Kids feel time constraints, too

The subject of time -- where it goes and how we can create more --

keeps coming up. And I am sorry to keep beating this drum, but I am

more convinced than ever that the nation is in a time crisis.

Until a couple of nights ago, I was convinced that parents bore

the brunt of the time assault, but now I’m not so sure. Now, I know

for certain that kids are feeling the time strain, too, mostly

because parents cannot help but have their stress take its toll on

their kids.

A week ago, Maxine McCleery-Bowden wrote a compelling letter to

the Los Angeles Times describing the lack of time low-income students

in her area have to do their homework.

“They frequently visit family members far away, they help their

parents in their jobs [fixing cars, running restaurants, motels].

They baby-sit for their mom while she is working. They make dinner,

change the baby’s diapers and can’t find space on the kitchen table

for their [homework] papers.”

The letter went on to suggest that to “create” more time, we

eliminate homework for these and other children who have an adult’s

share of life at a child’s age.

I will admit that I am not a big fan of homework. Still, in our

home, if it is assigned, it is the priority for our kids. It’s

actually Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Homework deprives kids of the chance to

play. On a selfish level, it deprives me of the chance to spend more

time with them.

In recent years, it seems to me that homework has become more and

more of an extension of the classroom. Teachers today are unfairly

burdened with too much to teach in too little time. Homework then

becomes the way to maintain the curriculum schedule.

But I also know that homework is an important teaching tool.

Properly used, it can focus a child on the most important parts of a

day’s worth of lessons.

So how much homework is enough? One school official said that a

seventh-grader should be receiving about 1 1/2 hours of homework a

night. Again, that’s an approximation.

One-and-a-half hours doesn’t seem like a lot. In our house, it

should be a piece of cake, because the kids don’t watch TV and

supposedly have all this free time. But they don’t, and neither do I

anymore, it seems.

My time with the kids is about an hour in the mornings and 2 1/2

hours in the evening. The morning is hardly quality time, because I’m

usually barking out orders. The house in the morning reminds of the

classic comedy “The More the Merrier,” in which three adults find

themselves living in a cramped Washington, D.C. apartment.

The lessee, played by Jean Arthur, is the model of efficiency, and

she writes up a specific plan of action for each resident each

morning. “At 7:30 a.m., I go into the bathroom, and Mr. Dingle puts

on the coffee. At 7:35 a.m., I exit the bathroom and Mr. Dingle gets

the newspaper ...” and so on.

Honestly, it’s not much different than that in the morning at our

house, and I believe our house is typical.

Here’s how it goes: “At 7:05 a.m., Roy gets dressed. At 7:06 a.m.,

Bean eats breakfast and gathers her school stuff by the door. At 7:10

a.m., Dad takes a shower. At 7:15 a.m., Mom gets dressed and gets the

car ready to go, and Roy feeds the dog.” And so on.

Not exactly quality time. Eliminating homework won’t cut down on

the morning fire drill. It will only increase our time together in

the evening, but at what cost? Our daughter has set high academic

goals for herself and she will not achieve them unless she is always

a few steps ahead. She cannot do that without homework.

I also believe that most teachers, given the choice, would rather

not give homework assignments. It’s not because they’re not looking

forward to grading more work, but I think most of them also realize

that in many homes, homework is tough on kids.

It could be very easy to dismiss this no homework concept as the

frustration of an overworked parent or some radical citizen who

doesn’t understand the concept of establishing a middle ground. But

the difference here is that McCleery-Bowden is a teacher.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(949) 642-6086.