Studies: Are They Really Productive?

Jess Dyer, Opinions Editor
January 21, 2010
Filed under Opinions

The bell rings after third period, and as usual, the hallways are flooded with a rush of students. If you ask any hurried student what class they’re on the way to, though, they’ll all reply “Study”. This year, Plymouth South has created a new study policy: everyone must take a year long study, whether they need it or not. Not only are studies mandatory, but a silent reading day is enforced each Wednesday of the week. Sure, it may sound like a good idea, but what about those students who don’t need studies? Or what about those who do, and need that silent reading Wednesday to do their homework? What about those who don’t want to miss out on class time so they want to go to their locker or the bathroom during their study? Like any new plan, the new study has its flaws.

In my freshman year at South, I had the option of taking a study hall. Though the workload wasn’t nearly as much as it is now in my senior year, the study hall gave me the opportunity to finish homework I couldn’t the night before for whatever the reason was. Last year, study halls were eliminated for students at South, exception for those taking three AP courses or more. Now, we are all required to take a study hall. Of course, a study hall can be extremely beneficial to a student with a large workload, but what about those who don’t have one? These students do not need a study hall, but are forced to take one. With no homework to do, they resort to fooling around. Their talking and slacking off serves as a distraction to the students who actually are trying to do their homework. But, there’s nothing they can do. They’re stuck in that needless study everyday.

Then there are the students scramming to do their homework. Those kids behind them who don’t have any homework don’t need to focus on anything. They’re chatting up a storm, while this student is trying to finish their work. But, they can’t concentrate. It’s too distracting. If these kids who didn’t need a study were elsewhere, these students could focus and finish their assignments. Then, to top it all off, there’s the silent reading program on Wednesdays. Yes, reading is a great hobby to get into and is great for your mentality, but this is a study hall. People have homework to do, and they should be doing it. As a senior, I’m a bit insulted. Silent reading was a requirement when I was in middle school, and here I am, as a senior, being required to read yet again. Seniors have other things to be doing; we shouldn’t be treated like eighth graders.

The icing on the cake is the rules for study. Of all times of the day, wouldn’t it be best to go to your locker or the bathroom when you won’t be missing out on class? The only period when you won’t be missing out on any valuable class time is study. However, students aren’t allowed to go to the bathroom, never mind anywhere else in the school during their study hall. Teachers are being put on bathroom and hall duty, but why would that be necessary if no students should be leaving their study? It doesn’t make sense. The only time you can go to the bathroom, your locker, make up a test you missed, or catch up on your work because you were absent yesterday is between classes or after school. Why not during study? It’s more productive than having nothing to do, right?

So, my suggestion is if we can’t make a study optional, then make the kids who don’t have anything to do find something to do. If they don’t have work, have them read. Don’t make everyone read on the same day, because some students may actually have work to do when they’re being forced to read. Let the students who have to make up a test, go to the bathroom, or go to their locker go during study, rather than make them miss out on an actual class, and the studies will be more worthwhile and productive.