When I sat down to write this post and found myself instead opening Facebook chat, gazing out the window, and experiencing a general lack of focus, I decided that "senioritis" was the most honest thing for me to write about. It seems that I am not the only one with senioritis on my mind -- in Insideschools blogger Judy Baum's last post, she responded to a parent concerned about her son dropping out as a senior.
I empathize with the student in question. As one senior friend of mine put it, "You’ve been doing the same thing for 12 years, you’re looking at these new exciting places to go and things to learn, and then you’re told that you should go and do more of the same thing. You can’t help but say ‘screw that.’” But, as Judy said, dropping out in senior year is still dropping out. And if kids are threatening to drop out just three months before graduation, something needs to change.
I changed my Facebook status to the following question: “I’m writing a post on an education blog about senioritis, can you take a second to answer this: how is senioritis affecting you? And can you think of a better way to do senior year?”
Though it was close to midnight, I got about 15 responses in the next few minutes. Many of them were something like: “Well I have a ten page paper due tomorrow and I’m on Facebook. Does that answer your question?” Many students voiced complaints such as "I have no motivation. I have a hard time getting myself to school, and if I do get myself there, it is past 10:00 a.m.” Students had a lot of ideas for alternatives, including internships, senior projects, and community service. And students are not the only ones thinking about trying something new.
In February (around the time when college applications were done and I began to lose motivation to work and spend more time lying on my floor feeling restless and purposeless), Utah State Senator Chris Buttars suggested that the state eliminate the twelfth grade as a money saving strategy. He later backtracked, suggesting instead that senior year become optional."
The bottom line is saving taxpayer dollars while improving options for students," said state Sen. Howard A. Stephenson, a Republican and co-chairman of the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee. "The more options we give to students to accelerate, the more beneficial it is to students and taxpayers."
A recent NY Times Magazine Article reported that the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation is funding a project to help students go to community college after tenth grade. The idea is to allow students to move on when they’re ready rather than when they’re told they’re supposed to. Nine states have already adopted programs to start students in college after sophomore year. More than thirty years ago, my dad took advantage of a similar program that Queens college had for students to start classes after eleventh grade. He says, "my senioritis was so bad, I went to college!"
At the Institute for Collaborative Studies (ICE) in Manhattan, second semester seniors have internships four days a week and come in to school one day. They can choose an internship that suits their interests, so that they have a daily, real-world activity that keeps them engaged and challenged. As an added bonus, they gain experiences in a potential future work field that can help prepare them for college – and improve their resumes. Seniors there love this, and have internships in a wide range of places.
What do you think? Is there a better way to do senior year? Can we turn six months of restless partying and frustration into a productive, meaningful time for students?
Please post comments