High School: In The Mind Of A Typical Teenager
High School- In many books and movies it can be portrayed as the best four years of your life, the parties, all the fun, getting to hang out with friends, and being shaped into an adult, but the downfalls are rarely mentioned, why?
I'm currently finishing up my Sophomore year and am already stressed beyond belief. Most of my friends complain about the same thing, the homework, the teachers, the classes, the annoying people that go to our school, the drama, getting the grades, graduating, tests, projects, and even more then what I mentioned...how can we not help but be stressed!?
Some parents understand why were so stressed, and they get where were coming from, but others insist their kids do good, get good grades, join clubs, get jobs, and graduate at the top of their class. As teenagers we get it, parents want what's best for their kids, but the cost of sanity is a pretty high cost to pay.
Parents swear that if we work hard we won't be stressed, which is not true. I take all the highest honors classes including one AP class...the stress is almost unavoidable. I have to deal with the constant work load and all the stress of trying to balance school with my social life. Yet I do try but can't manage to get Straight A's, to me it's almost impossible!
I'm not the only teenager in the world that is caught in the same situation, but I can't help but get all of this off of my chest, is what we deal with in high school really necessary later on in life? I mean were not only dealing with all the school, but we have to deal with drama revolving around friends and family, plus all the changes that are going on in our body. I basically think of it as survival of the fittest, swim or drown.
High school is just another obstacle of life we have to deal with, but it's not fair that we get criticized if we don't succeed now. Nowadays the world is so competitive, that you have to be the best to get the best. It's not exactly fair that people rely so much on your grades and the classes and your GPA, what if you have a 3.3GPA and you have a serious passion for that area in work you want to go into, but your beaten by a kid with a 4.0GPA and amazing classes. The person isn't technically smarter, but yet the college thinks they are and chooses them over you, is this even fair?
The classes they make us take are even worse. Why do we have to take classes that we won't use in life unless your going into that specific area in work. Sure it's good to have the knowledge, but why do they require more classes that go into higher majors, and not offer courses in smaller majors, like more music courses, art courses, photography courses, and film? What if your a student who has a passion in more artistic qualities and your alright at math and science, but you don't plan on going into that field of work, but the student beside you is good in math and science but lacks your knowledge in art, yet they get a shining transcript because the classes that were required is what they prevailed in.
In my opinion required courses should be chosen by what the student is good in, so every student can shine, and not just the ones who happen to be good in that area. I bet if the districts tried this, they'd find more students would be more interested in attending school, and less people would be flunking out, and most importantly the stress level would go down a lot more, because students would no longer have to worry, oh no Chemistry I don't get this! But instead they'd be able to take a course they enjoy and would use later in life, like directing and screenplay writing for me. :)
