Obsessed With Homework

My daughter and her classmates are obsessed with homework. They have no choice.

• While waiting for transport they would be doing homework in the school canteen
• Sometimes she tries to do her homework in the car!
• Most of the time, she tries to do her homework before and during lunch as soon as she gets home!

She tells me that her friends do homework in the classroom in school usually during 'unimportant' lessons which they all know, for example during the Science in English class. The teacher would switch off all the lights to use the multimedia for teaching. Instead of listening to her, everyone would be busy doing their homework in the dark so that they would not be so rushed when they are at home. They have all learned that it is important to try to finish off some of the 'homework' in school so that they can complete the rest of the homework for the day. Previously she used to pay attention and listen but now she has joined them.

For other 'unimportant' lessons ie those that are not 'counted' in determining positions, like Civics etc, her classmates have resorted to copying answers from the books and have a nonchalant attitude. They know they have to complete all their homework but these are competing with the time for more 'important' subjects so they no longer care. They have to do what they need to do to survive the homework craze. 

As for my own girl, sometimes, I resort to asking her to copy answers for the sake of completing the work. If she does not, she will be reprimanded in school. 

Due to this homework madness, we are raising kids with the wrong attitudes. We are teaching them that it is okay to copy. We are teaching them that it is okay not to pay attention in school. We are teaching them that they only need to do what is necessary to pass tests and get good results and no more than that. We are trapped in the homework downward spiral of madness!