Homework reprieve for Swampscott students

SWAMPSCOTT – Three chapters to read in “War and Peace,” problem sets due in math, an upcoming test in U.S. history are just some of the varied homework assignments Swampscott students say keep them busy at night.But today, students won’t have any homework as the district institutes the first of its eight “no-homework nights.””It’s to give kids at least one pressure-free night, one night where they don’t have to be thinking about what they have to do for homework,” said School Committee member and Swampscott Middle School Nurse Marianne Speranza-Hartmann. “There is so much stress on the kids these days. Their lives are so scheduled, there’s not a lot of downtime, which can in turn cause a lot of stress and anxiety and mental-health issues.”But while all high school students interviewed Monday applauded the idea, many were skeptical about whether a one-night reprieve will even work.”I don’t think it will happen,” said senior Alexa Baldacci. “There’s long-term stuff to do, and it’s so easy for (teachers) to assign other work.”But Baldacci was thankful for the idea. “Any time I have free time, I feel there’s always studying that I should be doing,” she said.School officials got the idea from the film “The Race to Nowhere.” Superintendent Lynne Celli said that the district’s principals selected the eight dates – generally a Wednesday night each month until school ends – to reflect the district’s commitment to a “holistic approach to education.””I think it’s important,” Celli said. “We emphasize high standards and want all our children to achieve at the highest levels, but we want to pay attention to holistic development as well.”Swampscott students debated the definition of “homework” and its importance.”There’s a difference between what we get and what we do,” joked senior Adam Samborn when asked how much homework he does each night.Greg Dart agreed and added that students put varying amounts of effort into assignments depending on the class, the type of homework a teacher assigns and whether the teacher considers homework to be a factor in grading. Students also have different interpretations of that common homework assignment: “studying,” said senior Trevor Whelan. “Five minutes before class you could sit down and ?study,'” he said.And there were questions about whether studying was an actual homework assignment.Senior Billy Valle noted that a no-homework week in his English class last year had meant in-class essays and tests that required cracking the books, although no written assignments were due.Juniors Caroline Carr and Katie Samiljan agreed with their classmates that there was too much homework. But they also said that their average homework load of one-and-a-half to two hours a night was more correlated to the classes that they took than any district-wide policy on homework.”Well, I know people who’ve cried over (homework) said Samiljan.Speranza-Hartmann said that she saw evidence of this stress regularly at the middle school, particularly during MCAS time and just before report cards come out. Even parents can contribute to the stress, Speranza Hartmann said.”I think some parents get nervous if they don’t see their kids with homework,” Speranza Hartmann said.High school parent and child psychiatrist Judy Bevis said students’ many commitments was the key factor to the stress they experience. Bevis said that teenagers often haven’t developed their “executive functioning,” which helps them prioritize and multi-task. But Bevis said that these are the skills teenagers with many commitments are asked to use.”It’s not that there are too many math problems,” Bevis said. “But we’re asking kids to do math problems, then stop and do an English paper, and then stop and study for a history test, and then they say, ?Oh my God, I forgot about Girl Scouts!'”Parent Ron Brooks liked the idea, but wondered whether students at private schools such as Shore Country Day and St. John’s Prep had no-homework nights.Cyrus Moulton can be reached a