Rant & Rave
Rant & Rave
AH, yes, high school. The four wonderful years in a person's life when the transition is made from rebel adolescent to productive member of society. A time of experimentation, discovery and the relentless pursuit of ... getting into a good college? Real growth lost
in race for collegeThis quest may not seem like the quintessential high school experience, but it is becoming a reality. All the finding out who you really are stuff is being shoved aside as high schoolers struggle to become the perfect teen machines.
The pursuit of scholarly ideals has been around since ancient Greece, but is there any merit in turning children into workaholics? An ideal adults tend to forget is perhaps the most important, moderation.
In following the example of our parents, many teens put too much pressure on themselves to do well. All that college admissions boards ask these days is that you get perfect grades, be involved in sports, hold a leadership position on student council, play a musical instrument, score above 1400 on your SATs, give your heart to a community service, give sweat in work experience, and, by the way, several club memberships might be nice.
It took longer to type that sentence than there are hours in a day. In fact, if you consider the number of hours needed to actually complete those activities, much less excel at all of them, that leaves approximately 32 minutes to sleep.
Did I mention that this sleep will occur only in 2-minute intervals between activities? You can just forget about meeting friends at the neighborhood drive-in, or Saturdays at the beach with the family.
What are the long-term effects of overworking on these teen machines? A little competition makes individuals strive harder, but is it worth it?
The constant activity that begins the first day of freshman year, continuing to the last seconds of graduation, can take a physical and emotional toll. Don't think it's easier in the lower grades. Children in fifth grade are preparing for ninth grade, the way ninth graders are preparing for college.
The pressure from parents and colleges is almost unbearable. When an admissions officer from Harvard visited our school and was asked whether it was better to take Advanced Placement classes and get Bs, or regular classes and get As, her reply was, "To get into my school, you take AP classes and get As in them."
Someone should let the slave drivers know that 40 years from now, whether you are president of the country or president of a garbage disposal company, no one will remember your grade in Algebra II or how skilled you were on clarinet. All that will remain is any trace of personality that you were able to salvage between studies, club activities, community service and work. Perhaps that is the most precious gift of all.
Caitlin Doughty survived her
freshman year at St. Andrew's Priory.Rant & Rave is a Tuesday Star-Bulletin feature
allowing those 12 to 22 to serve up fresh perspectives.
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