by Hannah S.
What is your least favorite thing about school?
Most people want to focus on the positive because they are trying to distract themselves from the negatives. Let’s face it: nobody wants to go to school every day. I have challenged myself to find out why and to identify the best fixes for each problem. Most students spend 16,704 hours of their life in school. There are negative factors about school that I have discovered, and here are some common points!
10. Assigned Seats
Students seem to be complaining about the assigned seats in their classes. They want to sit with their friends because it makes the class more fun while working and can make them more excited for class. It’s something they can look forward to while waiting for the class to begin. Having assigned seats can sometimes affect the work a student does. They would rather have a friend to sit with and discuss the work they’re learning than a complete stranger. Having a friend to sit with during class can make the learning experience more fun and engaging.
The Fix: Students could have free seating for the first day and then make adjustments if they need to be made.
9. “Boring” Activities
“Boring” activities are often unfavorable amounts of notes or homework.
“I wouldn’t say the homework is very hard; we just have to do a certain amount of questions,” said Mary Wesley Gissell.
Mary Wesley is an eighth grader in all GT and is an engaged student-athlete. “Boring” activities leave the brain bland with the unchangeable look of random words typed on a piece of paper. This always leaves a sour taste as students leave the classroom. One of the reasons that seventh graders like to have Athletics as their first period is because of the games that the athletes play when they make a team.
The Fix: If teachers played more games in their classes, like Athletics, then maybe students might be more involved or less bored and understand what they are learning.
8. Elective’s Work
Some people love their electives, but some think that it is too much work. Depending on the elective, it promises an unexpected amount of work, which impacts their attitude and approach to the class.
Some students told me they enjoyed their classes, even though it’s a lot of work. They want a balance between work and fun in their electives.
The Fix: More time for completion, because the dates are more pressing in some electives like Yearbook/Digital Print and Media, Theater, or other Fine Arts, would make all electives more enjoyable.
7. Strict Teachers
Most teachers try their hardest to create a supportive environment for students, but since everybody has a different idea of what that means, sometimes that environment seems more authoritarian than anything. It’s different for each teacher, so the incongruity can be confusing. Some students have a bad impression of a teacher because they lost their paper or gave them hard work at the most random time.
The Fix: {To students} Cut your teachers some slack, and be patient if they make a mistake. {To teachers} Do everything in your power to make the students aware of their assignments before the day of the work.
6. Homework
Homework is one of the most common complaints because, as some students said they believe, teachers think that students have endless amounts of time when they aren’t in school.
Mary Wesley said that she had “… an average of 45 minutes per day” of homework.
Ultimately, most of it was online, which may create problems for some students. Another eighth grader, William (Bear) Caruth (a fellow member of Mule Time Media), stated that most of his homework was math.
The Fix: Make homework a higher priority. This may sound simple, but if the due date is unreasonable from your eyes, then be proactive and talk to your teacher to see if you can change the date. Most teachers are willing to listen to students who approach them with respect and dignity.
5. Math
The main tipping point of a student’s day is Math. For the eighth graders I talked to, the cons were the amount of homework that Math brings, which has a big impact on their opinion of the subject.
Bear Caruth said, “The subject, yeah no, not a favorite. But sometimes the equations, the math, I have dyslexia, it’s all just bad to me.”
So mostly, the subject is just the main thing that students struggle with. All the math teachers try their hardest to make the subject less taxing on the students, but it still is one of the most draining parts of a student’s day.
The Fix: More games involved instead of paperwork to keep the students focused, and make sure that you try to make their learning at their own pace.
4. Not Enough Fun
Even though the math teachers try their hardest to make fun and entertaining activities for their students, a handful of teachers don’t make make the effort to make activities less draining for students.
Charlotte Bruni, a seventh grader (and fellow member of Mule Time Media), likes Athletics because of the games.
“I like that they come up with really good activities for us to do,” she said as she described what she does in Athletics.
More games and fun in school can greatly influence how students feel about their work.
The Fix: More games such as Gimkit or Blooket. These make students want to play because they have a chance to win and show their quickness to respond. This way, the same people don’t always win.
3. Stress
Students’ lives are filled with stress over deadlines and grades. Overstressing about grades can be almost damaging to a student’s brain. Stress has side effects, some of which include:
- Mood Swings
- “Snaps” where anger takes over
- Felt tension
- Messing with behavior
These effects can completely flip someone’s personality. One of the main ways to get lost in these situations is lectures.
The Fix: Take advantage of recess and advisory to focus on work or step back and focus in a quiet spot, like going to the library during lunch.
2. Lectures
There have been many studies and arguments about whether lectures are even helpful to a student’s learning.
A Harvard study found that “traditional stand-and-deliver lectures are 1.5 times more likely to fail than students in classes.”
A Harvard University physicist named Eric Mazur called lectures “outmoded, outdated, and inefficient,” which supports students’ opinions about this outdated lesson.
The Fix:
- Make sure the lecture has a purpose and that students understand it.
- Cut the lectures as short as possible.
- Try to do more interactive speeches to avoid sounding like you’re holding information over their heads.
1. Freedom and Trust
The number one reason why students don’t want to come to school is freedom and trust. This may not be number one for everybody, but based on the data collected, this is the most significant cause.
Students are almost never given freedom. Most classroom environments are too solemn or controlled, except for a handful of teachers. Teens just want to be independent and figure out who they want to be. Some teachers don’t understand that there is a hazy line between misbehavior and symbols of individualism.
The Fix: Find new ways to let students have freedom, such as stating what needs to be done and the goals for the day, then letting them work however they want to work.
Conclusion
Since students spend 16,704 hours in class, maybe this list of ten reasons can help teachers find creative new ways to engage their students further. I have several teachers whose classes I enjoy, so I hope this information helps teachers enhance their own students’ class periods.
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