Yesterday I was perusing one of the local weekly papers we receive when my eye was caught by this headline in the Letters to the Editors section:
"High school homework is excessively stressful"
This was (presumably) a letter from a female high school student who was writing in to complain about the difficulty of doing homework in high school, and how much stress it causes. Since our paper is part of a larger network of suburban papers, it is not certain that this young woman resides within our school district.
In addition to her main complaint about the difficulty of homework, she also states that when she resided in Maryland her grades were high, and that she attained said grades while "not having to work so hard", but since she came to Ohio she struggles to work hard just to get decent grades.
Hmm...maybe Ohio has at least one place where earning good grades actually means you have to work for them.
What a novel concept!
She also complains about having to squeeze in homework while also doing sports, working, and whatever else she has on her plate. She also complained about not getting help at home, especially since her sister is now away at college.
If Mom and Dad are unable to help, she can either call/text/e-mail big sister, or, better yet, seek extra help from her teachers! I wonder why she did not think of that?
I know of a very intelligent young woman who is a Senior in high school, plays two sports, works part-time, and maintains a GPA above 4.0; this young woman has been accepted into a prestigious private university with an intent on majoring in medicine.
If she can do it, why can't our precious little letter-whiner? I mean, letter-writer.
One of the whines of our letter writer was that there is not nearly enough time to relax. Seriously.
I have low expectations of the author of that letter once she emerges into The Real World. I envision a life of low-paying jobs, sponging off her parents while living in their basement. I can see it now:
"Hey, Boss, you gave me too much work to do; I need time to relax."
Boss: "Sure thing; you're fired. Now you can relax all you want."
Ramblings of a 60 Year Old Man - My thoughts on just about anything, in no particular order; Robert Thomas - author.
We get whining here a lot - but, the Junior has a GPA above 4 also, while still taking AP Classes, doing a sport, and being overinvolved in theatre and will be confirmed next month. It depends upon the desire you have to accomplish and if you have goals or just reacting to your parents wanting you to attend college and do well. The homework goes with the classes - only those who take loser classes don't have the ton of homework. Take your choice - loser classes and no homework, or step it up and accept the heavier load now so that college is easier. I have no sympathy, as homework is part of her job of going to school. We had it, we did it - and no parents or newspaper editor had any say in reducing it.
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