Bethany+E's+Op-Ed+Article


 * Weekend!! ...Homework??**



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It’s Friday. You’re sitting in sixth period, checking the clock every 30 seconds. You can hardly focus on what you’re supposed to be learning. You would rather be anywhere but here. You think about your plans for this evening. Glance at the clock again. It’s getting closer. You try to concentrate on the lesson. There’s no way. But then, finally, the teacher says those magical words that you thought would never come: “Have a good weekend everyone.”

Suddenly you’re wide awake. The whole class is. You’re out of that room as fast as you can possibly go. Freedom! You find your way to your friends, and as you walk, leaving school far behind you, the day seems just a little sunnier. You finally get to go out and enjoy this weekend! ...Right?

Wrong. One little detail you forgot to account for: homework. Over the weekend?! Yep.

The days that used to be anticipated because of the time they offered for relaxation, enjoyment, recreation, and anything OTHER than school have now transformed into hours spent writing, reading, and calculating. We spend our weekends with books rather than friends.

Teachers hand out assignments left and right, as if theirs was the only class that mattered. Gone are the days of childhood bliss where Friday meant there was no need for the slightest thought about school until Monday. Weekends have become a time for teachers to squeeze in what wouldn’t fit during the week. Even when we’re not physically at school, it becomes the place that our minds must travel.

Again and again, the age-old question enters our minds: “When am I even going to use this?” It seems useless. It feels like such a chore, but to slack off is to beg for a bad grade. We’ve become trapped by our academics, not only during school, but all the time.

It’s everywhere.