Challenges of School
Life is full of challenges. School has to be the most challenging obstacle in the lives of youth today. Elementary school brings about a few challenges characteristic of those years spent there. There’s the challenge of coloring in the lines, a very real problem to any youngster. Or how about the challenge of remembering to raise one’s hand before one speaks?
There are hundreds of rules and regulations that govern these young children. The one thing that keeps these children in line is the hope of reward. Yes, this is the brass ring. The reward for a clean desk is an extra five minutes of recess!
The prize for having all homework done, a shiny-new pencil topper! These small wonders keep small people in line.
They make the children love challenge. Middle school is not so easy. It is not easy for the students, and it also isn’t easy for the teachers.The challenge of staying out of trouble, or writing that research paper —these are the new confrontations of an older, wiser group. This clan has outgrown the recess and pencil-topper tricks. They know that their efforts have to bring them something really useful, so mom and pop are pulled onto the scene. How does five, ten dollars for each “A” sound? Or, how about no telephone if one doesn’t do good in school? Need I say more? By the time high school arrives, a student’s place in academic excellence or else their unlikelihood to even graduate has been established. Little can be done now to make life’s challenges seem interesting, especially where school comes in. The slothful are rewarded with a nice job at a gas station, a pregnant girlfriend, and a fifteen-year-old Ford. The diligent are rewarded with an SAT score of over 1100, acceptance into Yale University, and a ticket to life. By meeting the challenges of school, sticking it out, and pulling through, they are given their greatest reward: success.