It’s a familiar phrase for anyone with children: “I don’t want to do my homework.” But in Spain it’s not just youngsters feeling like this, parents are fed up too because they say children are being set too much extracurricular work.

So much so, that they they have launched a weekend homework strike this month. It comes after a 2012 report by the OECD found Spanish school children spend 6.4 hours a week on homework, almost a third longer than the average in developed nations.



In a mark of protest this week, Spanish parents of students in state schools have given theirchildren notes to bring into class explaining why they have not done the tasks set.

Spanish parents urged to put children on weekend homework strike Read more

Is this just a problem in España? We asked our readers around the world and here is a selection of responses.



Ann, 37, from Spain: ‘The amount of homework my children get affects the whole family. We cannot leave the house’

I have four children who are eight, six and one and a half and they get about four to six hours a week of homework, which is too much. That’s why I am joining the strike in Spain. Our eight-year-old regularly brings home with her nearly two hours’ of work, which she has been given for the following day. It mostly involves copious amounts of copying from a book. As a group of concerned parents we have tried to have a formal discussion with the head and teachers from our children’s school, but we were told they didn’t have time to meet us. I hope the strike will be a starting point for discussion about the type and amount of homework set.

I feel the current amount of homework leaves little or no time for children to relax, pursue other interests, play or be with family. My son gets very tired and bored doing this work and isn’t efficient at all. I’m not sure by the end of it he has learnt anything; he just goes through the motions to get it done and misses on playing outside. It affects the whole family because we cannot leave the house until it’s done, and often this means that we miss trips to the park or afternoon walks etc. I don’t think children should just repeat class bookwork after school. I would like to see more creative homework as a follow-up to what is learnt at school: identifying local trees, collecting rock/leaf/shell samples, baking, modelling etc.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A girl plays with a pencil as she does her homework in Ronda, southern Spain. Photograph: Jon Nazca/Reuters

Utpalavajri, 43, from Shrewsbury: ‘I understand why there’s a strike in Spain. I hope the message will be heard’

Photograph: Supplied for byline

I have two boys, they are eight and six – in years 4 and year 2. IThey have too much homework and have always thought that, particularly the older one and he gets quite stressed about it. He likes being outside, jumping off walls and pretending to be Spider-Man, so I feel sorry making him come inside to work after school. It’s understandable that he wants to let off steam when he’s been working all day.



At the beginning of the year they were set a challenge of reading 10 minutes every night and then writing about the characters in the book. On top of this, the children have to do spelling every night. My oldest boy doesn’t really like reading the books he gets at school, he prefers his own choices and when he reads them he can sit and do it for hours. I feel by forcing him to read certain books I am just ruining his love of reading, which is a shame.



I don’t think children should have to do homework in primary school, it’s not necessary. They spend all day working and they should be able to rest and take in the world around them when they get home. I remember telling a teacher that I didn’t think my eldest needed to do spelling every night as he picked up words quickly and she said perhaps I could get him to write synonyms instead. I thought, why? Does he really need to know these big words at eight? There’s so much pressure on him to do all this extra work and he feels that too. My older son gets stressed and cries, worrying that he won’t get a certificate or complete the reading challenge etc.



I completely understand why there is a homework strike in Spain. I hope the parent’s message will be heard. As parents, we know the impact it is having on our child’s wellbeing and their should be more communication between parents and teachers as to how much homework is really necessary.

Dana McGraw, from California: ‘My school has a no homework policy for younger children. It works beautifully’

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The Country School, where my seven-year-old goes, has a no homework policy through fourth grade. Though there are some projects, spelling reviews, there is no formal homework until the middle of fifth grade in preparation for middle school. There is a slow build up at that point with a full ramp up over to prepare for high school.

It works beautifully for our family. The Country School is progressive and learning happens in a very hands-on way in the classroom. The lack of rote homework creates an environment that really fosters our son’s curiosity and leads him to be more inquisitive about topics that interest him after school.

