Ah, so his recommendation is much more nuanced than what the original article would have you believe! He certainly isn’t calling for a ban on homework for any age group. Moreover, banning homework for elementary school students wasn’t the recommendation put forward by Cooper in 1989, and, if followed, could do those students a disservice.

One might also wonder why the author of the Salon piece chose to focus on an article that is as old as some of the parents who might be reading her piece. Surely some more research has been conducted on the subject of homework in the past 27 years? A quick Google Scholar search reveals that yes, the Cooper review was cited 434 times, and well over 100 of those citations came from the past 3 years.

All in all, it appears that the author of the Salon article is misrepresenting the science, perhaps to make a splash or because she knows that this is what parents want to hear. She’s certainly not the first person and won’t be the last, but it’s still unsavory.

Lastly, I don’t find her other reasons for banning homework compelling, especially the inciting conflict between parent/child. While I am certainly not a fan of conflict between myself and my own kids (seriously, who wants to argue about the fuzziness of pants?), conflict is a necessary part of parenting and any other relationship. Learning to navigate conflict is an important part of life, and when it comes to important matters – like conflict, and homework! – parents shouldn’t try to take the easy route.