Handling High School

by Aiden Preston staff writer

The responsibilities of high school students and ways they tackle them

egardless of plans students may have for their life, the transition into high school causes many changes in a student’s day to day schedule. At first, the newfound responsibilities of a high schooler may be taken with a grain of salt. A problem many teens have is being treated like they are younger than they actually are, but with the new and more difficult responsibilities they take on, adults start to recognize them as more mature. Trying to prove maturity is no small matter, and the means to do so is never a breeze. The things that are expected of teens have been severely ramped up from what was expected of them in the past, yet those who want to be seen as young adults will go the extra mile to make sure they are viewed that way. Perhaps one of the largest changes from a kid to a teen is getting a job and learning how to manage time. At the age of 14, the legal age to work in Michigan, students often start the search for their first job.In any case, having a job requires a great deal of balancing one’s time. Time management is by far one of the most important skills for a teenager to have. The balance of school, jobs, extracurricular activities, and most importantly, social life, is not an easy task, but it is possibly the most stressed thing for teens. Staying caught up on all things relating to school can prove to be a challenge at times, but teachers here at Central try to accommodate for the workload that students face. “We get that you have six classes, and in situations, six classes could task you with a lot of work on some days. I will tell you that teachers are aware of the student workload and what students do after school,” explains Benjamin Ludka, a US History teacher at Central. “Unfortunately, on some days, it just happens that way, although teachers are aware of it and do try to limit the at-home work.” Even with teachers attempting to keep workloads manageable,

Rstudents will be ultimately responsible for the work they have to do. A recurring issue students have with school is the lack of real world information they receive, and this is no different for Emmet Payette ‘23. “I think that the workload is too rigorous and not rich enough. I feel like most of the work I do is pointless and I don’t learn anything. I just do it to pass the class,” notes Payette. The short term memorization of material is the strategy commonly used on tests and quizzes and perfectly illustrates the problem with modern-day learning. Students, for the most part, don’t care about the information; they care about passing the class, getting good grades, and making it into college, which demonstrates why so many students have a problem with the current education system. One of the biggest issues with the high school demographic is that students feel they need validation from others, especially on social media. “The thing I don’t like is the way people can make other people feel without even being face to face, and I think that is a teenage issue because of the emotional immaturity. Because of [their] age, teenagers are going to take that stuff a lot more to heart than adults would,” stresses Ludka. Having a sense of belonging is something that heavily influences one’s mental health, and mental health goes hand in hand with a student’s ambition, not just in school, but anywhere. Learning to control emotions coincides with one’s image as a person and how others view them, so knowing how to handle oneself when something happens can really affect a person’s reputation. Proper emotional control proves to everyone that you, as a person, can function as a part of something larger with composure. As students progress through their high school career, it is expected that as they get older they will be able to handle themselves. //