There is no evidence to show that an Italian teacher named Roberto Neville invented homework in 1905 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 13, 2022
A post is being widely shared on social media claiming that Homework was invented by an Italian teacher named Roberto Neville in 1905 as a punishment to his students. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Homework was invented by an Italian teacher named Roberto Neville in 1905.
Fact: The concept of homework was present even before 1905. In 1901, the California legislature banned homework for students under 15 years of age. It is reported that the first mention of homework appeared in 1 AD in the writings of Pliny the Younger. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
The same claim is viral on the internet at least since 2015, with different years mentioned as the year of invention; Some say 1905, and others say 1095.
When we searched on the internet about an Italian teacher named Roberto Neville, we could not find any credible information regarding such a person who invented homework.
According to an article by ‘The Sun’, there is ‘no clear idea’ of who invented the concept of homework. Roberto Neville ‘may not even be real’; ‘there is no official source that backs up this story or even his existence.’
There was an anti-homework movement that started in the United States of America in the late 1800s and early 1900s. According to an article by Los Angeles Times, in 1901, the California legislature banned homework for students under 15 years of age. And it is reported that the first mention of homework appeared in 1 AD in the writings of Pliny the Younger. So clearly the concept of homework was present even before 1905.
To sum it up, there is no evidence to show that an Italian teacher named Roberto Neville invented homework in 1905.