You know what I'm seeing more and more, which you NEVER saw when I was in school, is kids coming to school with big honkin' starbucks or 7-11 coffees and cappucinos.
Ok, I'm not a teacher, but my mother is so most of my rants are inspired by her. On the related not of a lack of sleep, I notice more and more young kids out later on weekdays. I was in a Dominicks (grocery store) the other night at 10pm and must have seen a dozen families with kids that couldn't have been older than 7 or 8. When I was that age I was asleep long before 10pm, my parents saw to that. Don't parents today get it? No, they don't. That was rhetorical.
I have gone to Walmart late at night and seen tons of kids at 11 and 12 at night. Stupid parents. To me, a lot of the ills that plague teachers, not all, but a lot, can be traced back to lack of parental involvement.
To continue the "stupid parents and sleep-challenged kids" theme... My wife and I were at a Pittsburgh Riverhound game a couple years back. A kid sitting near us, about 6-7 years old, was acting like he'd just devoured Acme Earthquake Pills like Wile E. Coyote used to try to get Roadrunner to eat. Said the kid's mom, "this is why I don't like taking him to these games. He gets too worked up. Now we won't get him to bed until after midnight." Oh, I forgot to mention the cause of the Earthquake-pill-like reaction: the kid's mom gave said kid not one but two 20 ounce bottles of Mountain Dew during the course of the first half.
On this 10-11 hour program, kids are supposed to do their homework, study, eat, and have a little fun in five hours. That's why kids say up late. Kids stay longer in school, then they do at home, doing what they want.
The 'lack of sleep' issue for students is genuine; I have read several stories on this and most blame the parents. Indeed, perhaps parents need to get their tail in gear and send the little ones to bed earlier and terminate television earlier so kids get their proper rest. All of that said, I wonder if all the blame goes to the parents? Backpacks for all children have become heavier and homework loads become larger as teachers are assigning more to students, for home work. Additionally, extra-curricular activities and sports involvement and their hold upon students is greater today than what it was just a decade earlier. Other school involvements take precious time from the kids. Thus... Yes parents need to be more responsible on the issue. But I doubt they are the only ones forcing kids to retire so late... Everyone in the education community has a role to play here, on behalf of students, so placing the blame completely on parents is not only wrong, it is short sighted. IntheNet
I have a little girl in my Kinder Class She gets dropped off for school and the next thing I know, she is fast asleep in the coat-room. This is the second time this has happened and I asked her how come she was so tired. She said mommy was out on a date last night and left her at a sitter and then picked her up at "before the sun" came up (her words) Which probably means mommy dearest was out till all hours of the night and not home with her kid like she was supposed to be. Save the freaking dates for the weekend is what I say!
When I was in sixth grade at the very same middle school my mother teaches in, we did in a night what her class does in a week (not her choice). Kids today don't have more homework, they just aren't able to focus and work as quickly. Whether it is television, the internet, a lack of reading skills, a lack of study skills, or any number of other academic shortfalls, kids today don't have the ability to put it together like previous generations. And don't give me the sports or activities baloney. [ok, this is turning into a "back in the day story, but oh well] When I was in sixth grade I played on an AYSO team and a club team. AYSO practiced monday and wed. Club practiced tues, wed, thursday. I could just keep going and going, but in the end I don't buy the excuses thrown out by parents and kids alike today. In the end it boils down to 1 word: accountability. Whether it is the parents or the kids, or even some teachers, there is an utter lack of accountability.
