…because they care…..
I can add differing degrees of value to the topic I research. On the question of why I hate school (and like it) I can add more value :o).
I did some research and here are the statistical top reasons for hating school:
To interpret the results: Homework was mentioned 85% of the time in the survey response. (Note: I excluded the “It’s not Hogwarts” reason from the survey. I think this is self-evident, and everyone is aligned on that.)
Some reflections:
Homework is the biggest issue
The feedback is clear. We would much rather be in school longer but be sent home without homework. “I don’t want to bring the shit home with me”, seems to be a common sentiment and something I can relate to. So, let’s agree we cancel all homework. (although homework clubs might be a good option, if you school has those?)
Annoying kids is the second biggest reason
The problem is that we seem to be pissing each other off and I guess there is some irony in that. Not sure what to say about that… sending everyone home is not really a practical solution…
Getting up early
Yeah, agreed. But if we cancel homework, we could start later as well? And if we start later, I reckon I can go to bed later as well. Excellent. Solved.
Nasty or incompetent teachers
About half the kids mention this. I guess this is a mixture of genuine teaching issues, difficult subjects, difficult students, large classes, etc. However, my very quick research seems to suggest that many schools don’t handle this well enough. Certainly in the past when I had difficulty with a teacher, I did not feel I had anywhere to turn.
Useless and Boring
From my view, there is some truth in that. School crams us full of knowledge we don’t need, but leaves many important areas of development to chance. Less quantity and more in-depth would seem to be one obvious improvement?
Finally, and most surprisingly, stress
This is mentioned less than I think it should be. I feel parents and teachers conspire to add a lot of stress to my life, with their expectations.(They tell me it is because “they care” but caring a little less would be good.) However, if only 1/3 kids mention this in their survey, it probably that means that 2/3 kids either care less about their grades than I do, or they were simply not in an exam period.
To keep things balanced, I did some research on why kids say they love school
Clearly the main answer is the “holidays” and “breaks”. But I find it a little ambiguous to say that you like school because of the times you don’t need to go. So let’s ignore that answer and focus on the list in order of decreasing priority:
- Friends
- Crushes
- Favorite teachers
- Favorite subjects
- Crafts and PE
- Gossiping
Besides friends, it strangely enough does not capture the main reason I like school, although favorite subjects come close. Sometimes in class, in an unguarded moment, I find myself enjoying the stories, the learning, and figuring out how the world works. In most subjects. (However, I rarely have that feeling before 10 am.)
The final reflection is that the same people that annoy us and make us hate school, are also the same that make us enjoy school. The nasty teachers, kids and subjects kind of cancel each other out. We can put that one down as a personal preference, and as long as we have ways to deal with exceptional cases where support is required, let’s accept it as being inevitable.
And, on the grounds that getting up early is less of an issue when school is more enjoyable (and with getting to bed on time), that leaves us with Homework…
And that can be easily dealt with. I will be writing to our principal…
