Students in overtime to complete year

Rebellious and teenager are two words that are generally thought to describe each other.  Acting out in class and not caring about grades could also be a result from the massive amount of stress weighing on our shoulders and I’m not just talking about the heavy textbooks.

With CSCOPE and STAAR now being used in classes, the pace of school work has changed from a leisurely walk in the park to a dead sprint that never reaches the finish line.  So as we run from unit to unit we’re not retaining any information.  As students, we’ve learned to memorize answers for the test and then focus on the next play.

The extra pressure is like being on the bottom of a dog pile and has made a lot of kids stop caring.  All teenagers’ self-esteem is at an all-time low at this time in our lives whether or not we present ourselves in that light.  I’ve witnessed peers of mine getting blindsided and so overwhelmed in class that they have to walk out to cry in the hallway.  I’ve even seen former straight “A” students begin to make failing grades because they can’t handle the pressure. Teachers have also been more wound up and sometimes snap at already on edge students, however when students snap back, everyone thinks that we are disrespectful.

Students are humans too, with problems at home or with friends, bad grades, and anxiety about all sorts of things.  Yet everyone forgets about all of that and expects us to always save face and get on with the game. Maneuvering through high school takes skill and complex plays but at some point we’re going to foul out.