Homework shmomework [Homework]

A student donated a couple books to my classroom library, one of which is The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman.  Before I go on, this isn't an indictment of his book.  I would have been surprised if he hadn't written what he did.  The book is about -- obviously -- a Homework Machine.  Four fifth-graders invent a machine to do their homework for them.  The machine even writes the answers to their worksheets in their own handwriting.  I opened to a random page toward the beginning to get a feel for the writing.  The first paragraph I read was narrated by Brenton Damagatchi, Grade 5:

I really have nothing against doing homework, honestly.  But it can be time-consuming.  Having the machine do the homework for me allows me to pursue other interests.  I want to find out more about psychology, physics, and medicine.  I hope to find a cure for spinal-cord injuries someday.
(Emphasis mine.)

Does this remind you of any students -- gifted or otherwise -- that you know?

So, I flipped toward the end to see how the inevitable problem of discovery-of-the-machine-by-the-authorities would be handled.  From Miss Rasmussen, Fifth-grade Teacher:

Thinking it over, I decided somebody else was really to blame.  Me.  I should have known what was going on months earlier.  I was naive.  I should have been more on top of things.  They did it right under my nose.  I so wanted my students to be successful, and I wanted to think they were successful because of my teaching.  I guess the sad truth is that I still have a lot to learn about teaching, and I can't be so trusting with students in the future.  I'll be more careful next year.
I told the kids that they didn't have to go off and invent a homework machine, because a homework machine already exists.  It's called your brain.
(Emphasis mine.)

Students' brains are homework machines?  I don't have the words...

Like I said, this isn't a rant against Dan Gutman.  It would have been the expection to the rule if his fictional Miss Rasmussen had realized that homework was the problem, not the homework machine.

Can we please rethink our homework policies?