Homework (and education in general) is a classic arms race, which produces an enormous waste of time and resources. Teachers hate it too.
Humans are not meant to be happy, but to survive. Only the paranoid do. We have to fight back when others are prepared to destroy their lives to compete. There will be no respite until the demographics change, and there is an educational economy of abundant opportunity, not scarcity and existential threat. Ironically, the emancipation and education of women is the only way to achieve this outcome.
When I was young (11-18) I did an insane amount of studying and other activities: private school, 6-day school week, Sat am lessons, 1hr each-way commute, 2-3hr homework per night, Tue pm military cadets, Mon&Thur sports training, Wed&Sat pm school sports matches, Sun county/region sport; school holidays included homework assignments, exam revision, military camps, expeditions, then pre-season sports camps; summer holidays would include part-time jobs, some retail and delivery gigs, but mostly farming and harvesting.
If you live in some parts of Asia, there are no school-age children to be seen on the streets, or in the shopping malls - they are all busy doing something all the time. There are education-malls filled with small outlets providing tutoring and lessons for every subject, from English, to math and piano.
I was recently looking at some business analysis for a traffic management project, including patterns of congestion. One comment was "... the school buses start to build-up at 04:30-05:00 ...".
I don't see how "the emancipation and education of women" will work towards "abundant opportunity, not scarcity and existential threat".
If anything, the entry of women on the job market decades ago increased the supply side of the equation and competition. And whereas before one working adult could provide for a family, now it takes both of the adults working to provide for the same family.
I agree with your comment about women entering the workforce (note that I said ironically). It's another good example of an arms race. The equilibrium with just men working was unstable. As soon as some women start to work, the cost of property in particular starts to rise, then other women are forced to work to afford a mortgage.
(Property is often the constrained resource in the system, which means it captures most of the value from any beneficial change in the economy - e.g. SV startups are ways for geeks to work hard transferring money from VCs to landlords).
However, liberation of women from the home is a goal in itself, and part of the long run solution. When women are emancipated, legally and socially, with access to contraception and education, in a society with a base level of utilities and appliances in the home (or village), and just enough of a welfare system to ensure that children are not seen as a pension policy, then progress can be made towards the sunlit uplands.
The West, NE Asia and China are already past their peaks. India, Africa, Middle East and SE Asia are growing very rapidly. Countries like Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines and Vietnam are all bigger than the largest European country (Germany). Turkey will overtake Germany soon. The first 3 in the list are bigger than Russia.
If half of India's population went to Europe, they would become the majority in every country, and India would still be the second largest country in the world. Nigeria is predicted (UN) to pass the US in 2050 and have 733m people in 2100.
> One comment was "... the school buses start to build-up at 04:30-05:00 ...". Luckily, kids are very resilient.
Resilient yes, but you'll be harming them for life making them get up so early. Their brains just don't work like that and it's inhumane to force somebody into the school system so early. No wonder people hate it.
I sincerely doubt that the buses in question are filled with kids that early. Most likely they're just starting their routes to pick up some high school kids around 6:30. Still way too early IMO, but not quite what you describe.
"I do feel heavy-hearted to see my girls waking up at 4am daily to get ready for school..."
"Traffic during the first few years was not too bad, as we only had to leave the house at 6am, but congestion on the Causeway has gotten worse year after year, so we had to leave at 5am to arrive on time for school at 7.15am."
I felt terrible even getting up at 8:30 for years upon years as a kid/teen. I was unable to sleep early for years so I ended up sleep deprived for the better part of childhood, and on top of that get punished if I turned up late.
Humans are not meant to be happy, but to survive. Only the paranoid do. We have to fight back when others are prepared to destroy their lives to compete. There will be no respite until the demographics change, and there is an educational economy of abundant opportunity, not scarcity and existential threat. Ironically, the emancipation and education of women is the only way to achieve this outcome.
When I was young (11-18) I did an insane amount of studying and other activities: private school, 6-day school week, Sat am lessons, 1hr each-way commute, 2-3hr homework per night, Tue pm military cadets, Mon&Thur sports training, Wed&Sat pm school sports matches, Sun county/region sport; school holidays included homework assignments, exam revision, military camps, expeditions, then pre-season sports camps; summer holidays would include part-time jobs, some retail and delivery gigs, but mostly farming and harvesting.
If you live in some parts of Asia, there are no school-age children to be seen on the streets, or in the shopping malls - they are all busy doing something all the time. There are education-malls filled with small outlets providing tutoring and lessons for every subject, from English, to math and piano.
I was recently looking at some business analysis for a traffic management project, including patterns of congestion. One comment was "... the school buses start to build-up at 04:30-05:00 ...".
Luckily, kids are very resilient.