NYS School Considers Banning Homework Year-Round

One New York school is considering banning homework after a proposal from two students. Is this idea crazy or genius?

Two fifth-grade students at an elementary school in Stony Brook, outside of NYC, said homework made them feel "stressed." So, they started a petition among their classmates, and now the school's administration is considering the proposal, according to reporting by nbcnewyork.com.

What do you think about this idea?

My son is in the 9th grade. He just went back to school after the Memorial Day break. I'd say he had - easily - 4-6 hours worth of homework, if not more, to complete. Other parent, from different school districts, with children in different grades, had similar complaints.

As adults, we read so many magazine articles citing research that says it's important to step away from our work on a daily basis, and focus on relaxation and our families. Why isn't it the same for students? School is essentially their job. They "work" at least a 7 hour day - longer if they play a sport - why shouldn't they be able to unwind and relax when they get home too?

The district in Stony Brook says they're considering options that range from an outright ban on homework, to a circumstance where parents can request homework, to simply limiting the amount of homework each teacher can assign.

Critics might suggest that this is just another example of kids being coddled, or not learning to tough it out - after all, we all had homework when we were kids.