What Are You Doing With Your Life?

It seems like all people want to know is what you are doing with your life.

Early Schedule

                If it is easy for you to get up in the morning then you are lucky.  It seems like a lot of teenagers have trouble waking up early to go to school, or at least it is for me.  What should be the start time for school?  While many people have different opinions over this subject, many don’t consider the functionality of the teenager that has to wake up early to go to school.  I personally feel like a zombie when I have to go to school at seven in the morning.  What is the purpose of a student going to school so early in the morning if they can’t function properly enough to learn anything?

                It was recently decided in my school district that classes will now start at 6:45 in the morning and get done around 2:55 in the afternoon.  That seems like a lot of school time right?  Due to snow days we had to add time to our school day to make up the lost time.  It was already hard enough getting to class at seven but now we have to go in fifteen minutes earlier?!  Instead of being like a zombie, my functionality would be like a dead person.  There is a little exaggeration there obviously, but teenager’s brains aren’t even fully awake or functional until around ten in the morning.  This article explains teenager’s brains and sleep. 

                Along with getting up earlier to go to school, a student would then get home later and if that student is involved in extracurricular activities; they would be going to sleep later due to a later practice time.  It seems like there just isn’t enough time in a student’s day to sleep and do everything else.

                While this earlier start time may not seem like a big deal, it will impact a lot of students and their learning.  I expect to see more tardies in the morning because people can’t or won’t get out of bed that early in the morning.  While I am only thinking about the students because I am a student, a person would have to think about the teachers as well.  They would still have to get up as early if not earlier than the student’s.  A sleep deprived teacher is not a good thing and therefore we should consider starting school later in the day to make sure everyone gets enough sleep.

Wicked High five

                It might be hard to imagine, but there are some wicked people in high school.  Actually it is not that hard to imagine, teenagers are just strange creatures that can do terrible things to others.  Other ages do the same thing, but it is extremely prominent in high school.

                A recent incident occurred at my high school and has shown me how mean students can be to each other.  Have you heard of the wicked high five? Well you are about to learn what it’s about.  High fives are normally a celebratory gesture or even just a casual hello.  They can get wicked though and not in a good way. 

                This high five consists of a student or several students giving random high fives to people they see in the hallway.  Seems normal, but it isn’t.  I am leaving out one crucial detail.  These students have tacks in their hands pointing out so it would prick the person they are giving a high five to.  It may seem like a joke, but it’s all fun and games until someone gets their hand sliced open.  That is what happened at my school.  A certain individual though it would be funny to do that to another student that they were passing by in the hallway (they didn’t even know the student).  When all of a sudden blood is pouring out of the victims hand onto the floor of the foyer.  Seems gruesome and cruel.  Why would someone want to cause pain to another person?  Some people can just be so wicked.  Are you wondering what happened to the victim?  He or she had to go to the hospital and get stitches.  No severe nerve damage, but it was a pretty bad cut.  The student who gave the high five ended up getting suspended and the mother of the victim pressed charges against that person.  What happened was assault so it would only make sense to press charges and have their medical bills paid for by the person who caused it.  So far the charges have gone nowhere because the parents of the person who did the crime claimed that it was juvenile and just a joke.  That would not be a good excuse in my book.  This is not just happening in my school if you are wondering.  I don’t go to a bad school, there are just bad people in my school.

                A similar incident happened and was reported on ESPN in this article.  Charges were pressed against the person who did the whole thumb tack prank, but so far nothing has really been done.  This just goes to show that things aren’t taken seriously in schools and administration doesn’t do much when bullying or other serious stuff occurs.  “They are just students that don’t know better.”  That is a common saying used by administration to brush off an incident.  In my opinion the student does know better and if they don’t then it is on the parents to teach them right from wrong.  I have noticed that students are making more poor decisions than before and they have no respect for other people.  What is happening to society?  While a lot of the blame may be put on the parent at this point for raising their child wrong, it is still the student that did wrong and they should have to take responsibility for their actions.   Was suspension enough or should the student have it put on their criminal record?  That will be for the judge to decide, but it just goes to show that things aren’t taken as seriously in my school.  Assault is assault and should be handled like the crime that it is.  Hopefully no one else has to experience a wicked high five, but for those who think this is just a joke, grow up and open your eyes.  That’s not the only bad thing happening in schools now.

School Absences

                It is so much fun having a school absence.  Even if you are a studious person, a field trip or another event is always better than going to school.  I personally enjoy learning, but sometimes getting away from the same 2000 students in my school is a good thing.

                A school absence is different from any other absence.  Why? Well, it is the school that is actually calling you out and excusing you from classes.  Your parents wouldn't call you out and make up the often excuse of having a doctor’s appointment.  You have a real reason to miss school and it involves school!  Fun, right?  Some teachers can get pretty upset about their students missing school often because of a sport or other extracurricular activity, but they can deal with it.  It's not the student’s fault that so many activities are pushed on to them.  It is always good to get involved in what you like.

                Like any other absence it would still be expected that you make up your missed work.  I know several people that use the excuse of a school absence for not having to do anything and just being able to skip those missed assignments.  A student should be committed to school as well as their extracurricular activity.  It is always a good idea to find out what you will miss before you miss that way you can make plans to do the extra work to catch up. 

                A school absence has the word school in it, so it should be focused on school right?  Well that’s not always the case.  Sports aren’t always focused on school, they are focused on the sport at hand and winning, but it is the school that provides that sport.  Athletes often have a lot of school absences and I would know from personal experience.  Being involved in band, golf, and several other activities; I am missing out on a lot of school.  A policy in my school is that you can’t fall behind in classes due to sports and if you receive a D or lower in a class, you are not able to participate in that sport and will sit out on the next few competitions.  I value that rule, but I wish that they would change it to be a C or lower because C is average and an athlete should be able to maintain an average grade if they really want to commit to another thing.

                Field trips are another type of school absence.  Most likely you wouldn’t go on a field trip by yourself, so your whole class or group would also miss out on school.  In that case, hopefully the teacher wouldn’t have any make up work because they would also be attending the field trip.  As you increase in grade level field trips tend to occur less often unfortunately.  I feel that field trips are important to a student’s education because they are able to go outside of school and apply what they learned or even learn more stuff that they wouldn’t be able to learn in school.  This school absence is definitely worth missing school for.  In this article it discusses all of the advantages of taking a school field trip.  With all of the advantages I hope schools see that it is a necessary thing to do even at the higher levels of education.  I guess it wouldn’t necessarily be missing school because it would be like the school would come with you.  You would just be out of the building for the day. 

                School absences are necessary and should be enjoyed.  It is sometimes a rare occasion to have a school absence so take advantage of it.  Everyone needs a break once in a while and it should be a school break that still slightly involves school.