Social Isolation or Education Game-Changer?
At age 18, Alecia Faith Pennington decided to break free. Even though it was September, the heat was blistering in Texas and Faith felt it bright on her back as she jumped into her grandparents car. “This is it,” she thought, “this is the start of my new life.” Little did she know that freedom might be just as hard to find outside her childhood home. Faith was raised and homeschooled in a conservative household, and as well as being isolated from people outside her family, the internet and even TV, Faith didn’t have a birth certificate or any documentation of citizenship. Quickly finding out that her lack of documentation barred her from doing many things such as going to school or getting a driver …show more content…
Many of my friends are just 16 years into their lives and experience deep depression and anxiety, much due to the fact that they’re swamped with schoolwork and wracked with pressure to perform. They don’t have any time to develop their hobbies and passions. Teens in school also don’t have time to have jobs, which are useful for learning real life skills and responsibility, as well as putting teens in adult-like positions to develop maturity. Sleep loss is also a major issue for school kids. 8-10 hours of sleep a night are needed for emotional processing and brain function, and between early school start times and late nights to finish homework, kids are getting way less hours. According to a study by a number of doctors, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, “Findings complement prior correlational study results to show that after only a few days of shortened sleep, at a level of severity that is experienced regularly by millions …show more content…
Run much more effectively and given more notice and more budget, public schools in richer areas are better than schools in poor areas, and that’s a huge problem. In a podcast called This American Life produced by WBEZ on this topic, host Ira Glass states “The US Department of Education put out data in 2014 showing the black and Latino kids in (socially) segregated schools have the least qualified teachers, the least experienced teachers. You also get the worst course offerings, the least access to AP and upper level courses, the worst facilities.” Equality should come first. But frankly, reducing standardised testing pressure and encouraging development of hobbies in all teens doesn’t mean a huge pay cut from the government, and would vastly improve the lives of our future adults. Unschooling is
At age 18, Alecia Faith Pennington decided to break free. Even though it was September, the heat was blistering in Texas and Faith felt it bright on her back as she jumped into her grandparents car. “This is it,” she thought, “this is the start of my new life.” Little did she know that freedom might be just as hard to find outside her childhood home. Faith was raised and homeschooled in a conservative household, and as well as being isolated from people outside her family, the internet and even TV, Faith didn’t have a birth certificate or any documentation of citizenship. Quickly finding out that her lack of documentation barred her from doing many things such as going to school or getting a driver …show more content…
Many of my friends are just 16 years into their lives and experience deep depression and anxiety, much due to the fact that they’re swamped with schoolwork and wracked with pressure to perform. They don’t have any time to develop their hobbies and passions. Teens in school also don’t have time to have jobs, which are useful for learning real life skills and responsibility, as well as putting teens in adult-like positions to develop maturity. Sleep loss is also a major issue for school kids. 8-10 hours of sleep a night are needed for emotional processing and brain function, and between early school start times and late nights to finish homework, kids are getting way less hours. According to a study by a number of doctors, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, “Findings complement prior correlational study results to show that after only a few days of shortened sleep, at a level of severity that is experienced regularly by millions …show more content…
Run much more effectively and given more notice and more budget, public schools in richer areas are better than schools in poor areas, and that’s a huge problem. In a podcast called This American Life produced by WBEZ on this topic, host Ira Glass states “The US Department of Education put out data in 2014 showing the black and Latino kids in (socially) segregated schools have the least qualified teachers, the least experienced teachers. You also get the worst course offerings, the least access to AP and upper level courses, the worst facilities.” Equality should come first. But frankly, reducing standardised testing pressure and encouraging development of hobbies in all teens doesn’t mean a huge pay cut from the government, and would vastly improve the lives of our future adults. Unschooling is