As UAE weighs ‘no homework’ policy, parents debate what children really need after school

From exam stress to playtime: UAE parents rethink homework’s real purpose "I took away 25 ice-creams from Sam. How many ice-creams does Sam have now?" "I don't know," I would say, and dissolve into tears at the dinner table that was spread with addition and subtraction worksheets. It could extend into an hour-long ritual with my mother, as sometimes I really didn't know how to handle subtraction and the joy of "borrowing," and just kept scratching out numbers, or trying to draw ice-creams and wondering why I couldn't just get an ice-cream for all my suffering. But that was just…