There's a number of factors which should be taken into consideration. Just like adults or virtually any other social or age categories, not all elementary school kids are equal. They differ in endurance, creativity, mental abilities and self-discipline. That is why generalizing and making decisions based on an imaginary average child, which would most likely leave most of the real kids and their needs out of the picture, wouldn't work here.

Homework should be given, but it shouldn't be obligatory for the reason that kids need some free time for themselves to play, relax and enjoy life in general. If it happened that there's a couple of hours are still left for homework, and the child is full of energy and enthusiasm to delve into books, then why not? Maybe he doesn't get enough information at school and needs to find some extra ways to acquire the necessary knowledge and satisfy his curious mind.

Regularly studying at home might help to develop self-discipline, creativity and autonomy. If it's done willingly and without anyone's help, effects are most likely to be only beneficial for both the kid and the school. In case if the child's result at school are significantly below average and something needs to be done, it's quite obvious that at least some additional work might be required, preferably under parents' supervision or with peers' help. The talents from the other side of the spectrum who are voracious learners and consume textbooks for breakfast would even insist on getting more homework if it's not enough for them at school. Another option to consider would be enrolling to another class or even another school for gifted teens and get exposed to more challenging curriculum. In this particular case, I surmise, no homework would be needed.

Doing homework without any supervision helps forming self-discipline, which might be a crucial factor in achieving success nowadays. A lot of people in their adult years may find it difficult to stick to the daily routine on their own accord, and need either encouragement or control to get the necessary results. That's how the future would probably look like for the kids who never did any homework on their own initiative. It's a habit which takes some time to develop, and first steps in this direction should be taken with the help of teachers and parents.

Another thing to consider is what the homework consists of: is it something appealing and motivating? Does it correlate to something the pupils already know and are able to easily make connections to? Is it a two-weeks project or ten-minutes quiz? And many more factors which might differ from school to school, from teacher to teacher.

Diversification is also something you can't disregard, for as I mentioned above young learners might have considerable differences in virtually any aspect of their school abilities and natural inclinations, which makes it necessary to assign different homework for different kids, content-wise and size-wise, not just age-based as it's usually been done. Sounds like a lot of work for teachers and designers of study materials, feeling of something overwhelming and daring. The exact same feeling many kids have when facing their loads of homework to be done.

It's quite an extreme suggestion. With little kids walking around and people who have special needs, folks with not really good eyesight, there's no way such initiative will ever be put into practice. There might be even more arguments against this idea:

- not everyone who owns a skateboard could ride it with ease and confidence. What is more, pedestrians and drivers might be unaware of the next move the rider is most likely to make: should the passer-by turn left or right, keep walking or stop. All of it could be happening simultaneously to complicate the matters even more

- free skateboarding would theoretically work in the cities with ideal sidewalks and strict road regulations, when no rules are being violated and streets are not overcrowded; quiet provincial towns come to mind

- I reckon, in every major (even not major) city there are specially designed areas for such activities where skate lovers can ride and do tricks in every way possible; as for ordinary ride, they might use the bike lanes, giving way to the cyclists when they are about to overtake their board

- unless the numbers of skaters are overwhelming (like those of car-owners or cyclists), they don't have enough space to move around, and the streets outside are half-empty (or half-full) such ideas will be left in the minds of a few skateboarding enthusiasts.

Well ... Flyyyy me to the Mars. Why not Jupiter?

There are so many more serious and earthly issues to be dealt with nowadays, compare to which space travel seems like a whim and fancy. After combating hunger, poverty, war and inhuman inequality, travel to Mars might be added to the agenda. Though I surmise those who have enough funds to go to Mars wouldn't care much about the 'other half', otherwise they would've already started redistributing resources. Moreover, we are already in space with all these satellites and weather balloons, but it doesn't seem to help the poor and dying. Science-wise such travel of course would be a big deal and a huge step forward, no doubt about that. Just who will be footing the bill? Whose taxes?

Sure they can. And their parents should have a remote access to the devices to make sure that their offspring are using it sensibly, and are not exposed to possible danger of becoming phone addicts.