Homework: Getting it Done is Hard on Everyone

If You Don't Do the Homework, You Can't Pass the Grade

One of the great challenges with kids is homework. Period. Why? At the end of the day, they just got through several hours of seeing their friends, going to classes, and other school-related events. They feel like the work stops there, they have done their time, and are entitled to stop doing schoolwork. They went to school, did as they were supposed to do, and it is now their time to do with as they please. Or, at least, not do schoolwork.

There are many schools of thought about the merits of homework and if it really does capture the lessons and re-enforces them at home. This story is not about that. As long as they assign homework in school, and it is part of my kid’s final grade, they have to take care of it. It is that simple. Until school curriculums change throughout the country, reducing the homework burden, kids are expected to do it. They don’t punch a clock when they go to school and when they punch out, there is nothing expected of them. When they come home, they can have a bit of “free time”, then they are expected to do homework.

One sunny afternoon, in April, as the sky has finally warmed up and the school day is over, I found my secondborn in his room. They have a set of earphones on, look at their smartphone, and listen to music.

“Hey Secondborn”

“Yeah, Dad.”, they take off the headphones.

“Do you know what time it is?”

“Afternoon?”

“No. Well, yes, it is the afternoon, but that is not what I am talking about.”

Time to clean my room?”

“No.”

“Time to do chores?”

I shake my head from side to side. We are dancing around the topic, time to address it head-on.

“No. It is time for homework.”

Secondborn smiles, “Oh yeah. I did it in class.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you show it to me?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“It is in my locker at school.”

“Really.”

“Yes.”

“How does that help you now?”

“All I know is that it is already done, it is in my locker, and you can trust me.”

“Yes. I can trust you, but I need to verify that the homework is done.”

Sometimes, my kids forget that we live in the twenty-first century. You say, back in the day, telling my parents that my homework is in my locker might have been OK. There was no web portal that has all of their class assignments that I could check, attendance roster, and other school information at the tips of my fingers using this strange thing called … the Internet!

My secondborn KNOWS that I can get to the Internet and check his grades at a moment’s notice. So, is he going to continue the bluff, knowing darn well that I have all of the cards?

“Wait a minute.”, they say, “I just remembered that I didn’t finish that assignment. I’ll get to it in a few minutes.”

I reply, “By the end of the night, I want to see the completed assignment in my hand. Not that I don’t trust you, but I do have to verify. “

“Right Dad.”

“I report to a higher power. Your Mother. If your homework is not done, you can forget the Internet for a long, long time.”

Bottom line: Kids will try to not do their homework. Always trust, but verify these actions. Also, equally as important: a happy wife is a happy life. Transparency and honesty is always the best approach. Trust your kids, but verify that they get the job done.