Student Apathy In Education

This is an informational article. It explains the lack of motivation many first-generation students face. Its purpose is to informed

Gradually, lectures and discussions that were once interesting start to seem boring and irrelevant, and the temptation to skip classes become greater and greater. (Benton)

Education has always been an important part of our sustainable society in which everyone plays a role. The purpose of the education system is to provide a way for students to learn and gain knowledge. The current education system focuses more on evaluations rather than teaching, which creates a stressful and unpleasant high school experience. Alfie Kohn’s essay, How Not to Get into College: The Preoccupation with Preparation describes the difficulties and purposeless school practices students face when preparing themselves for life beyond high school.

As students were forced into their growth of knowledge in elementary school and middle school by continuously being taught basics, in order to prepare them for high school and beyond, they get to gain their freedom and decide whether or not they want to meet their teachers’ marks in high school. Throughout the school year, there comes a time where students have to sign up for classes. By having this choice, students can decide on how they want to challenge themselves in the next school year. During my two and a half years of high school that I have conquered so far, I learned that in a classroom setting there are students who take advanced courses, enjoy the subjects that they chose to take, and try their best to get the best grades that they can receive, in order to prepare them for their future in adulthood. However, there are also students who do not try or realize the importance of the free education given to them because they do not have an interest in the subjects that teachers are teaching them or are just being forced by their students to attend school. Some teachers try their best to bring out the motivation in these students who do not yet see that education is power and freedom, but there are also teachers who ignore these helpless students that are blinded by the present things that affect them like popularity or living with the motto that “you only live once”, because these teachers do not have the inspiration in the

According to one study, over 7,000 American students drop out of high school each day; that equals about 1.2 million students every year! (“11 Facts,” n.d., p. 1). Mike Rose, the author of “I Just Wanna Be Average” was almost included in this statistic. Luckily, Rose was “saved” by one of his teachers, who stoked his love for learning. In his story, Mike Rose effectively addresses the issues with public education by sharing his anecdote about taking vocational classes and providing “several reasons for the ‘failure’ of students who go through high school belligerent, fearful, stoned, frustrated, or just plain bored” (1989, p. 1). Rose’s purpose for writing “I Just Wanna Be Average” is to inform the general public of the current education system and how it needs to change. Through a relaxed, yet passionate tone, Rose showed that teachers need to be more energetic and engaging with their students. Because schools are unengaging and boring, student dropouts are occurring-- and for the same reasons today as they were thirty years ago. A study that was released in 2005

Pendo and her family are refugees from Congo, Central Africa. Pendo is currently enrolled in school as a freshman; however, she is really struggling with her classes. The learning style in the United Sates is different from what she was accustomed to in Congo. She is barely finishing assignments and exams that require computer competency, because she is not proficient in computers. She also has a hard time in class, because there are instances where she does not understand what the professors are saying due to her limited proficiency in English. Pendo feels out of place in school, because no one understands or can relate to her struggles. She also feels like she has no support from the teachers or school officials, since they expect her have had some prior knowledge of some of the concepts discussed in

Part of my intervention plan will be devoted specifically to fostering resilience in these refugee children. To do so, integrated into their school days, classes will be held to teach the children appropriate conflict resolution strategies. At this point, the

Dr. Debra Koss ( child psychiatrist) believes that in our society today teens and parents face more stress and pressures than ever before. When a student acts up the first thought should not be punishment but what is going wrong in this young one’s life and how can it be helped. In Fund du Lac High School three hundred fifty-eight freshman out of six hundred thirty-two participated in mental health screening and sixty-four percent of the students tested were diagnosed with a mental illness. Many factors are contributing to this bad school environment ranging from overworked students, students ridiculing other students and faculty that genuinely do not care about the students. A teacher, who does not take interest in the students and does not do their best to make sure their students succeed, risks destroying their students confidence. 8,300 students drop out on a average day. These students say they drop because they don't feel safe, they can't keep up, they couldn't attend everyday or they did not have the confidence they would finish the class. Students everyday are either dropping out or hurting themselves because of the events that happen inside these school buildings. Forty percent of parents say children experience the most stress from academics. Chronic stress causes a sense of panic which causes more stress. “Despite whatever is going on -if you are a bit depressed, stressed, or overwhelmed you want to put up this positive

