One thing that has long bothered me about the schools in which I work is the emphasis placed on extra-curricular activities.
Now, don’t get me wrong: extra-curricular activities are awesome, and the benefits are numerous. I firmly believe that every student should be involved in something outside of school in one way or another.
And I’m not here to claim that my class is more important than anyone else’s.
But consider this:
English is in fact the only course that requires four credits for graduation. This means English is the only class in which students must take four classes, usually over four years. This is a state mandate. So, to graduate, a student needs 4 credits of English, 3 of social studies, math, and science, 1.5 of physical education, and .5 of health education. Schools, of course, require more credits than this, in the form of electives.
And so, when I get three separate emails like I did last night from an archery coach, asking if there’s any possible way three of my students who are currently failing can be passing in one week’s time so they can attend an archery trip, I get a little ornery. And by that, I mean livid.
Some context is needed: Two of these students are sophomores who failed ninth grade English last year, and so are repeating this year. One currently has an overall grade of an 18.11%. The other currently has an overall grade of a 20.84%. This means that, over the course of this semester, they’ve turned in almost no work. The third student has a 57.32%. She is missing some larger assessments.
I responded, trying to hide my annoyance, with an I-don’t-think-it’s-statistically-possible-in-a-week’s-time. Instead of I-don’t-think-it's, I should have said It’s-absolutely-not.
Because it isn’t.
A semester’s worth of inattention and lack of effort cannot be made up in a week. And I’m kind of insulted the coach followed up with “Are you sure there’s nothing that can be done?” I want to respond with, “I don’t know; do you have a time machine?”
I understand that students who do not thrive in an academic environment sometimes need a reason to come to school and keep their grades above passing. Sometimes that reason is an extra-curricular activity. And yet, taking students out of classes they are failing (and these students are not just failing my class; they are failing others as well) to compete in an archery tournament is not appropriate.
Even if it is a national archery tournament.
This is not unique to archery, or to my school, for that matter.
This happened at the previous school at which I taught, too. There, it was band.
And the problem is not that I say no, that students cannot be passing in a week’s time. The problem is that to many students and parents and coaches and advisers, failing only matters if faced some kind of punishment (beyond the failing grade, that is).
But you know what doesn’t matter? Me failing the student.
Asking me if a student can pass my class in order to be eligible for an activity is a formality. A hollow one, at best. Because my answer doesn’t matter. The fact that I have to spend my time arguing with a coach and a student, numerous times over, does not matter.
Because, ultimately, what always happens, is the failing students get to continue participating, get to go on the trip, get to compete. The student gets to go on hollow promises of turning work in, and lying about the teacher not grading the work in time for the "deadline".
And if we continue allowing students who are failing core classes - especially for the second time - to leave those classes for days at a time to participate in activities, then what are we teaching them?
Hollow promises and idle threats result in the same thing: entitled students who are taught that rules can be broken as long as they are good enough in a sport or activity.
It also sets up a teacher vs. student-and-coach mentality, where I am not on their side and “do not want them to succeed,” which makes them even less likely to try to be successful academically.
Which is incredibly unfortunate.
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