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An eye on the youth and family life

SHE SAYS
Dinah S. Ventura

10/04/2010

The latest “homework ban” memorandum by the Department of Education (DepEd), which prohibits public elementary school teachers from giving their pupils homework to do over the weekend caused a minor furor among parent and teachers not too long ago.

As DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro and Undersecretary for Programs and Projects Yolanda Quijano explained in the media soon after the announcement, the “Memorandum No. 392 was issued due to various complaints to the department that school children have been receiving too many assignments,” to quote a GMA 7 online report.

There are two schools of thought arising from this issue. There are those who believe that having homework to do on weekends is beneficial not only to the pupils, but also their parents. In fact, some such parents were quoted in TV reports complaining that they would lose the only bonding opportunity they have with their kids if they do not have weekend homework to do together.

What’s interesting about this argument is the reason behind the memorandum to give the students more quality time to spend with their family.

Which gives rise to the opposing argument, which is that any time you can spend with your children, no matter the activity, can be a bonding opportunity. Those of this belief are amazed at how those parents can think that doing homework together is the only bonding activity they can do with their kids. It seems, they protest, they are the ones who need to do their homework to find out what other activities are out there for fostering and strengthening family ties!

Depending on their interests, families can cook together, create picnic meals and bring them to the nearest park, sing songs, dance to different tunes (from the parents’ favorites to their kids’ music preferences), go to public libraries and have reading sessions (if they insist on doing only learning activities), take up new hobbies like sewing or baking, play sports together or visit the metro’s different museums. They can even just watch movies together if that’s all they want to do. The important thing is that they should do things together as a family, and for parents to give their kids their whole attention during those moments.

What good is going to the mall, for example, if the parents hie off to a spa for a massage while their kids vent out their frustrations in the gaming zone? What good is going to the park together if the parents spend much of the time on the cellphone, while the kids wander off on their own? Or what if the kids are allowed to bury their noses in graphic books or hand-held games while the family eats out rather than encouraging conversation and interaction?

A child would grow more well-rounded if he or she is given other ways to learn or develop skills, especially if they are able to do this with their loved ones. By giving families time to do other things rather than just academics-based ones all the time, children are also being molded into more sociable and emotionally balanced persons.

Another aspect of this homework ban hullabaloo is that some teachers expressed fears that the students may forget their lessons learned if they are not given homework to do over the weekend. Perhaps a better way to help students retain their lessons is a mind free of stress and anxiety. Better teaching methods aside, students can absorb lessons more if they are given time to rest their minds. This is why there are subjects like Physical Education. Everyone knows other parts of our being deserve as much as attention as our brain.

In this light, there is some sense in the suggestion that teachers continue to give their students something constructive to do in their free time. As Sen. Pia Cayetano has said, lessons on music and the arts could be helpful yet stress-free.

In any case, that DepEd memorandum is not the be-all, end-all of education. It merely gives attention to an aspect of education that promotes “the value of balancing time between study, play and family time, especially for grade school pupils,” to quote Senator Cayetano once more.

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