http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44704948/ns/today-education_nation/#.ToXSis2iVqA
I found this article and it caught my attention because I remember absenteeism being a problem almost every year from middle school throughout high school. Waking up in the morning is especially difficult for teenagers because we like our sleep. Most teenagers can sleep until noon and even later, so having to wake up at 6 or 7 in the morning is brutal. Yes, we could go to bed earlier and plan ahead to make sure we get enough sleep, but even then, I feel like 6am comes way too early. Also, I know that there are people out there who are night owls and just can not bring themselves to go to bed before 11 o'clock. When I was in high school, I used to help in the main office during my lunches. Everyday, there was an attendance sheet for who was absent and who had been tardy on that particular day. Of course, out of curiosity, I would sneak a glance at it every so often. It was very surprising how many students missed school or were late on a given day. It was more than I thought.
It always annoyed me when teaches would say how important it was to be in class and be on time. I never realized what they were trying to teach us until I got to college. Every class does count, so if you miss even one class, you could have missed some very important information. Announcements are made and key points are made about whatever subject that class may be for. You never know what you are going to miss. Also, it is probably even more common for college students to be late or miss class because they have overslept. In high school, I know many people whose parents had to wake them up every morning, so they just got into that routine. Well, at college, you are on your own and have to wake up by yourself. It is your own responsibility to get yourself out of bed. So, I think the idea of having a celebrity wake you up is a very clever idea. Waking up is never "fun," but having someone famous yelling at you to get out of bed could be both comical and helpful. It also may teach teenagers that going to class is in reality very important because if you want to be successful in whatever career you choose, you must be knowledgable in the information needed to succeed.
-Bridget Meehan
Its weird I remember this being a debate in my school as well. I was kind of half-way on the whole thing. If you get up early at let say 6am your prone to fall asleep but you get out at 2pm giving you time for homework and rest. Now lets say the school delayed to about 8am and let you get out at 4pm you would have less time to do stuff, but more rest in the morning. So its kind of 50-50.
ReplyDeleteI could really relate to your post! At my high school we also had a huge problem with kids being absent and late. And I also never realized just how important it is to be in class until I got to college. While reading I found myself really agreeing with a lot of the things that you had written. I like that your post has a lot of your own opinions. And I really like that you were able to summarize the article through your opinions.
ReplyDeleteCatherine Giunta