Irish parents divided: Should children get no homework when the weather is fine?

A debate has been sparked online on whether or not school children should have to do homework when the weather is fine. 

Following the hottest weekend of the year, with temperatures reaching mid-20s and a blanket of sunshine lay snuggly over Ireland, parents have taken to social media to share their views on whether homework is a necessity when the weather is nice.

While the debate rumbles on that primary school children should have 'no homework, full stop', many seem to agree that the rule should apply especially when it is hot outside. 

"Childhood is too short, and sunny days are too few to be doing homework", reads the tweet that incited the online discussion, with one person agreeing by replying "Absolutely. Get them outside when ya can. Shouldn't be any homework until 6th class at best".

Another person shared their experience: "Our 8 year old's teacher gives out the homework Monday, and it's up to us as when it's done as she corrects it Friday. She gets most of it done on Monday, and she enjoys the rest of the week".

A parent also commented: "We have next to zero homework in school here, except reading a book. The thought is, that the kids have spent 8 hrs in a classroom, they need time to decompress. Teachers leave time at the end of each subject to practice what they have learned."

The post gained traction online, when popular online weather forecaster Carlow Weather reposted it, saying: "This should be government policy if they won’t scrap homework altogether".

This should be government policy if they won’t scrap homework altogether https://t.co/Ro6HMjZ5cn

— Carlow Weather (@CarlowWeather) May 13, 2024

The repost got 36.5K views on X (formerly Twitter) while the original tweet was seen by over 60,000 X users.