With shortened recreations and increased workload at school, children have less and less free time. Is this really healthy for our children? A mom thinks not.
When Bunmi Laditan’s 10-year-old daughter began to have chest pains and wake up in the middle of the night due to stress, Laditan decided that what was enough was enough. So, although her daughter loves to study on her own, the mother of 3 children sent an e-mail to the school where her daughter is studying to let her know that she will no longer do homework.
After sending the email, Laditan wrote a post that went viral on Facebook about how her house will be freed from the burden of homework.
She wrote the following on her Facebook account:
“My child finished homework. I just sent an e-mail to the school where she is studying to let them know. I said that I would “drastically reduce” my homework, but I was just trying to be polite because she finished it with them for good.
My 10-year-old loves to learn. She reads alone, independently of school, 10-12 books a year, and regularly looks for topics that interest her (right now she is writing a story about wolves). He takes coding classes, loves to paint, and loves something called Roblox, which I didn’t quite understand what it was about.
But in the last 4 years, I have noticed that she is becoming more and more stressed when it comes to school. And by stress I mean chest pain, waking up in the middle of the night, and fear of school in general.
She’s at school between 8: 15 AM – 4 PM every day so can someone explain to me why she should stay home for 2-3 hours to do homework every night?
Why does it make sense to do homework until 6:30 pm, then have dinner, then relax for an hour (or finish your homework), and then go to bed so you can start over tomorrow?
Isn’t time with family important at all? Isn’t time just being a child important anymore? Or should she become a child obsessed with work from the age of 10?
Did you know that homework is banned in Finland? And that, even so, do they have the youngest people in all of Europe who then go to college? Children do not need homework to succeed in life and yet we behave as if sitting at the kitchen table, after a day full of school, somehow, it makes sense.
Children need time to relax and recreate after school as adults do when they leave work. They need to play with their siblings, to get closer to their parents in a relaxed atmosphere, not always where everyone is stressed because of the factions because -SURPRISE- I am not a teacher to know them. Children need time to enjoy their childhood or this is only allowed on weekends (although we do homework even on Sundays).
My child finished homework. If the school wants to punish her for that, then I guess I’ll have to learn how to teach her at home. I’m very nervous about it because even though I work from home, I work. And I have a 3-year-old who goes to kindergarten only three times a week and a 7-year-old who is in second grade.
I will train to hire a tutor to help me and I will look for a group of parents who want to do the same, but I have no choice at the moment.
We all want our children to grow up and succeed in life. While I believe in education, I do not believe for a second that school should consume a child’s whole life. I don’t care if she goes to Harvard at some point, all I want is for her to be smart, well-mannered, gentle and kind-hearted, inspired, spiritual and to find balance in life. She wants to be mentally and emotionally healthy. I want her to understand that work is not her life, it’s just a part of her life. The work will not do it. It won’t keep them warm. Family, friends, community, the fact that she offers and that she is a good person, that will fulfill it.
I guess her school will write to me tomorrow or call me. We have some decisions to make, but I will carry this to the end: no homework and I don’t care who knows. My children will live their childhood.
I also want to make this clear: I do not blame teachers. I know they are incredible and I know they have to do certain things because that is the education system in this country. But this system doesn’t work for me and my family. I can’t look at my baby anymore and see her get so stressed at such a young age. Her father (who is a very good behavioral therapist) and I worked hard to relieve her of that sick stress, but it’s too much work. I don’t usually talk about my children because I try to respect their privacy, but I felt the need to bring this out here. Something needs to change. ”
Of course, Laditan had many supporters on the Internet, who commented positively on the post.