“I was talking with one student and this student said that if she sat down for 4 hours doing homework, it was quite possible that in total about 2 hours were spent chatting and using google hangouts. Her parents just thought that she was doing homework the whole time.” 

Sound familiar?

So students, how many of you have hoodwinked your parents into believing you really were under the pump? The homework pump, just to clarify, and not the chat/distract pump😊
Or, if you are a parent, how often don’t you get this uneasy feeling that something is not quite right, but you can’t ascertain what is really going on? Every time you glance at your child, he seems like he’s on track…

I really don’t have a full answer to this problem. In some cases, it is a cat and mouse game, which really is a matter of deceit. In cases of lesser proportion, it may be a matter of poor habits. But at the end of the day, it usually surfaces when your child has too many late nights and you begin to think that the school is putting too much on your child (which might well be the case).

If it is a matter of too much homework, parents are obliged to let the school know. In some cases this causes a war in the home, particularly when it you put your foot down and tell your child you’ll write a note. From the child’s perspective, this means failure. From a parent’s perspective this is a matter of survival. From a teacher’s perspective, it results in reflection.

What is important, is that you know what your child is doing. Take time to find out what the requirements are and how they might be met. Take time to ascertain whether the computer is really necessary. Take time to interact with what your child is actually doing whilst engaged in homework activity.
Take time! It is your job to know and to nurture. When they were little, you were physically active chasing after dirty clothes, sore knees and celebrating many firsts. Now that they are older, you are required to be mentally active, engaging with their minds and celebrating their achievements.

And the question is, do you have time? Or maybe the question should be: are you convinced you need to make time?

M Plug, Principal