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School may ban homework to combat depression


Still Waters

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Homework could be abolished at one of Britain's most prestigious schools to combat teenage depression.

Cheltenham Ladies' College will review dropping homework - known as "prep" - over the next five years in response to "an epidemic of anxiety" among youngsters in the UK.

Pupils at the 162-year-old boarding and day school will attend weekly meditation classes from September.

They will also have twice as long to walk between lessons.

http://news.sky.com/...mbat-depression

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WOW! Go the Cheltenham Ladies! :clap: What trailblazers they are. I hope more schools quickly follow suit.

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Wow, a world of coddled kids becomes a world of spoiled brats. Think things are getting bad now? Just wait till the day they're in charge of the world. On second thought, they won't be. They'll be sitting there slack jawed with their hands out and their ass in the air waiting for someone to wipe it for them while speaking to each other in Internet acronyms. Just give them all smart phones and when their coddled little brains need an answer to a fleeting thought they can just google it and that's the school of the future.

Edited by F3SS
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I was kind of wondering what the point of homework was now a days, when you can do just that- Google all the answers. But then again, I guess the original point of homework was to force you to read through your text book for the answers. With Google you can just do it faster and skip the reading part.

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Well, it was always true that homework made me really depressed!!! :o;)

Well, why not experiment about this? Instead of just assuming that hard work and ignore the students is what's best for the kids, (the future), I think a little resourcefulness and consideration is always welcomed. It still looks like there is a lot of hard work going into the curriculum besides.

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I was kind of wondering what the point of homework was now a days, when you can do just that- Google all the answers. But then again, I guess the original point of homework was to force you to read through your text book for the answers. With Google you can just do it faster and skip the reading part.

Discipline, structure, following directions. Things of that nature.

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The thing is, kids vary enormously in their capacity to learn and study. My god-daughter is 15 and seems to have an insatiable appetite for learning. She gobbles up homework and does extra study just for the love of it, plus, she has many out-of-school activities: swimming(competes at County level), cross-country running(competes at County level), hurdling(competes at school level), horse riding, ballet, cycling. When I was her age, by the time I got home from school I was good for nothing! I think it depends, broadly speaking, on whether you are artistic, practically-minded or an intellectual. My god-daughter is one of those lucky people who has an almost photographic memory, she doesn't struggle to remember what she's learned because it's 'fixed' in her brain the first time she hears or reads the info. I found(still find), it almost impossible to actively memorise information. It either lodged in my brain or it didn't and that was that. Once I got to secondary school I found homework to, quite literally, be soul destroying.

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Far, far back in ancient times...back before calculators, computers, the internet, cell phones...there existed these activities called 'homework' and 'studying'. No one I know of died from doing these activities. In fact, many people actually learned things from doing them.

Basically, I call BS on this one.

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Is your daughter really a god? :)

Goddess? :D

Far, far back in ancient times...back before calculators, computers, the internet, cell phones...there existed these activities called 'homework' and 'studying'. No one I know of died from doing these activities. In fact, many people actually learned things from doing them.

Basically, I call BS on this one.

You say 'no one died from doing these activities' but a lot of permanent damage was done.

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Discipline, structure, following directions. Things of that nature.

You hit the head on the nail! :tu:

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"Teenage depression"...LOL and I should care why now?

Welcome to the real world!

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yep, ban the homework and let them stick to chavbook instead. The mind boggles.

I never liked homework, but i knew i would get a grilling off the teachers if not done, so in terms of respect for the teachers and a bit of discipline, it did some good....i did the homework.

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Unfortunately kids these days are getting what they want. Homework is not that hard, its just they leave everything to last minute, surely parents need to be firm and not give in because a child is stroppy

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You say 'no one died from doing these activities' but a lot of permanent damage was done.

What damage? I did homework (and a great deal of it) and guess what...I suffered no damage whatsoever.

I'd like to see the evidence that doing homework and studying causes damage.

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It didnt cause me damage, you get coursework in years 10 and 11 when I was at school but it wasnt tough

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i would say the social media sites are doing more damage mentally than any homework ever did.

There have been cases of suicides because of homework, but if they want to put a stop to depression, then they will have to look further afield too. Homework is not the only culprit towards depression today and i do not think it is the main culprit.

9 Teenage Suicides In The Last Year Were Linked To Cyber-Bullying On Social Network Ask.fm

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/a-ninth-teenager-since-last-september-has-committed-suicide#.yelVAW7jk

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I suppose they'll also drop exam's, grades and all that pesky - "learning things" stuff... That causes anxiety as well...

Afterwards, classes will consist entirely of "Open Study" periods where student are encouraged to stay on their phones for the entire period to promote social skills and minimize learning-related emotional trauma.

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Homework only proves that stuff can get done elsewhere.

It doesn't prove knowledge, it doesn't prove understanding. How does the teacher know it wasn't cribbed off the Net or done by someone else?

If by removing homework they alleviate a little stress it's a good thing, as all the other stressors in school are there to stay (Ie grades and assessment).

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Homework only proves that stuff can get done elsewhere.

It doesn't prove knowledge, it doesn't prove understanding. How does the teacher know it wasn't cribbed off the Net or done by someone else?

If by removing homework they alleviate a little stress it's a good thing, as all the other stressors in school are there to stay (Ie grades and assessment).

I do not think removing homework will alleviate the problem, teenagers experiencing depression is a lot more complex than just homework. if they are going through that "stage" of change, depression could quite easily appear if they choose to go on media sites instead.

The teacher does not know if they cribbed their homework off the net, i agree, but this also means they can not know exactly what is causing the depression.

TBO, I think homework is a thing of the past, but depression should not be the reason for getting rid of it, getting the answers off the net instead of learning the answers in school would be a better reason.

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I'm amazed that so many posters here are taking the mental health of youngsters so lightly. Just because you feel that the education system in this country didn't do you any harm doesn't mean to say that others weren't damaged by it.

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I have never had any children, but I am a big advocate of home-schooling! That way, as a parent you have more control over what your child is being taught. This would just be my personal choice, and its up to others to find a system that works with their lifestyle.

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Far, far back in ancient times...back before calculators, computers, the internet, cell phones...there existed these activities called 'homework' and 'studying'. No one I know of died from doing these activities. In fact, many people actually learned things from doing them.

Basically, I call BS on this one.

But, with those things you mentioned, what actually is the point of learning by rote those things you had to study for your homework?

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I have never had any children, but I am a big advocate of home-schooling! That way, as a parent you have more control over what your child is being taught. This would just be my personal choice, and its up to others to find a system that works with their lifestyle.

Or perhaps, what you feel best suits your child ..... as an individual. My son started off in the Rudolf Steiner system, was then home-schooled, then home-schooled with three other families and then went to a small state school.

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