Now that school is back in full swing and students are falling into their old routines, expectations and realities have started to become more transparent. Teachers and administrators look forward to the school year, perhaps with the false expectation that students are just as excited and prepared.
Expectations
After a long and restful summer, students are expected to be back and ready for a hectic and eventful school year. They are supposed to be excited to see their friends’ faces when they go to class and even more thrilled to make plans for the school games and events. Most teachers believe students either reviewed past assignments to an extent or they retained information from the prior year. So, when getting into a new unit at the beginning of the year teachers don’t review any needed information. However, before any assignments and units are even started once more, each teacher hands out slips for parents to sign and syllabuses that explain the upcoming work for the school year. Most likely, the work starts the day after the paper is signed. Nevertheless, grades and assignments aren’t the only expectations placed on students. For example, as students file in through the front entrance, teachers are searching for bright eyes and even brighter smiles. They hope that the students have no intention of wanting to rearrange or fix their schedules. Even with all of this, the first couple of weeks at least will be stress-free and undemanding for each teen to get through, or at least that’s what students are told.
Reality
The peaceful days of summer are now behind, and so are those late evenings and even later wake-ups. The flexibility that those two months give everyone is advantageous until the school year arrives and sleep schedules couldn’t be more off track. The adjustment that happens to go from late morning wake-ups to early morning wake-ups isn’t easy, especially for the developing minds of teens. Most students will not have recapped past assignments. Rather, they will have filled their summer with events, knowing during the academic year their days will become too jam-packed. Eyes and heads are covered in the shadows of their owner’s clothing, as they walk into school with no motivation to get back into the swing of things. All through the first week, students are requesting different schedules. Reasons range from having no friends in class, to problems with other classmates. Few are satisfied with what they have but are told that schedules can’t be changed because classes are too full. Deadlines for new assignments, GPA’s, sports, social lives, and much more will become heavier on every student’s shoulders. The syllabuses that teachers hand out already have an assignment due the following day. How could the work already be starting; just a little while ago, the carefree spirit of teenagers was present? Now, the impending knowledge that ten months have to pass before summer rolls around once more hangs over each and every one of the students. The work and mindset that school brings kids and teens alike will add much more stress to daily lives.
Student Insight
Students feel the expectations weighing on them when they’re both in and out of the classroom. Teens can feel rushed and uncertain during the outset of the educational year. Grace Moore, a tenth grader at HHS, says, “I wish teachers and staff members would have introduced me to the school and work load in a thorough way instead of assuming we knew everything already.” Moore’s negative feelings about the start of school stem from the assumptions that administrators make. Ninth grader Abby Krakunas explains, “I think the teachers make a bigger deal out of the beginning of school and take students’ attitudes as either really sad or really happy, no in between.” Krakunas describes how teachers jump to conclusions about teenagers’ feelings or don’t take them into consideration enough. The presumptions that adults make about the school year are not the reality for many students, and instead of the expectations setting a goal for teens, it just acts as a nagging thought. And while it’s not a far-fetched idea that school can be associated with pleasant thoughts, it is rather harder to believe. With the craziness that is the world, teenagers’ lives are never cemented, and most would rather make the best out of their few months of “freedom” before true reality comes back into play. The expectations that are placed on students for school are already overwhelming, but take into consideration the rapid changing of their surroundings, and it becomes even more insane.
