In my math class last week my teacher was talking about his reaction to seeing "Race to Nowhere" during Institute Day. He commented that when he went to New Trier students used to typically take 3-4 majors a year at most and an average Trevian would have 3 or 4 free periods. Due to the increasing pressure to get into college students have since then loaded their schedules with classes. The only people I know with more than two free periods have to take early bird classes to free up their day.
Also last week we had a start of the season basketball meeting. My coach talked about how in order to compete the basketball program has extended to be year round including only two days off during winter break. It seems to me from these two observations that current high schoolers suffer from a shortage of time. And more importantly it seems that more of our days and years are getting filled with activity in the name of competition. When will we run out of time?
I definitely understand what you're saying. There are so many places that demand so much of your time. I remember freshman year. I had a regatta for rowing, a church retreat, and a bunch of homework during one weekend. I had to go to the regatta, and miss the retreat because the sport demanded so much. I did not finish all of my homework, and I struggled in class. In order to compete with others, students have to cut things out of their schedule, starting with sleep and fun.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you. I can divide my life into four very simple categories: school, sports, social life, and family. As a little kid my parents handled all of that, and I never had to really worry about over-scheduling. Now it is almost impossible. I have never been a morning person, but I find myself taking an early bird class so that I can take electives that I wanted to take as well as my five majors. Then I have sports after school along with mounting homework. The weekends, instead of a break, tend to be more stressful because along with the homework and sports there is pressure to hang out with friends as well as spend time with the family. I would say time is already running out.
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