The Trouble With Schools Is...

Schools are really important. They prepare you for life after childhood. They educate you about the world around you. They can shape your views, and change the course of your life. You spend about half of your waking hours at school, and then many of the other hours doing work the school has given you. And because schools are so important and such a big part of our lives, it's also pretty important that they get things right. (No pressure, schools)

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Let's start with an analogy:
You have a little sister, let's say three years old. You have been making a scrapbook, or whatever you like, at the kitchen table and have left tape and paper and scissors everywhere. Little Sally comes along and playfully picks up the scissors and before you know it, gives herself a little cut on her finger. :'(
There are a couple things you could do about this situation.

1) You could comfort Little Sally while she cries.
2) You could wash off her finger and get her a Band-Aid.
3) You could explain to Little Sally why it's important to not play with scissors and maybe put the scissors away after you use them the next time.

Now, I would say #s 1 and 2 would be good to start with. But #3 is also important, because the Band-Aid is going to help Sally's finger now, but it won't do a thing the next time she finds a pair of scissors lying around.

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And that's the problem that I see many schools doing. Enthusiastically doing #s 1 and 2, which are helpful to a certain extent, and then saying "There we go, we've addressed the problem, we've done our part" while completely forgetting about #3.
No, no, I'm not saying schools are leaving scissors lying in random places, at least not that I know of. Like I said, it's an analogy. At least my school, and probably plenty of others, are doing things like this though.

My school has a Depression Awareness and Suicide Prevention video they show to all the Health/PE classes. They have a "No-Stress Week" where they offer yoga in the gym and comfy chairs in the hall and play music during the 7 minute break between classes. And that's fine.

I think that it is important for us to learn, from things like the suicide prevention video, how to best take care of and look out for our friends with depression. It's important to know that there are counselors and help-lines available if we are going through depression ourselves. And if yoga in the gym is something that helps get you through a school day, then that's fabulous. But is that really all we can do?




It kind of seems to me that schools are doing what my family calls "putting your fork in the dishwasher." You can now say that you helped with the dishes, but, in reality, did you really do much to help? Schools use these videos and no-stress weeks to check the box.

What if, instead of only putting a Band-Aid on the wound, instead of only offering counselor help for those who feel depressed or stressed or overwhelmed, schools tried to stop depression or stress from being something students dealt with regularly?

Sometimes, the school has no control over the cause of someone's stress or depression. But often, people feel overwhelmed by the sheer workload. People feel outcast by bullies in schools. People don't get enough sleep at night because of early start times or too much homework. People have depression because they feel like they aren't good enough, even though it's almost impossible to live up to our culture's standards for teenagers these days.

What if during "No-Stress-Week", instead of putting fluffy armchairs in the hallway, teachers didn't assign homework?

What if instead of being someone to talk to if we are overwhelmed by homework, parents, teachers, and counselors didn't make us feel as if we have to get into Harvard to be a success?

What if school was a place where people could explore their passions and do what they love, do what excites them, not have to cram an extra class or two into their schedule because of a silly graduation requirement?

This problem isn't going to be something that we can easily fix with a snap of our fingers, but we can work together, students-with-teachers-with-friends-with-counselors-with-parents, to make a dent, to make a change.

Thoughts? Questions? Leave a comment.