First off I LOVE MILF's! But at the same time, your kid comes FIRST way, way, way before the needs of your vagina or penis. I HATE parents like this. My old haircutter was a single parent with a very young son and even though she loved her son, she was always going out and getting drunk and slutting around. I loved Sheila, but at the same time when she was recounting her exploits, all I could think about was how her son was being raised by his grandma and babysitters and not by her. Hope that kid's mom was upfront with her about why she had to spend the night at the sitters..."Sweetie...mommy is gonna take it up the poop shoot tonight from some guy I met at the Air Force Base..." --------- I work parttime at a climbing wall that closes at 8:30pm. Alot of times we get kids as young as 4 or 5 climbing up to that time. And then often times you hear the parents say that they still have to go eat dinner and then go shopping or run some errands. Many times I see them after I clock out at the Target across the street. When I was alot younger, I remember staying up till at least 11pm on school nights, but not when I was 4 or 5. What are the typical recommended bed times for kids nowadays in different age groups?
Not only parents.... teachers! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6967449/ http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0208052teach1.html http://www.click2houston.com/news/4238875/detail.html http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/sep/15hp.htm http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=2759 http://japanupdate.com/en/?id=3998
Well it took people long enough to notice, I've been sleep deprived since I was in like 6th grade. I didn't go to bed until 12:30 the other night cause I was doing homework, the next day I didn't really wake up until around 1:30 and of course had no idea what went on in any of my morning classes. Even though that's an extreme. Teachers don't really seem to understand how much homework they give out. like at my school they say it's only supposed to take 20 minutes, it usually takes more like 30-50, depending on the subject and the teacher. Add on to the homework that most people do other things besides go to school. In the fall I don't get home until 6:30 because of soccer practice, 5:30 in the spring because of track, and I have play practice Monday and Wednesday nights and Sunday afternoons, and most of my Saturdays are spent running around from rehersal to rehersal. When you put it all together there's very little energy left to do homework and no time to get a good ammount of sleep in.
See, this is what is also wrong with kids nowadays. They have TONS of extra-curricular activities. Soccer, Football, Dance Class, Karate Classes, the list is endless. I'm not saying thats not a good thing, keeps them busy and out of trouble, but, again, way too much on their plates. Doesn't really leave enough time for homework. I have kids in my class whose parents/guardians pick them up right after class and whisk them away to one or more of the above forementioned activities. When I was in school, I had dance class after school and that was it. I had time to do my homework and practice dance. When in HS, I played Volleyball. I wanted to do other sports, but I knew, as well as my parents, that my education came first. Thats just my opinion on this. (stepping off soapbox)
Kinda hard to get into college now without the list of extra curriculars. Sports, music, maybe art for me I'm not sure yet, I just started photo and if my prints are good and I like it I might make a portoflio, I have two years so it doesn't matter now. Some sort of art, sports, community service, and good grades, that's how you get into college, maybe, now.
Exactly. There's a lot of kids out there with good grades and SAT/ACT scores, but the tie breaker is definately after school activities. One kid might have a 3.8 GPA and 1200 on the SAT, while another kid will have the same grades but works and is a member of various clubs. Who's better? Probably the second kid. But teachers are giving out a lot of homework on a daily bases...even with block scheduling. Teachers will have you hand in an essay one day, and make you take a big test the next day. They don't care if their students work and do other necessary activities. Not that I'm complaining, but that's the reason why high schoolers, mainly those who do well, stay up late at night working. Then they complain the next day that kids have their heads down and resting while they should be watching a movie in history. Easy for the guy who doesn't have to work after 3:00 to say.
But it's worse when you ask about when you're going to get the test back that you took a week and a half ago and the teachers go, "I haven't had the time to look at them yet." FYI teachers, we don't care, we had to take the test.
I've been a high school over-achiever and a public school teacher, and I'll tell you that, without question, teachers work harder and get less sleep than the kids. But that's beside the point. I just want to point out that you can't always blame the parents for the lack of sleep phenomenon. Sometimes parents have to work late. Older siblings have to take care of younger siblings. Not all kids have the luxury of a 9:00 bedtime. Also, many schools just start too early. My high school started at 7:15 AM. I'm sorry, but that is ridiculous! No teenager has proper brain function at 7:15 AM. I teach 5th grade now at a school that starts at 8:00. Still too early. I swear if we started at 10:00 and went to 2:00 we'd get more work done in the day.
