A plethora of evidence shows real downside for young children pushed to do homework that extends 10 minutes per grade. For instance, according to this standard, a grade one pupil should have a 10-minute-long homework while a grade two should have a 20-minute-long homework a night. Homework for elementary children should be banned because this is not the case with most Kenyan school-going children, especially kindergarteners.

Growing up, we would leave school after the “naskia sauti, sauti ya mama, sasa ni saa sita, kwaheri mwalimu,” song. Then, all children would walk home playing, singing, and collecting dried sticks for firewood because they had a sense of responsibility and an understanding that they had to contribute to the house chores.

During the last Christmas holiday, a friend of mine travelled to the countryside and took the chance of being in the rural area to source sisal plants, extract the sisal fibre, and make a sisal rope for her seven-year-old son’s CBC holiday assignment. This was in addition to an all-subjects homework booklet that was supposed to be completed before school reopened.

Young children are robbed of their time to explore their worlds, interact with their peers, act on their thoughts, and create memories from spontaneous play in early childhood. Homework for elementary children should be banned because it harms their attitude about school, performance, self-confidence, social skills, and quality of life.

Proponents of homework might argue that quality homework instils a sense of responsibility and develop planning and organizational skills, which are essential in modern capitalist systems.

However, kindergarten children should be allowed to grow in all their developmental spheres during their formative years, where they experience rapid cognitive (intellectual), social, emotional, and physical development. Children of the 21st century, especially those attending private schools within the major cities of Kenya, are picked up by the school buses before dawn and return home late in the evening.

Kindergarteners come from school after three in the afternoon, get on their buses, and spend a lot of time in traffic. Some sleep throughout the journey home, others chat with their friends, and others think about the homework in their bags. After a quick snack and shower, they sit tight and begin to work on their homework before being summoned for dinner.

Schoolwork becomes a full-time job, and many, like their parents who are exhausted from their 8-5 job, dread Mondays because the cycle begins. In a 2013 research project conducted by Stanford University, it was established that learners in high-achieving communities that spent most of their time doing homework experienced more stress and physical health problems, lacked life balance, and were alienated from society.

The effects of mental health issues such as stress and depression affect many children who are pressured to finish their homework. Additionally, having a lot of homework makes children view learning as a chore and hate it because it deprives them of enough sleep and spontaneous play and robs them of quality time with their parents. 

In addition to stressing the children, homework can also have depressing effects on parents with limited education as they may not be confident to engage the school about their child’s work. Also, most parents work long hours and only want to bond with their children and relax when they get home.

Evidence from research findings provides compelling anecdotes about the harmful effects of homework on learners and advocates for reducing or banning homework for young school-going children. Therefore, homework for elementary kids should be banned. 

— Caroline Nderitu is a poet and writes children’s books