Vol 8, No. 37. Kareemly quotables, HIP REPLACEMENT with my son, Newsletterers of the Caribbean, NYCs hat of the summer and all the links. Only three more to go now...
Two Major Points before I close this tab and remind myself I am 1 of few (comparatively) that has a job post grad and therefore should be grateful and thus focused on such job:
1. Re: Why do kindergartners have so much homework?
During college (Jan 2023 – May 2025), I volunteered twice a week at a community center in Anacostia. My title was homework helper though the role was largely ceremonial, because these kids almost never had any. Teachers had stopped assigning it, partly out of exhaustion and partly out of principle: they felt it was inequitable to issue homework given the wildly different circumstances each child went home to.
Meanwhile, the child I babysat across town (within the same district) consistently came home to 30–90 minutes of assignments. Her family lived in the neighborhood of Georgetown and American University. When I asked her mother if any teachers had ever raised the idea of moving away from homework, she laughed like I'd said something absurd.
Is homework becoming a new litmus test for school health, funding, and institutional investment? I attended a self-consciously progressive private school from 2018–2021 that was firmly anti-homework. They've since reversed course. AI arrived, and suddenly the people who design these systems are scrambling to reintroduce proof of engagement.
What I keep noticing is this: those with wealth tend to assume the system will organically position their children at the top and they're not particularly interested in interrogating how. They just want the opposite of whatever the poor are doing. The observation isn't original, but the pattern is accelerating and I think it warrants naming.
2. Thoughts on AI as a (former) college student.
Hate it. creates an alarming sense of distrust and combativeness in the classroom. There's a low-grade mutual suspicion that has replaced what used to feel like collaboration. Professors can't extend good faith to their students, and students have largely stopped extending it back. The part of college that excited me the most was the relationships (friends and professors alike) and I see that foundation being ruptured.
2 Less major point:
1. I will return to watch hip replacement, post aforementioned job.
2. I am not a journalist either, I just like writing, have opinions which I share, and work for companies (PI//That Good Sh*t) known for their written content. I also snuck into the National Press Club for their yearly awards once when I was 17. It is confusing and I apologize. I am happy you (at least in-part) relate to my struggle.
Yes please @jocedotcom - more as you have it. The experience you’re describing is pretty remarkable as an indication (but maybe less remarkable as an outlier- hence your valid rhetoricals). Homework as privilege indeed. Great meeting you the other night!
![[SIC]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OO5r!,w_40,h_40,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feb417c97-4abd-4e64-9e0c-fa062e3f3534_874x874.png)
![[SIC]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OO5r!,w_120,h_120,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feb417c97-4abd-4e64-9e0c-fa062e3f3534_874x874.png)
![[SIC]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VaU4!,e_trim:10:white/e_trim:10:transparent/h_72,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47cac4ef-6754-41d4-875b-2afe993c2ae8_1588x342.png)
Two Major Points before I close this tab and remind myself I am 1 of few (comparatively) that has a job post grad and therefore should be grateful and thus focused on such job:
1. Re: Why do kindergartners have so much homework?
During college (Jan 2023 – May 2025), I volunteered twice a week at a community center in Anacostia. My title was homework helper though the role was largely ceremonial, because these kids almost never had any. Teachers had stopped assigning it, partly out of exhaustion and partly out of principle: they felt it was inequitable to issue homework given the wildly different circumstances each child went home to.
Meanwhile, the child I babysat across town (within the same district) consistently came home to 30–90 minutes of assignments. Her family lived in the neighborhood of Georgetown and American University. When I asked her mother if any teachers had ever raised the idea of moving away from homework, she laughed like I'd said something absurd.
Is homework becoming a new litmus test for school health, funding, and institutional investment? I attended a self-consciously progressive private school from 2018–2021 that was firmly anti-homework. They've since reversed course. AI arrived, and suddenly the people who design these systems are scrambling to reintroduce proof of engagement.
What I keep noticing is this: those with wealth tend to assume the system will organically position their children at the top and they're not particularly interested in interrogating how. They just want the opposite of whatever the poor are doing. The observation isn't original, but the pattern is accelerating and I think it warrants naming.
2. Thoughts on AI as a (former) college student.
Hate it. creates an alarming sense of distrust and combativeness in the classroom. There's a low-grade mutual suspicion that has replaced what used to feel like collaboration. Professors can't extend good faith to their students, and students have largely stopped extending it back. The part of college that excited me the most was the relationships (friends and professors alike) and I see that foundation being ruptured.
2 Less major point:
1. I will return to watch hip replacement, post aforementioned job.
2. I am not a journalist either, I just like writing, have opinions which I share, and work for companies (PI//That Good Sh*t) known for their written content. I also snuck into the National Press Club for their yearly awards once when I was 17. It is confusing and I apologize. I am happy you (at least in-part) relate to my struggle.
Yes please @jocedotcom - more as you have it. The experience you’re describing is pretty remarkable as an indication (but maybe less remarkable as an outlier- hence your valid rhetoricals). Homework as privilege indeed. Great meeting you the other night!
Great read and great meeting u Ben, I will see ya around the universe soon