Why I'll pass on Norma Foley's kind offer of a 'homework pass'

The children deserve more than one night free of homework, and so do their parents

Minister Norma Foley has announced a no homework day for students

When my youngest son Michael was in Junior Infants he would say that his brain felt hot after a day at school. To me, it was the perfect description of how overloaded a child’s brain when it has spent the day concentrating on sitting still and paying attention and understanding and comprehending. To me, it was the reason why children should not have homework.

When the ‘good news’ of Norma Foley’s one-day homework pass for all children in recognition of their efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic emerged last night, I did not feel gratitude. I felt rage.

There are no people who live on the island of Ireland who have had to adapt more since March than our children. 

They have seamlessly changed the way they live with little or no complaint. Back then, when Dr Tony Holohan and Simon Harris started talking about cough etiquette, it was our children who showed us how to do it. Overnight, the little ones of our communities began to show us — the adults — how to navigate this new way of living.

Since September, they have endured endless hand washing and sanitising, sacrificing time spent eating lunch for lining up at the sink to make sure The Virus is not spread.

They have learned to play at a distance, something that is so unnatural to them, and yet, they have found a way. They have become little beacons of light for all of us – finding joy in the smallest of things. I don’t think any of us have looked forward to this year’s Late Late Toy Show more, because we can’t wait to live through our children’s eyes for one night.

And then, homework.

Our school — like lots around the country — did not give homework for the month of September. It was a lovely transition for the children after so long spent at home. They were emotionally and intellectually drained at the end of each day, and mine flopped on the couch like exhausted seals for a few hours each evening. And it was ok because they were playing a blinder every day, getting up and going to school. It was enough.

Since the beginning of October, our house has become an after-school war zone. And it's not just us. Parents reporting that their computers are manned for an hour and often more while children at primary school level struggle with turning in homework assignments on Google Classroom, Seesaw, and Twinkl and whatever else you fancy.

We take manically to our phones to type out emails and take meetings on Teams while our work-from-home desks are taken over by little people sighing and crying with frustration and to be honest – we want to sigh and cry along with them. 

Every single iteration of family life is hard at the moment. We are exhausted from the pandemic and all the foibles it brings up. Lots of us are hanging on by a thread after the long hard slog since March. And still, our youngest members are getting up every day and gritting their teeth for a long day of rubbing alcohol onto their sore little hands. 

In my house, homework is the tipping point. In my house, an already stressed-out family is reduced to roaring and shouting every day over spellings and primary school maths. In my house, we all collapse in the sitting room at the end of the day after dinner, and my husband and I try to lick up to our kids because we feel guilty about how homework has gone. 

Every night, I wistfully think about Finland, where homework is discouraged, and the children still succeed in life. So to Norma Foley I say this: thank you for your golden ticket of a homework pass, but my children deserve much more. Let's be more like Finland Norma. Let's start there.