Homework Overload

Rabbi Shmuley
The principal purpose of school is not to impart knowledge, but to teach a child to love knowledge, Rabbi Shmuley says. Using this standard as a measurement, he says today's schools are failing because children are not intellectually curious. One of the reasons Rabbi Shmuley feels this way is because children are overburdened with homework. "Intellectual curiosity should not always feel like a burden," he says. "It should be a joy to learn, know and discover new things."

Rabbi Shmuley suggests that too much homework could have the following negative effects on children:
  • It makes children nervous. They have no downtime, which will make them appear sullen and burned out, Rabbi Shmuley says.
  • It gets in the way of family bonding. Children lose out on time that could be spent with family members.
  • It makes learning a burden. Children will cease reading and lose their intellectual curiosity, he says. They will dislike and dread going to school.
  • It absolves parents of their responsibilities. Rabbi Shmuley says too much homework takes away parents' responsibility for creating knowledge-based environments for their children because they rely entirely on school. "Suddenly, rather than a parent being someone who takes their children to libraries and bookstores, he becomes the person who takes them to the malls and multiplexes," he says.
Today's Shmuleyism:
"The principal purpose of school is not to impart knowledge but to teach a child to love knowledge. his way, well after they leave school, they will continue learning and, in effect, become lifelong students."

 

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