Pretty soon, we become less likely to ask (or even wonder) whether what we're being taught really makes sense. As students, we're trained to sit still, listen to what the teacher says, run our highlighters across whatever words in the book we'll be required to commit to memory. There are rewards, both tangible and symbolic, for those who behave properly and penalties for those who don't. From our first days in school we are carefully instructed in what has been called the 'hidden curriculum': how to do what one is told and stay out of trouble. Too many of us, including some who work in the field of education, seem to have lost our capacity to be outraged by the outrageous when handed foolish and destructive mandates, we respond by asking for guidance on how best to carry them out.

Too many of us sound like Robert Frost's neighbor, the man who 'will not go behind his father's saying.' Too many of us, when pressed about some habit or belief we've adopted, are apt to reply, 'Well, that's just the way I was raised' - as if it were impossible to critically examine the values one was taught. We don't ask challenging questions about homework because we don't ask challenging questions about most things. So why does homework continue to be assigned and accepted? Possible reasons include a lack of respect for research, a lack of respect for children (implicit in a determination to keep them busy after school), a lack of understanding about the nature of learning (implicit in the emphasis on practicing skills and the assertion that homework 'reinforces' school lessons), or the top-down pressures to teach more stuff faster in order to pump up test scores so we can chant 'We're number one!'Īll of these explanations are plausible, but I think there's also something else responsible for our continuing to feed children this latter-day cod-liver oil. But the stubborn belief that all of this must be worth it, that the gain must outweigh the pain, relies on faith rather than evidence. We're all familiar with the downside of homework: the frustration and exhaustion, the family conflict, time lost for other activities, and possible diminution of children's interest in learning.

Finally, there isn't a shred of evidence to support the folk wisdom that homework provides nonacademic benefits at any age - for example, that it builds character, promotes self-discipline, or teaches good work habits.

I have a homework to do