My 12 year old wants to know why we need to do homework. I'm looking for other voices to relay to him. Thanks

Answer 1

Tell him that he can be anything he wants to be if he does his homework. We do homework so that we can understand life, and how to live this life. Its not about good grades, it is about making something of yourself.

Tell him that if he doesnt do his homework, then he will not be respected by his peers or teachers.

Answer 2

First of all, ignore the "get new friends" people. Having sex without protection, especially at such a young age, was a really dumb mistake, but you shouldn't abandon your friend when she most needs you. Check with her that she has more evidence of pregnancy than fat. By that, I mean missed periods or a pregnancy test. She probably has already checked, but it's worth asking. She can't deal with this without her parents. It's just not possible. Besides, they'll find out anyway. They're not stupid; pregnancy is incredibly obvious. This is where peer pressure is a positive. Even if it damages your relationship in the short run you absolutely must pressure her to tell her parents. You should talk to your parents as well, even if she doesn't want you to. She will thank you later. If you have a good reason to believe that her parents would abuse her if they knew then she should at least talk to other adults about the situation. She can't do this alone. An abortion may very well be the best option at this point. Besides the emotional impact, I've heard that pregnancy isn't healthy for younger teenagers. Don't quote me on that, though. But HURRY, HURRY, HURRY, HURRY! Every day that passes increases ethical issues. At a certain point (the third trimester), abortion isn't even an option. If she does choose to carry out her pregnancy then she needs to get prenatal care. Planned Parenthood's web site has some relevant reading material. It might even be worth a call to them. They've dealt with similar situations many times before. There is information on other parts of the web as well. Search for teen pregnancy in a search engine. Ignore any web sites that are condemning teens in her situation. That's not what she needs right now! Act quickly, time is not on your side! Good luck Edit: I wrote too quickly on contacting Planned Parenthood. Leave that to the adults.

Answer 3

Part of the purpose of an assignment is to figure out the purpose of an assignment. It may be practising a skill such as applying trigonometry or it may be to review information, etc, etc. Then again, it may have no point for him. Maybe it's something he knows all too well, but others do not. Engage him in the process of thinking why he would be doing it. He is already asking the right question, but should try to answer it himself as well.

Also, if you're great at school, you can often do your homework in some other class that would otherwise bore you to death. It's all about getting stuff done, i.e. life.

Answer 4

OK, here's my view from a parent (of a 12 year old) AND a teacher:

Reinforcement and practice. It's not enough to try a new task/skill once or twice in the class and be done, one needs to try it a few times (on their own) to drive it home.

The level of homework given now is NOTHING compared to what we did (late 80's), and trust me, it shows in the lack of skills of the students now graduating. >I< would not hire MOST of the high school graduates coming out of my (and other local) schools.

Homework is a valuable tool that helps build a solid foundation of knowledge and skills...think of it as exercise...the more you do it, the stronger you are...your brain is a muscle, you need to exercise it too!

I can't understand the mentality going around our local schools...where being smart is a bad thing, and gets students beat up. The smart students are the ones that will have the better life and job opportunities! You want a good life and own nice things, then education is the key!

Tell your son to keep up the good work!

Answer 5

There is not enough time in the school day to do all the practice that needs to be done to make a skill imbedded in your mind. In order to learn something it should be done enough to make it easy and second nature. You need to work with something and find how to solve it yourself, with no ones guidance. Its not about answers, its about the skill to get to the answer which takes time. Students also need breaks in between learning sessions. That time it takes to get home, get a snack etc. gives the brain a breather so it can go back fresh. Would he want to spend 8 to ten hours at school? Just doing work? No, and that would be counterproductive. If you learn an instrument you practice it every day. Any sport star your child can imagine practiced his skill on his or her own time. Thinking and learning are the same way.

Answer 6

I know exactly how your son feels at the moment. I have had it up to here with homework (I'm in tenth grade, and our work load is absolutely nuts), but at the same time, I know it's necessary. Just try to explain to him that it reinforces what we learn. It's almost like a review... I guess a cheesy way to put it is that you're reviewing for life (I know a lot of people say that we will rarely use anything we learn in school for real life, but I honestly don't believe that).

All in all, it helps one remember what they have learned in school. Otherwise, everyone would simply forget what they were taught, and that would just make education pointless.

Answer 7

After being in school for up to 8 hours a day, he is right!!!!! How would you like to come home from work and then have to do 2-3 hours of extra work? Have the teachers really teach and the kids will learn plenty at school. Your only a kid for a little while, go outside and learn on your own. Enjoy nature.

Answer 8

Homework allows you to tightly hold in memory much of what you have been taught during the school day. If you can hold facts in your mind for 24 hours they will stay to be used at need. If they seem to slip away they are never to far away to pack back into your memory quickly.

Answer 9

I believe homework is a way of reinforcing taught material and a way for educators to see just how much of lectures are comprehended. It is a way for students to extrapolate or extend given material. It also shows logic, creativity and reason and maybe just a dollop of philosophy.
Remind your child that the notes and completed assignments he/she has under their belt the better study materials they will have

Answer 10

Homework is to practice what you hopefully learned in school. It gives you a chance to prove you understand or to ask questions if you still don't before the test.