Since 2020, children and teens have been raised to be glued to their devices, which seems to be a root of the problem in our schools. Attention spans are noticeably shorter because of how intensely kids watch internet videos instead of experiencing things outside of their electronic bubble. Other issues have also been reported, and technology may be one of the answers for this.
Another issue that was caused by the aftermath of COVID is the gap between where students are and where they should be in their respective grade levels. A large portion aren’t at the proper reading or writing levels, but they are still being passed on to the next grade level. Our teachers are now faced with the choice of making curriculum easier, or failing students who can’t understand the material.
All over TikTok, there are teachers telling their stories about why they quit, or why they are intensely struggling with teaching their classes. A lot of the time, students take for granted how much their teachers put into creating lesson plans, decorating their classrooms and making learning interesting. As a society, we have created this insurmountable standard for teachers to be more entertaining than YouTube videos in order for kids to listen and focus in class. This is specifically for elementary students, who are still suffering the repercussions of being strictly online during the pandemic, and problems in the home are mostly solved by the iPad.
At our own school, behavior issues and disrespect have been such a noticeable problem that even students have started to mention it. Students earn a 45% instead of a 0% for missing work, which has sparked an excuse for not doing their work. Not all, but some students have accepted that they just won’t get good grades and have decided to stop trying. When speaking to an anonymous sophomore student from LTHS, they stated that in Chemistry it is especially apparent and that students will choose to not pay attention because they don’t want to try. Chemistry is notoriously a very challenging science course and it is generally loathed because it’s a required class for sophomores. But it’s extremely disappointing that students are disrespectful to the teachers by intentionally tuning out lessons just because it’s too hard.
As a community, we should reject immaturity and rise up academically and raise our respect for ourselves and our teachers. Stress is among everyone, not just our students. Let’s help support our staff and let them know that they are doing a great job, even if they don’t think we’re listening (they know some of us aren’t). Let’s hold ourselves accountable, Lockport.
