By Melissa Grant
Kids would rather get a job, clean their room or stay at school longer than do their homework.
And around one in three children don’t complete their assignments because they’re distracted by social media or television.
These are among the key findings of a national survey, which shows nearly one in two parents are struggling to get their kids to complete any homework.
Busy schedules and kids’ preference to do other things are making it extremely difficult for mums and dads to enforce homework.
More than 1000 parents and 500 students aged 11-16 took part in the survey, commissioned by educational company Firefly Learning.
Alarmingly, the survey found one in three parents were unable to help with homework because they didn’t understand what was required.
When they fail to hand in their assignments, children usually tell their teachers “I forgot” or “I had too much homework and couldn’t do it all”.
Parents Victoria not surprised by survey findings
Parents Victoria executive officer Gail McHardy says the volume and difficulty of homework given is a hot topic.
She believes the impact on families should be considered when teachers set homework, which includes revising material for tests and projects.
“Not all parents have the time or the capacity to assist with homework,” she said.
She said Parents Victoria often heard of circumstances where the volume and difficulty of homework appeared to be burdensome.
“The amount of homework should never be so much that it prevents students from getting sufficient sleep, playing sport, learning a musical instrument or spending quality family time.”
Kids’ disdain for homework was apparent in the survey with 34 per cent stating they would prefer to clean their room than do homework. A further 26 per cent said they would rather get a job and 19 per cent said they would prefer to stay at school an hour longer.
Ms McHardy said it wasn’t surprising some kids would rather clean their room than hit the books.
However, she said there were certainly some homework tasks that were beneficial to students, particularly reading take home books.
Parents Victoria encourages mums and dads to raise any homework concerns with their child’s teacher.
“Communication is key, so schools need to be clear with their homework policy and instructions that go with the work sent home,” Ms McHardy said.
EXCUSES KIDS GIVE WHEN THEY DON’T DO THEIR HOMEWORK
- I forgot to do my homework 31.8%
- I had too much homework and couldn’t do it all 23.0%
- I had computer problems 17.8%
- I was too busy 16.2%
- Other (includes 1.4% dog at my homework) 11.2%
