A Teacher Expected Her Students To Do Homework & Their Parents Are Now Accusing Her Of Inflicting Emotional Damage
MAYA LAB | ShutterstockA teacher's main job is to make sure students are learning, and that includes assigning homework. Surprise, surprise, students don't like it. Would you believe that parents are raging against it now, too?
There has been a lot of debate over the past several years about whether kids should even have to do homework in the first place, and what they should be expected to handle once they're home. That makes sense for the younger years, but once students hit middle school, you'd think an increase in homework would be expected.
That's not the reality, unfortunately. 7th-grade math teacher Kai shared recently that she was inundated with messages from parents claiming she was emotionally traumatizing their kids because she held them accountable when it came to their assignments.
A teacher received emails from parents who accused her of inflicting emotional damage by expecting her students to do their homework.
"The following are emails I have received from parents with reasons why their child should not have to do their math homework," Kai began in her video. One parent explained that they were "mortified" upon hearing their child was forced to miss lunch in order to finish their math homework.
"This is problematic. You have traumatized my child. I will be reporting you to admin, and I want him removed from your class," the parent continued in their email to Kai. In another message, a parent claimed that their child had an "emotional breakdown" because they were getting frustrated by their assignment and accused Kai of assigning "too much" homework.
"Now, keep in mind this was at the beginning of the year. A lot of 7th graders came in not knowing 3rd, 4th, 5th grade math because of COVID," Kai pointed out. "The homework I assigned was to students who did not know how to do basic things that they should already be competent in, like adding fractions."
The teacher argued that she can't hold students accountable if parents won't do it at home.
Kai made sure to explain to the parent that their child wasn't at the proper level for middle school math, which is why they were being assigned third-grade math in the first place. In a follow-up email from another parent, they complained that the math questions on the homework assignment did not align at all with the state standards for seventh grade.
"I will not be putting my child in distress for content they do not need to know, and my child will not be doing this assignment," the parent argued. Kai added, "This is from a parent who actually made my life very, very difficult all year."
Another parent insisted that their child should just be excused from their math homework because they had "soccer practice" that night. Kai insisted that she was completely fine with an extension, but only if the child would be completing their homework.
Teachers are only able to do so much, but at the end of the day, it's parents who have to hold their children accountable at home. Despite the arguments surrounding homework, it's actually beneficial for children to have it.
Experts explained that homework does still have value for students.
According to experts at the Johns Hopkins School of Education, homework remains essential as long as it's enriching for children. In fact, statistically, results show that doing homework or spending more time on homework is linked to higher student achievement.
Studio Romantic | Shutterstock
"Teachers need to design homework that even struggling students want to do because it is interesting. Just about all students at any age level react positively to good assignments and will tell you so," explained Joyce L. Epstein, co-director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University.
Considering the pandemic caused a major setback with education, kids getting homework now is the only way for them to actually catch up and be on the appropriate level for their age and grade in school. Parents getting in the way of that are only doing their children a disservice.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
