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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday June 20, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director TERI CASAS Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Homework on homework Are teachers heaping too much homework on today's students or are afterschool assignments taking a backseat to part-time jobs, sports, video games and myspace.com with our children? It's the question being bandied about at the Toronto District School Board, where two student trustees have proposed homework reform that would limit assignments being sent home with children and teens. Most school boards in the GTA follow a guideline of assigning 5-10 minutes of work per grade, per evening. That means a Grade 1 student can expect 5-10 minutes of homework per day on average, while a Grade 6 student should anticipate a daily average of 30-60 minutes. According to the Halton District School Board's website (www.haltondsb.on.ca) Grade 7-10 students should be prepared to face 4-10 hours of homework per week. The same website defines four different categories of homework: completion -- anything not completed in class; practice -- review and reinforcement of learning presented in class; preparation -- home preparation for the next day's class work and extension/creative -- creative applications that integrate and/or expand upon classroom learning. Halton's public board characterizes homework as "an aid in developing lifelong learning skills such as self-discipline, task commitment, time management, responsibility, independence, initiative and problem solving. Homework is one means of demonstrating and building the partnership between home and school that leads to more consistent school success." We would like to hear what you think about homework. We welcome anyone -- but especially students, parents and educators -- to share their views with Beaver readers. Is there too much, not enough or just the right amount of work being sent home with students today? Are parents taking enough of a proactive approach to their child's education by keeping a watchful eye on their progress? Do Mom and Dad know how much homework their child is assigned each day -- or each week? Are families designating time every evening for the completion of homework? Send your thoughts to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver will highlight the most interesting responses in future editions. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Little steps need to be taken by everyone to save the environment The environment is an issue that affects everyone. After all, we are dealing with the earth, our one and only home. There is no escaping it, no turning off the news or changing channels. It is all around us, when we go outside for a walk, or check for a smog alert. It is felt as the summers get hotter, and the winters more intense. Everyone from rock stars to politicians talk about the importance of reducing waste, and finding ecofriendly resources. Over and over again it is stressed, "It is our responsibility to take care of the earth", and it's true, it is our responsibility to take care of the earth. I have grown up in a time where half my friends are asthmatic, news of hurricanes is commonplace, and bottled water is on my family's grocery list every week. As a race, humans have contaminated the earth at a devastatingly-fast rate. The quality of air and water has declined and I would not be surprised if the quality of life follows. The opportunity to change our situation has arrived. Oakville must take control and find solutions in our homes, on our fields, at our offices, and in our schools. For instance recycling bins at baseball diamonds. In the warmer months, everyone is outside, playing and having fun. Things like water bottles, paper bags, and empty coffee cups get thrown into the nearest bin. Nobody cares about what they are throwing out, so nobody looks to find its proper place. That is why recycling bins were removed from BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com Oakville's baseball fields; irresponsible people contaminated them with regular garbage. An opportunity was wasted to better our community. We mustn't take these chances lightly, for Oakville to be its best; every citizen must do their best to respect each other and the earth. That means watching where you throw your coffee cups and separating your plastic from your paper. If another chance comes along, and recycling bins are reintroduced to soccer fields and softball diamonds, I urge each person to look before you throw. I know it's hard and sometimes out of the way, but you could be adding to the problem without even knowing it. Remember, this is our problem to fix. TRUPHENA MATUNDA Pud The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.