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Student Opinion Matters
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Too much homework massacres student s homelife
K elsey S chrader
Staff Reporter
The most ironic part about
this article is the fact that I
can't focus on it, all because
I'm stressed out and piled
with homework assignments.
Nearly 100 math problems,
two journalism articles, a
plush model of a mole and a
French III essay is putting me
back a couple hours tonight.
It's around 1 a.m. already,
and I still have so much to do.
Last night was just the same,
and the night before that.
This has gone to far. Teachers
are assigning too much
homework, and schools have
crossed the line when it comes
to class work outside of school.
Homework has become
not only a study tool, but an
Olympic sport. You have to
"sprint" through that science
lab write out, through the
back of the math book for all
of the answers because you
simply don’t have time to
do the whole 100 problems
tonight, and then to spark
notes to write a book report
"Of Mice and Men" because
you've done is skimmed
the first couple of chapters.
You're exhausted and your
brain feels fried. All of a
sudden, homework is all about
surviving another day, and not
about absorbing the material.
Don't think our generation
is alone in this. Right now, the
homework load we survive
with is an actual national
predicament. Students, parents
and teachers are all battling
over the amount of out-of
class work we get every night.
Students can't handle the
workload, parents are losing
their family time and teachers
feel the pressure from the
government and the school
board to pump students'
minds with information until
they explode. No one's happy.
Everyone is frazzled and too
few are doing anything to
change it.
So why do we do it? Why
do teachers rely so much
on teaching outside the
classroom instead of more
effectively teaching during
instruction time? All of us
have had a teacher that
relies on worksheets and
textbook reads during class
to teach the kids instead of
talking about the subject or
using hands-on lessons. The
students notice this and feel
like the teacher just doesn't
put the effort into teaching
that the students are putting
into homework and studying
for class, and they lose
erest. It's a chain reaction,
I
#
downward slide. Aside from
absorbing information on
fuller scales, homework helps
develop abilities such as
managing time, honing
organizational
skills and
developing the
ability to
learn by
yourself,
^
but how
___
much is too
much?
^
I'm not going to
spend this article picking
apart teachers for what
they're doing wrong. I want to
focus mostly on the amount of
pressure that's focused on high
school students right now.
I don't care if you're a
straight-A student or a lazy
failing bum, no one hates
getting good grades. The
pressure to get into that
college of your dreams is so
tough and so unmerciful,
many just quit. Is that any
way to keep a school system
going? A curriculum so hard
and unforgiving that the
soaring dropout percentage is
considered okay? According to
Nces.ed.gov, between 347,000
and 544,000 sophomores to
seniors leave school each
year without successfully
completing a high school
program in the last decade.
That's insane!
The first thing I'd like to
chat about is the teachers: the
teachers that are no Dead-
Poet-Society-Robin-Williams,
but they got their diploma and
they don't mind the hours.
Or the kind of teachers that
think that fundamentals and
strictly-controlled behavior in
a classroom is the only way.
And then there are the teachers
that don't believe that they
could pull off a major learning
experience, so they settle by
having students take notes
and give text reads, so at least
they touched the curriculum.
They live by the curriculum,
they breathe only the
curriculum. As long as it's said
somewhere in the semester,
they've reached the
standards
for their
curriculum.
Think
about the
students
that spend
the
library
before
finals, and
end any social
contact, just so they
might get into Harvard. The
memorization and the trips to
Office Depot for note cards,
the acronyms to remember
math formulas and the
nights conjugating French
verbs over and over because
you chose to take French III
this year instead of trying
something new, just because
it might catch the eye of an
interviewer. The amount of
focus and absolute mutiny
of any healthy things that
teenage kids should be doing
is tearing apart our students
and their families. This system
causes students to stay up
all night, not because they
procrastinated, but because the
workload has just reached that
point. So far, it doesn't seem
like it is much of a working
system and I feel like someone
should be doing something
about it.
Parents also apply pressure.
Colleges are harder than
ever to get into, and the race
to have a "special" child
has reached it's peak. "No
Joe Average would get into
Whitworth anymore, Kelsey,"
Jay Schrader, concerned parent
of Kelsey Schrader, sophomore
(that's me!), said. "If I put in
my college application, they
probably wouldn't even glance
at it."
For some reason, the typical
stereotype of a perfect college
student includes perfect
grades, many extracurricular
activities and something
that stands out about the
student. The pressure to be
extraordinary and never fail
has driven some kids to suffer
immense stress, sickness and
even dropping out.
It's hard not to give up.
It's tough to understand that
each worksheet you turn in
will affect that end result. It's
difficult to want something so
bad that you let your values
and morals deviate.
If you really are struggling
with homework, go to bed
on time and wake up early.
You'll feel more productive
and if you get to school early,
you can also get help from
teachers. You'd be surprised
how many teachers arrive
early.
Use the Tutor Center.
Although it might be a little
scary and the dead silence
is a little daunting, it is
worthwhile. You don't even
need to need use the tutor
option because it's a great
place to get homework done.
If you're so overwhelmed
and there's just no way out,
talk to your counselor. There's
actually programs you can get
into so that your homework
load is less, and if nothing else,
the counselor can help you talk
to teachers and see if there's a
chance for a little leeway. You
never know, maybe you'll find
yourself with some time to
actually eat dinner with your
family or watch a little "ER."
there needs to be alternate
options for students. My
personal opinion is to do
away with these tests all
together.
After graduating from
West Linn, I will become a
hot tub repairman. There are
not many of them and in a
suburban area, I will control
Portland. I don't even have to
be that great at it. I will just
change the water and charge
them $200, because what are
they going to do, call another
hot tub repairman? Then I
will double my business by
becoming a pool boy and get
women like the women from
Desperate Housewives. Life
will be sick. That is only my
option for not taking SAT's
but there should be others.
Other options should
include a college official
coming to see you in an
academic decathlon like in
Billy Madison; I really think
it could work. The students
would have to do something
in music, athletics, theatre
and other subjects in school.
It would show how well-
rounded a student is and it
would give colleges a chance
for the to meet them.
Another option should
be an interview and to talk
out a few problems with
a college official. It would
show the way your brain
thinks rather than if you
filled the right bubble or not.
Another option is if you can
beat up the school's official
president in a cage fight, you
are automatically accepted.
I really think that
standardized tests are just
a lazy attempt for schools
to know their applicants.
I know it must be harder
for big public schools to
personally look at each
student wanting to get in, but
there needs to be options for
those instead of, "you must
get this score on this test." If
you do not want to deal with
that at all, there will always
be a job for you at my hot tub
repair/pool boy company.
Standardized tests are not only option
I ke M c G innis
Staff Reporter
My parents do not nag
me about standardized test
scores, which I like, but
others at this school are
getting upset with being
forced to take prep courses
for tests. Some students just
say they do not do well on
standardized tests. How
are we to know how smart
someone is from how they
did one day filling out
bubbles? It makes absolutely
no sense that colleges make
such a big deal out of tests
instead of considering other
things, like character and
activities.
The main problem is,
while you must pass CIM
benchmarks to add value to
your application and you
must take the ACT or SAT
for any school to accept you.
There is no way of getting out
of taking these tests without
putting your future at stake.
Some may like the tests as a
way to judge education, but