With over 2600 students in grades 9-12, and a caseload of 400+, maintaining and developing socially, emotionally, and balanced students can be a challenge when student abilities do not always match the expectations of stakeholders. Though my school is diverse, socioeconomic status is a contributing factor when it comes to expectations, college admittance, and overall student success. Socioeconomic status increases stress because parents expect their child to get into a top university, and many are not open to a community college, even if that is what would be best for the student. For these reasons, I have identified stress and anxiety as the identified critical need. Of last year’s graduating class, 92% attended a college or university, with 63% of those attending a four-year institution. In addition, our school administered over 550 Advanced Placement (AP) exams to 10th–12th

“ Students do become behaviorally, emotionally, and cognitively involved in the learning activities their teachers provide (e.g., write an essay, solve a math problem), and their extent of effort, enjoyment, and strategic thinking does predict important outcomes, such as achievement. But students also do more than this. Students also, more or less, proactively contribute into the flow of instruction they receive as they attempt not only to learn but also to create a more motivationally supportive learning environment for themselves ( Bandura,

Furthermore, there is also a difference on how adolescents and their parents adjust to the process of immigration and their mental health. According to Scuglik and Alarcon (2005), adolescent immigrants are most likely to suffer more mental health problems than adult immigrants. For example, adolescent Somali immigrants experience more psychological distress compared to their parents. The reason on why adolescent Somali suffer more mental health problems than their parents is because their process of adapting to a new culture and environment is sometimes more intense. Thus, it is harder for them to get used to a new lifestyle, adolescents are at an age where everything seems to be more difficult and challenging. In addition, children are most likely to struggle with their fluency in English more than their parents because

New immigrants expect and usually face numerous challenges prior to and after arriving at their new home country. A recent comprehensive review of the health of immigrant youth in Canada revealed that immigrant youth experiences stress as they leave familiar settings behind and struggle to acculturate to their new country of residence (Salehi, 2010). Research has shown that immigrant youth have higher rates of mental health issues related to negative migration expeirences. In addition, immgirants are at an increased risk for secondary school dropout as they face greater obstacles compared to native youh in academic success (Anisef, Brown, Phythian, Sweet, & Walters, 2010). Thus, there is a need to aid immigrant youth in its transition and assimilation process to reduce the likelihood of negative

The transition from childhood to adolescence presents challenges for all youth. However, it is even more challenging for newcomer youth who must integrate into mainstream America. The Refugee Women’s Alliance designed a variety of programs to assist newcomer youths with their process of integration and support youth ongoing self-exploration and transformation. I am one of the few volunteers at the Refugee Women’s Alliance (ReWA), a nonprofit organization that provides resources and services to assist refugee and immigrants’ women and their families. ReWA’s primary goals are to improve employability, promote acculturation, increase language proficiency, and most important of all, creating a safe and family-oriented environment for

These refugee students coming into your class have been through many obstacles and trials in their life, it doesn’t matter if they are in kindergarten or in 6th grade. These students can have darks pasts and seen very scary and dangerous events. These events can cause a lot of anxiety and stress. When these students come to your class that doesn’t go away. It could possibly intensify by the stress of going to school. As a teacher and school you should have all the resources to help them cope with these changes making sure they have a place that feels safe and where they can express their feeling without the fear of persecution from the teacher or other

Student apathy has been a problem for years. For the purposes of her study, Rebecca Ann Schou defines student apathy as “an expression of disinterest and lack of engagement in academic experiences” (Schou 2015). In the references of her doctoral study, Schou has sources concerning apathy dating back to 1916, 1962, 1978, and 1990. Her research shows that this is not a new concern. It is just getting worse. Schou has a small section about John Dewey’s democratic principles, which I summarize as, students need to take charge of their own education in order to become productive and informed citizens of society. She uses all of these references as a foundation to talk about the differences of student apathy over the years. Differentiated instruction, according to Schou, is “to recognize students’ varying background knowledge, readiness, language, preferences in learning and interests; and to react responsively” (Schou 2015).