The notion that they'll have a quiet and safe place to do their work is absurd. Then you have different educational backgrounds of parents. Those are the kinds of things that ought to be looked at if homework is key to getting people left out of the global economy back into it. With Columbine, for a few moments, we actually listened to kids talk about their experiences in school. It was terrifying to hear them talk about the pressure to succeed and excel that they feel they're being pushed into.
Kids never escape their student role.
Schools work really well for about 10 percent of kids. The other 90 percent sort of muddle by. So when there's no escape from a role you're not very good at, I think kids are snapping. The teacher has to assign X amount of homework. The parent has to become educated about how schools operate, they need to become politicized, go to school board meetings, and find out where they can intervene effectively - and it's not with your child's teacher.