Nobody ever likes to do it, some people refuse to do it/don't have time for it, and even the people assigning it have to deal with extra work from it. I had my fare (pun intended) share of homework when I was in school. I didn't enjoy any of it, but I completed it because I had a situation at home that was conducive towards homework completion. Many of my students today do not. So I do not give homework if at all possible. I know there are circumstances (especially in math) when students need extra practice and must get a little work done outside of class in order to master content. But I believe homework should be the anomaly, not the norm.
As a teacher, I am trying to mold the minds of students to become better people. I am much more concerned with their well-being than their content mastery. I am not convinced this is completely right, but it is what I am most passionate about. Part of this teaching I think includes leaving school work at school and home things at home. My students need to understand their responsibility in their family is just as important as school. I want them to be able to leave work at work some day and come home and enjoy their spouse and children and leave the worries of work where they belong, at work.
I don't want to be the type of husband and father who is always working and having to bring his wife and kids to the office to enjoy time with them. So I am doing what I can now to make sure I set myself up for that sort of lifestyle. I want the same thing for the students I teach, so I will design my instruction accordingly.
The analogy from this 11 year old may be a little bit extreme, but I am thinking a little more like him than some teachers think is proper or plausible.
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