I’m usually not a fan of frivolous lawsuits, but I have to sympathize with this student and his family (and agree with them in principle, if not in practice). The workload put on students in the public schools these days is unreasonable, and constantly getting worse.
And, as if it weren’t enough to have 4 hours of homework each night during the school year, there is a growing trend toward these kinds of summer assignments. ENOUGH ALREADY. Busywork, which is all most homework is now, is time consuming and contributes nothing to education. The way to improve things is to have significantly fewer, more-challenging assignments.
The viral spread of busywork drivel has done virtually nothing positive for education in America; adding more of it will not help.
- Wis. Student Sues to End Summer Homework (AP via Yahoo! [no longer available]).