classes down. Who’s likelier to succeed in school if a good chunk of what you’re expected to demonstrate depends on what happens outside of school? Would it be the middle-class kids who always have someone at home when they get out of school; no need for a job; no need to watch younger siblings; a clean, quiet, well lighted place to study; access to books and the Internet; a full stomach; encouraging parents; and no racket from brawls in the halls or gunfights in the streets? Or somebody without those advantages who’s nonetheless held to the same standards?
Homework is the great magnifier of existing social disparities. We’d be better off without it.