Work by Geoffrey Canada, Fall 1998, pg. 24+.

I agree with Geoffrey Canada in his article Work that a good work ethic is important, but I also believe too much work can have an adverse affect on a good education. A proper balance of work and school needs to be established, so that kids attending school can succeed and enjoy their tenure as a high school student and hopefully go on to receive some sort of degree or technical training.

The work ethic of today is not as strong as it was years ago. Currently, employees and students do not seem to take pride in their work and feel that there is no direct benefit to them for doing a competent job. They are producing products and assignments that are done without regard to quality. The motto seems to be just get it done as quick as possible. With a motto like this, you can just imagine the amount of incomplete or poorly completed assignments that are turned in by the students.

Homework is a practice that has changed drastically over the years. When I was in school, homework was a daily part of life. I would not have imagined going to school without my work being done. The consequences would have been to great both at school and home. Nowadays, students would rather suffer the consequences of not completing an assignment rather than the agony of actually doing the work.

One of the many reasons homework does not get done or is done poorly is because of the kids busy schedules. They have activities, jobs, and other events that take up most of their time. It is not out of the ordinary for a student today to be involved in three sports, band, choir, student council, SADD, National Honors Society, cheerleading, and also have a steady job. When a young persons schedule is this busy, there is little time to sit down and study, relax, or spend quality time with their family.

To make matters even worse, many kids work a job of 25 hours or more. That means that kids go to work right after school and do not get home until the late hours of the evening. With these types of hours kids do not have time to do their homework, and when they do, they are so tired that they cannot think properly. If we do not help our students and children balance their lives appropriately, we are going to have a generation that is burned out in the early stages of their life. We need to ensure that they have a proper balance, and also remind them that work comes soon enough.

I do agree with Geoffrey Canada when he says, It is paramount that we connect young people to the world of work. But I feel we must make schoolwork the first priority because success at that work will give every young person a better chance to succeed at life.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 1998

Answers

Dear Paul, I could easily identify with your comments, as I am dealing with this issue at home with my eleventh grader. She juggles her schedule with involvement in two sports, while attending high school and college classes. She has an enormous amount of homework every night. We stress the importance of school work over her having a part-time job. Working in the Summer months is different. Learning how to balance school work with outside activities and work is an area that many students need direction with and the support from their families.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 1998