At my house, each night, near the end of dinner, my family plays High-Low. For those unfamiliar with this game, each family member says what the best and worst parts of their day were.
About 99% of the time, my son, who attends Village Free School, a democratic school, says, “My high was school.” On Saturday his low is always, “That there was no school.” On Sunday his high is, “That school is back tomorrow.” Summers are the worst, because each night, he’s got the same low, “No school.” Alternatively, around August, his high switches to, “There’s only 2 weeks left until school.”
Sure, I’d like it if once in a while my son’s high was not school, but instead time spent with me, or maybe some cool event we attended or something, anything but flipping school…
However, I know he’s a fan of family time and other stuff, and I don’t really need the assurance. Also, like most kids, he spends a lot of time at school, so the fact that school is usually the highlight of his day is awesome in my opinion.
Time can move painfully slow for kids who hate school.
Growing up, my family never played High-Low, but I can assure you, had we played, my high would not EVER have been school. In fact, most of the time school would have been my low. I spent years (14 to be exact) of my life cooped up in a place that was my daily low – how depressing is that?
I’m not alone either. None of my friends in school, save a few, would ever have claimed school as the highlight of their day. On top of that, I’ve got a daily reminder at my house that public school is no picnic for a lot of kids.
We’ve got three kids at my house. One, my son, the school enthusiast, is a democratic school student. My partner’s kids include one public high school student, plus a child who attended public school for the last 9 or so years, but recently left middle school to start online school. My partner’s kids have never named school as their high. The high school student says she likes school, but her low is usually something akin to, “School is stressing me out,” or, “I never have time for fun or sleep, because all I do is homework.”
The other kid, the one in online school now, has spent the last two+ years stating that her low, “Is school.” Once in a while she’ll have another low, but most of the time it’s been school. When school is closed for holiday or snow, her high is always, without fail, “That there was no school.” During the summer she noted that her low was, “Being so worried because school starts in a month… a week… days.”
I can’t control other parents, so it’s not as if I can say, “Hey, pull these stressed out kids out of these schools now,” but as someone who is close with these kids, I’ll admit that it’s very hard to hear that school is their low all the time.
School should be the best part of your child’s day:
Typically, kids spend 13,680 hours in school during their early years (this figure doesn’t include college). If school isn’t one of the best parts of your child’s world, you, and more importantly, your child, has a big, not to mention, long-winded problem.
Can you imagine spending 13,680 hours in a place where you’re not happy. In some cases, imagine spending 13,680 hours in a place where you’re downright miserable?
Having gone to public schools I didn’t enjoy, I can say I’ve been there, and it’s not something I remember fondly or happily or even usefully. I felt like my real life started the second I escaped from school. My siblings and many friends have said much the same. School was just killing time, waiting for some eventual life to start and in the end, life, free from public school, was much better.
On the flip-side, I’ve met many other parents of democratic school students who say that their kids have the same sort of experience my son has. Democratic school students, for the most part, seem to adore school, hate summer break and it’s been rare (in my experience) to meet a democratic school student who says, “School is my low.” I’m sure they’re out there, because honestly, this sort of school, like anything, isn’t right for every youth, but overall, democratic school students who hate school seem far less common than public schooled kids who hate school.
Try asking your child what his high is each day…
Is it school? If not, how come? Your child spends more time in school then he does anywhere else, and consider that this is the one and only childhood he’ll have. School should seriously be a high. If school is not a frequent high, or worse, if it’s a frequent low, you may want to consider a change. There are all sorts of educational options available. If you spend some time looking, you’re sure to find an educational path that can fit your child’s needs.
To learn more read the following:
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