Each afternoon, Connie Jones battles with her eight-year-old son, James. It's not about manners, eating his greens or keeping his room tidy - it's about homework.
'We go through the same scene every afternoon: he comes home tired after a long day at school, and I reluctantly become the homework-police, standing over him, threatening to ring the school, or bribing him with sweets and more TV,' says Jones. 'He's an active boy who would rather be out skateboarding with friends, but my rule is, homework first, play second.
'James needs guidance to stay focused, so when I know he's tried his best for a good 15 or 20 minutes, I'm happy for him to stop and go play; but even this strategy goes out of the window when the dreaded project comes home,' she says.
'How can teachers expect an eight-year-old to spend his entire weekend building a to-scale model of the Star Ferry? Or create a diorama of a polar bear in his habitat with moving parts? It just comes down to parents competing with parents. I heard of one father who got a graphic designer to help his son with a project. What is the child getting out of this? Nothing. In the end I feel furious and frustrated with James and resentful towards the school,' she says.
Cheryl Raper, director of Sylvan Learning Centre, agrees the issue of homework can negatively affect the atmosphere at home.
'It depends on the relationship a parent has with their child. The parent can become a dragon, making sure the homework is done, when what they should be doing is spending quality time playing games and so on,' she says.