We are able to have a lot more positive interaction as a family and our son is able to engage in various activities after school, formal or informal, without the pressure of running home to do homework. We all spend time together in the evenings having conversations on a wide variety of topics.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Our son is able to engage in various activities after school, formal or informal.’ Photograph: Alamy

Craig Turp, 44, from Romania: ‘My son often stays up until midnight finishing off homework’

Photograph: Supplied for byline

We live in Bucharest and our children go to a state school. Our eldest is in class eight (age 14, last year of middle school) and gets hours upon hours of homework every night. Often he is still awake at midnight finishing it. This is not unusual here: the Romanian education system is obsessed with homework.

What exacerbates the issue is that my son’s school is oversubscribed (it’s very good) so his classes run from 12pm to 6pm – junior classes have the building in the morning. Once my son Max has got home, eaten, relaxed, there is not much time left for homework or anything else, which is why he can still often be scribbling away at midnight. Even then, he often has to get up early in the morning to finish homework.

The work set is very hard. Maths in particular is at a level way beyond that of 14-year-olds in the UK. What’s more, occasionally he is expected to tackle problems that he has not even been shown how to do in class. An hour a night to revise what was learnt in class is enough extracurricular work.

Zainab, 39, from London: ‘My son is constantly stressed about work and no longer sees learning as fun’

My child is six and she gets set about six hours of homework to do a week. The workload is heavy and unnecessary. Revision books have been handed out – I didn’t even know there were revision books for six-year-olds. My son is expected to spend hours and hours researching a topic such as the first world war for a poster. This takes up a lot of time and my son ends up gaining nothing from it besides stress and a lack of sleep.

I understand that it is important for children to be aware of current affairs or of any historical events but too much is expected of them and, as a child, he should be able to treasure the innocence of youth before being introduced to the brutality of a corrupt world. He is also set weekly homework booklets based on questions that are usually very difficult for him.

He is constantly stressed. Last year, in year 1, there were end of year assessments that they were expected to “revise” for. As a five-year-old he was confused and constantly paranoid about failing the exam. He began comparing himself with other students in the class and would say that he would not pass or would tell us about some of his friends who didn’t end up passing. All this means that he doesn’t view learning as fun or engaging anymore – he sees it as a task that defines how he is perceived.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘My son often stays up until midnight finishing off homework. ’ Photograph: Ossi Lehtonen/REX

Alex, 37, from Swansea: ‘My child gets little homework and the stuff they do get set is really easy. I want more’

My child is 12 and I don’t think they get too much homework. The difficulty of work has dropped significantly, even in the past 20 years. My child has very little homework and there is no follow-up when they don’t do it. It seems like it is optional.

What’s more, when they do get homework it is a struggle to get them to sit down to do it because they are not used to it and know they won’t get in trouble if they don’t do it. Homework often requires internet access and a printer, and the standard of the set tasks is poor. It can also lead to my child playing games online as they are surfing the web. I think three to five hours a week of homework is the ideal amount, but at the moment they only get one hour.

Edward, 38, from London: ‘I get just as stressed about my daughter’s homework as she does’

The emphasis on the work my children bring home is too much. I understand regular reading, but the other type of work they get is too much. At the moment I am working in Denmark and when I say my six-year-old has homework they look at me like I’m crazy. The Danish don’t give young children homework and their kids seem fine. Children spend the day in school, get out and then have fun. My six-year-old is also often asked to do things that need to be managed by us, so go on the internet or do quite complicated tasks. This means homework can become stressful for parents too. She is never set tasks that she can just sit down and get on with on her own.

I get just as stressed about my daughter’s homework as she does. We feel the need to make sure she doesn’t miss out on anything and fall behind and sometimes it can lead to arguments. I don’t think homework should be banned altogether but I do think that there should be less. Reading books for 10-15 minutes every evening is one thing, but other homework that requires a lot of parental interaction causes stress. Some of the arts and crafts tasks my daughter has been set are seriously complicated, for example she was recently asked to make a 3D pyramid and cube out of paper. How is a six-year-old expected to do that on her own? It’s all well and good but it takes time.