I get to school at 8, we're out at 3:30 but we stop classes at 2:45 and for the rest of the day we have various boards and stuff to go to. It'd be great if my day ended there but usually I have sports practice and that isn't over until 6 and then there's play practice from 6:30 to 8, during soccer season McDonalds is the staple of my diet cause I don't have time to eat anything else. How I'm supposed to write good papers and study for tests when I spend more time at school than I do at home is beyond me. And teachers really aren't too sympathetic when you don't have your homework because you were at an away game at some boarding school in the middle of nowhere and didn't get back until 8. I have some who'll say, "well why didn't you do it during the game," oh yeah, that would've gone over real well with the coaches who also think that you're whole life is whatever that sport is. I've had coaches get mad at me for missing saturday games cause I have rehersals.
Look, I'm sympathetic, but to a limit. My senior year in high school I directed the school play, I was on the Academic Decathlon team, I was an officer in the drama club, I held a part-time job, I did some other stuff (it was many years ago, forgive me for not being able to recall) and I was in all A.P. classes. Somehow I got by. It was not the most hectic my schedule has ever been.
I gotta agree. Along the lines of the "my senior year theme," I played varsity ball, club ball, worked in the offseason, was a trainer in the offseason, still pulled a 4.3 (on a 5 point scale), and participated in several school organizations. My former high school, while public is regarded as one of the best schools in IL, and one of the best public schools in the country. Homework was a mother****er, but I managed to balance things and not be up till 12am. This is doable. I'm not a genius, or wasn't in high school, but I made it work. Life is hard and school shouldn't be an exception. Do teachers sometimes give too much homework? Yes. But if you can focus there is little that you can't get through with minor discomfort. I guess I see what kids today call "too much homework" and I really question what they're doing with their time.
Why are american schools and companies obsessed with 7:00 and 8:00 start times? Even consumer, immediate gratification societies can accomodate flex times. In fact flex time increases productivity ... that is after all part of the bottom line.
i find the line that colleges want tons of extra curriculars to be utter urban legend if they care, one or two will suffice... like a spring sport (x4) and fall play (x4) or something like that if you feel they really care about more than that... i've got some special rocks i'm willing to sell you... and only you as it was... i took all the ap classes in highschool, ran year round (x-c, track, winter training), winter church league basketball, had a part time job, worked with a church community service group and still had plenty of time to do all my homework and watch the boob tube...
Um, Jmeisson, I'm sorry, but unless you have some sort of direct knowlege of this, then how the heck is one supposed to enter a challenging university without various amounts of activities? The academics can be achieved by anyone, but can the extra curricular? That's the tiebreaker. Participating in after school activities also invites the opportunity of scholarships, which for a college student, is very important. If you have an answer to this, I'll be glad to read it. Metrofreak, you're right again. There have been countless times when a teacher won't hand back a test or a paper a few weeks later. Look, most of these teachers only teacher three out of the four blocks. That means that they have 80 minutes of free time in school to grade these things per day, 400 minutes per week. You're telling me that it can't be done? Also, what's so hard about inputting test scores in a computer and having the spreadsheet program do the grading for you in seconds? I'm sorry, but it's year 2005. I have to put up with having to find my way through word processing software to match the new MLA standards, why can't these teachers do the same when it comes time to working with computers? What kind of role model are they being to the kids? Many kids only have teachers as their role models. How are they going to react when it comes time to meet a new challenge?
Well, I've actually served on college admissions committees, and I can tell you, "no, it is not." You might look at "extra-curriculars," but compared to grades, test scores, writing samples (that's what the statement of purpose is all about), extra-curriculars aren't really that important. You also need to think through certain lines like, "The academics can be achieved by anyone," because the reality is anyone can show up for the yearbook or the French club.
True Doc. Well...a role of captain or club officer is definately a way for one to answer the essay questions that ask for them to explain how they have shown leadership in high school.