I think this picture takes a different stance on the homework ban than most images I have seen. While the standard image is of small children sleeping, slumping, or being unhappy with their piles of books, this image shows the other angle. The angle of the burden to the parents. The parents have to shoulder the responsibility of the homework assigned in all classes be completed. The parents have to keep up with the knowledge of their children to help them work through the homework they don't understand.
It also portrays the mother trying to balance the life of her son. He is the most important aspect, being on top of the pile. However, he is also having to try to balance his life, which is portrayed with the soccer ball and the violin. This is also an interesting concept. The child is trying to balance the two things he most enjoys, with everything else being beneath him and becoming the responsibility of the parent to maintain.
With the angle of the picture falling down, it gives the impression of a failing battle. The mother is being crushed, and walking downhill. This image really struck me with a different viewpoint on the burden homework has put onto families. It also made me really think about how much the child concerns themselves or leaves it up to their parents to deal with it.
Works Cited: Untitled Photograph. New Yorker web. December 17,2012. http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2012/12/17/121217taco_talk_menand
Being a single parent I can relate to your topic. My son is only in first grade and his homework is already a lot of commitment on my part as well. I dread when he gets older. I wonder how with extra curricular activities other parents and children are able to make it all work. I do also see the other side and why homework is important. If kids are not practicing what the learned how are they really going to retain it. That maybe something you could research as well. Like what are statistics or things like that of kids that do homework and kids that do not. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this picture really shows how hard it is for parents and children both to try to balance schoolwork and extra-curricular activities. It does end up being really difficult for the entire family. My daughter just switched this year to a high school where she can actually receive credit for some of her extra-curricular interests which I feel has been a life-saver for the both of us because she has been able to lessen her class schedule and not be super stressed all the time. She is also able to enjoy her outside interests again because for a while they were just one more thing on top of all the school work to take care of. This image also made me think about how prevalent stress-related illnesses are these days and that it seems like the current system of over-loading our kids is setting them up to fall into the over-stressed category at an earlier age, potentially leading to negative health effects.
ReplyDeleteMy first impression of this picture was that the person on the bottom is the child that is over burdened with homework and the person on the top is the one that has less or none or that they have theirs done. Your idea is good. I did not think of it that way but it so fits the picture. My children were homeschooled and did not have to deal with homework. When my daughter a single parent had to work full time and go to school part time I would take care of her children after school. In order for her to have any time with them during the day we needed to do homework before they went home. The homework they brought home so often seemed pointless. They didn't bring home math practice or spelling. It seemed like busy work. I didn't mind the twenty minutes of reading everyday, but some days they had so much to do to turn in the paperwork that we did not have time for the reading. Added to that they had Taekwon Do. On those nights homework was practically impossible. So for parents that have to do this one or more children everyday seems a lot of work.
ReplyDeleteI have homeschooled my kids since preschool, so they never really had homework. My daughter chose to go to high school this year and I was surprised that she rarely has homework. After talking to the teachers questioning why this is, they just say that if they assign it that the majority of the students will not do it. If she does have homework it is only like a problem or two of math or a post to a blog. It is my understanding that teachers are trying to have assignments completed in class now. In order to do this certain classes such as math or science are longer than the rest of the classes. I think that seems a lot better since some kids do have their extracurricular activities that they participate it. I have heard that parents do spend a lot of time trying to help their child with homework in the lower grades, which is difficult because they are taught in a different way then we were. You still can come up with the same answer, but it is derived in a different and more complex way. It is just hard for parents because we have so many other things that we need to be doing and trying to help with homework is just another thing we have to add on to our to do list.
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