Parents at a New York City elementary school are outraged by a decision to eliminate homework assignments and instead urge kids to play, DNAinfo.com reported.
Teachers at P.S. 116 on East 33rd Street in Manhattan have stopped giving take-home math worksheets and essays, and are encouraging students to instead read books and spend more time with their families, according to the website.
The announcement was reportedly made by school principal, Jane Hsu, in a letter sent home to parents last month.
"The topic of homework has received a lot of attention lately, and the negative effects of homework have been well established," Hsu reportedly wrote in her letter. "They include: children’s frustration and exhaustion, lack of time for other activities and family time and, sadly for many, loss of interest in learning."
Some parents have threatened to pull their students from the school over the new homework policy.
"They didn’t have much to begin with, but now homework is obsolete," Daniel Tasman, father of a second-grader at the school, told the website.
"They’ve decided that giving homework to younger ages [elementary school students] isn’t viable. I don’t necessarily agree. I think they should have homework — some of it is about discipline. I want [my daughter] to have fun, but I also want her to be working towards a goal," Tasman said.
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