Joanne Jacobs notes that, as far as some seniors are concerned, AP classes take a backseat to manicures and minimum-wage jobs:
My colleagues and I are fully committed to providing [our 12th-grade students] with a world-class academic education, one that regularly produces large numbers of National Merit Scholars and sends students on to do well in Ivy League colleges.But we do not look out over classrooms full of enthusiastic, prepared and appreciative students as my daughter does in China...Our schools are failing because of the demands and temptations provided by a mass culture that is the primary educator of most of our young people. Even in our advanced placement courses, we deal with students who don't understand why English teachers expect them to read 400-page novels, write papers carefully or do precise study for rigorous tests. They will tell you that they don't have the time.
They are also expected to work 20 hours a week at Target to pay for their cars, fit in their hair, tanning and nail appointments, babysit their mother's younger children, acquire their own meals, plan for the prom and senior week, respond to their phone and computer messages and listen to everything programmed into their iPods. Further, they need to do all of those things after they have worked three hours a day for their coaches and fit in all of their doctor, dentist and therapy appointments.
And we haven't even gotten to the God-given right each American child has to the pursuit of happiness in the form of playing with their PlayStations, watching videos, taking trips to Starbucks, hanging out and napping.
Interesting, that "God-given right" to have a busy life that we seem to teach our youth about. It's probably not a coincidence that at the same time high school teachers wonder why their students can't sit still and focus on academics, a new syndrome has appeared in elementary school - The Overscheduled Child:
Contemporary children get so much more than basic schooling. Many also participate on one or more teams, have lessons in music, art, foreign language, and are tutored in school subjects. Although each activity may be valuable on its own, in aggregate these commitments leave parents and children frazzled, keep children from developing self-reliance, and hurt families...This is happening because many contemporary parents see their fundamental job as designing a perfect upbringing for their offspring, from conception to college. A child's success—quantified by "achievements" like speaking early, qualifying for the gifted and talented program or earning admission to an elite university—has become the measure of parental accomplishment. Despite knowing in their hearts that their families are over-scheduled, many parents keep rushing because they fear that cutting back could harm their beloved child's future.
That is why the most competitive adult sport is no longer golf. It is parenting.
I know five-year-olds who have taken more sports classes, seen more plays, had more lavish and expensive birthday parties, and have more scheduled dates with their peer group members than I have, or ever will. They also tend to have lovely playrooms filled with toys, but I wonder when they have time to play with any of them.
Posted by kswygert at January 4, 2006 09:57 AM