School and Hypocrisy

[stokes06]

Hi all,

End of year has come around and as many school students know the workload from teachers increases. This year is by far the worst i've had. Im in year 11 and have spent the past 2.5 weeks jacked up with schoolwork and have had 0 time to do any sort of extracurricular activities. This past week I reckon i've averaged 3 hours of sleep, staying up as late as 4:00am to get my schoolwork done.

Whilst I can accept part of this is how school rolls, the part I can't wrap my head around is the absolute hypocrisy my school indulges in. Since 2020 they have flicked a switch and have had an extreme focus on well-being. Twice a week we get sessions on topics ranging from study support and personal wellbeing to mental illness. Around a month ago they brought in a sleep expert who told everyone about how "you must get eight hours of sleep", and "your bedtime shouldn't be past 12:00am" and all that stuff. I cannot fathom why they would bring in a sleep expert and then dump work on students that requires them to stay up until ridiculous hours of the morning to complete. And it's also not like they're oblivious to it, they run surveys as they are "so interested in the students wellbeing" but upon seeing responses like this, the response is always "you need to stop messing around in class" and "your time management must be terrible".

Can anyone provide me with some suggestions for the next week as I am torn between getting my schoolwork done and struggling to stay awake and feel good, or prioritise my well-being and fail assignments, with disciplinary action from the school.

[white knight]

Hi, welcome

Sadly we have well over 3300 suicides a year, thats 3 times the road toll rate roughly. As a guy that had his brother and uncle go that way and me, my sister and daughter make attempts, this is why society has finally made mental well being a priority so I welcome those changes. Do you have any guess as to how many students fall victim to the workload of which you state?, well its a lot of students and they are trying to minimalize that.

Anyway, you are certainly forgiven for not thinking about those reasons. As experienced adults the teachers know whether you have the capability to pass your exams and if you have that ability but fail they also know you havent put the work in required, pretty simple logic to them. They know that regardless of the priority of study that student do- stop often to answer mobile phone, play games and so on, its more the norm than rare. From their perspective they are frustrated with those facts and sadly become a broken record whining about it, but what else can they do?

Time management is crucial to success. You are correct in that after midnight studying leave less time for sleep. Sleep is under rated, it is so important for the mind to work best. So the time management between arriving at home and say 11pm is where the damage is done. EFFECTIVE time management is when you take breaks for dinner, a snack, chores, stretching. Then- back into it, no TV, turn off your phone and dont turn it back on. Study is the top priority and let your family know that too, for minimal disruption. 

Growing up isnt easy, part of that period of growth is to look at the other side, why are they repeatedly reminding us this and that. So, manage your time better, do serious study without interruptions, get that balance right and realise there is a reason for everything. 

I hope you do well in your exams.

TonyWK