Going to school has its trials, like social structures and class time to name a couple.
However, nothing makes students across the board shudder quite like after school assignments.
Homework cuts into much needed free time, and although it is a necessity occasionally, children everywhere are saying they can’t hack the teacher’s demands.
So, what options do students have when their grades depend on their homework performance?
Many parents are turning toward “homework therapists” to ease their children’s anxieties with assignments, while helping them create time-management charts and similar task oriented tools.
Way back in Roman times, Pliny the Younger had his pupils practice at home to enhance their formal speaking skills with great success, according to Café Mom.
From that point on, homework has been used in various capacities to enhance a skill, or as a punishment for students as with Roberto Nevilis in 1905.
The popular CBS show The Doctors did a segment on the growing field of homework therapists, and said they are “emotional supporters throughout the stressful practice of homework.”
There is much debate on whether children should have homework therapists or not, one side stating that children shouldn’t have so many after school assignments to begin with, while the other side says that parents should be guiding their children through this part of life.
One thing is for sure, that homework is not going away, and that children need help with the task.
Dr. Hillman, 30, is a member of the $100 billion tutoring industry, working with primarily students who need academic and emotional support, reports the New York Times.
In the digital age, in-person tutoring is not always needed nor expected, Hillman works with many of her clients via Skype, email, and text.
During one-on-one sessions, Hillman works to “soothe cranky students”, directing them back to a “path of achievement.”
In New York, the cost for having a private homework therapist, which is like having a tutor and in-home counselor all rolled into one, is between $200 and $600 for a 50-75 minute session, according to the New York Times.
Many of the homework therapists, have careers as clinicians at hospitals, family counseling centers or their own private practices, but then moonlight as homework therapists.
This fares well in that many students require standard counseling techniques to navigate the murky waters of school and home life.
You may be one of the many individuals who wonder why a child would need a therapist for the small sector of time that constitutes homework life.
Students who have an underlying mental health condition would have more troubles than an average student managing a stressful work load, or complex assignment.
Then there are the students that don’t have the parental support necessary to compete homework assignments that they don’t understand, or need help with.
A survey, reported by Education Week, found that 50% of parents struggle to help their kids complete their homework.
The age gap between parents and their children, along with the different educational requirements from then to now, leave 46.5% of the surveyed parents not even knowing how to help their children.
A third of parents say that they are frustrated trying to help their children with their homework, because the child claims they don’t need help.
Sadly, 21.9% of parents admit they are “too busy” to go over homework with their kids.
Parents are not the only aspect contributing to homework woes, City News reports that students are having issues grasping all the content they are exposed to daily.
One student states:
“It affects us greatly, because you can’t absorb four subjects. You have to absorb eight subjects at once and it’s hard to learn and sometimes you forget. When it’s too much, you get stressed, and you want to quit.”
While the modern American lifestyle is fast-paced and busy, there should always be time to help your children in their everyday tasks.
Priorities have shifted in society, as liberal ideologies demean the family unit, and traditional conservative values struggle to make a cultural impact.
Changing the level of homework a child is given is a near impossible feat, considering the intimate role it plays in the education system.
We can change how we support this area of a child’s life, discussing homework with teachers who assign too much, or designating time in the evenings to sit with your child as they complete their tasks.
It’s important for our children to know that we are there for them, and the statistics don’t currently report that we are.
Today is a great day for change, so check in with your child to see if they are at a loss with homework, getting anxiety when trying to complete it, or if they need your help.
Please let us know in the comments section if your children struggle with homework, and how you help them through it.