The next time you're missing fun because you have tons of homework, think about this.

"In the 1920s, physicians led a movement against homework; they believed it interfered with kids' health," said Etta Kralovec. She's the director of educational studies at Maine's College of the Atlantic. "They said kids needed between six and eight hours a day of fresh air and sunshine."

Kids today may simply need a break. Some experts say there are serious reasons for confining schoolwork to school.

"We don't believe people should work longer than eight hours a day," Kralovec noted. "But is it OK for kids to work eight hours a day, then come home and work for two more hours?"

Kralovec and John Buell make their case against homework in a new book, "Clearing the Kitchen Table: Homework and the American Dream."

But Bob Chase, president of the National Education Association, says, "Homework, especially in the higher grades, produces greater academic achievement."

c 1997 Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune, Inc.