A student in Tucson, Arizona, received the ‘Catastrophe Award’ from her teacher because she had ‘the most excuses for not having homework.’ The student, Cassandra Garcia, became upset upon receiving the award because it was given to her even though she had a folder full of completed assignments. Christina Valdez, Garcia’s mother, said she was angry at the award because the teacher humiliated Garcia for no reason.
“She said the teachers announced the award in front of the whole class and all the children were laughing at her,” Valdez said.
According to a news report, when Valdez angrily reported the incident to the principal, it was waved off as a joke. One expert from the University of Arizona College of Education said that this is not a joking matter. Sheri Bauman is a psychologist at the University of Arizona and said, “That isn’t an award. It doesn’t fit the criteria. They feel less than, they feel fearful of authority of what might happen if they make a mistake.”
A study recently released in Australia claims that being able to spend less time working on homework should be celebrated by parents and teachers alike. The study also found that when homework takes longer time to complete, the scores for standardized tests decrease.