Kids To Tired to Learn

[Drawnnite]

reading todays Herald Sun it has an article (front page) about kids being too tired to learn at School in the mornings.

it's saying schools are planning a radical shake up of timetables
this would include later starts and key classes after 11am.

they are saying problems include staying up on social networking sites until really late.
they also say the problems lie with being highly stimulated with things like computer, ipods and so forth.
a professional in the field of teens and sleep states they need 9hrs+ of sleep a night and arent ready to do anything before about 9am.


well whats everyones opinion on this?


personally i find it a joke. i finished school last year and wished it had started at like 7am, and been home by like 1:30pm
if kids are too tired to learn well stuff them. tell them to go to bed earlier. unhook the internet whatever.
wait til they get out in the real world. with a real job. the employer will not really give a stuff if they are too tired
if i was to ring up the boss/supervisor and say can i please start later, im a little tired. they would just laugh and say toughen up (i have to leave home at 5:20am)

they should not change the timetables for some princes and princesses who cannot say enough is enough and go to sleep at a respectable time.
i know a fair few people in Japan and they have to go 6 days a week and for way more then the 6hrs your at school over here.

[TVR-190]

When i was in Year 11 ,12 our first class started at 7:25 in the morning.

[m1lky]

Welcome to the real world for them. Learn to go to bed or function tired.

[Blazed1101]

that's so stupid, wasn't too long ago when i finished my HSE, you soon figure out the fact that you cant go to bed at 11 every night during school nights, and i think the timetables in schools need development, it would be better to do 7-10 (jr years) do the 9 to 3 school days, and make the older years (11 and 12) do the nine to five like the rest of the world does then let them have Friday off (like the rest of the world wishes) but then it would get the kids to realize that you need to grow up and get you bum into gear to make it through the rest of your life

[ClairBear]

Most jobs start between 7am and 9am. At some point these kids need to be work hardened including being up and at work on time. Therefore starting school at 11am will cause issues if their body clocks are tuned into late morning starts.

[hi_ryder]

an ice cold shower at 6am will do the trick, theyll be flying like they did a line of coke....

[Shedvl]

The thing is kids these days...are a lot different to our own generation. Its a technological world and its what they have grown up knowing. Its how they learn in school now as well. So kinda hard to come down from it. I happened to be walking past my sons room the other night, it was really late and I heard music...turns out he had earphones in and Ipod going. So now the rule is the Ipod gets taken at bedtime and he can read something before bed. I dont care if it s a car mag or a book, but their mind needs time to wind down. Also I think kids are too over scheduled these days...they dont have to have something planned for them every minute of the day...let them chill, you only get one childhood. . In the end...I think parents need to be parents.... Im not their friend. They have friends. I can be their friend when they are older

[TVR-190]

an ice cold shower at 6am will do the trick, theyll be flying like they did a line of coke....

walking to the train station at 6am when its less than 5 degrees worked for me.

[writeoff]

It's not only that keeping us up late, I am currently in year 12 and I don't get a whole lot of time during the week to go on the net... I mostly do on the weekend and on my long bus ride home. I do 5+ hours of homework a night. I get home at 4:30 (6 on a Wednesday) and start homework straight away, do my 5 or 6 hours of it and if I am lucky I get 1 and half hours to eat, shower, prepare for the next day and have a break. I'm not going to say that it needs to changed, people do need to harden up but don't assume that we do that to our selves. FYI Australia does have it easy, when I lived in South Africa we start school at 7:15.

[captaincupcake]

Im with the OP on the subject of school times. I did yr 12 last year and would have preferred to start early and finish early. say 7 till 1-130

[GEN3RATD]

when i was in year 11-12 started at 8:30 and finished at 5.

only went monday-thursday though

[Sabbath']

I'm too tired to work....can i start work at 11 and finish at the regular time?


FFS, cup of concrete people!

[Crisis63]

they should not change the timetables for some princes and princesses who cannot say enough is enough and go to sleep at a respectable time.
i know a fair few people in Japan and they have to go 6 days a week and for way more then the 6hrs your at school over here.

So are you citing this as an ideal?

[azkwazere]

i think its good..

I hate getting up early but love staying up late.
I would quite happily start school from say 10/11 and finish at 5/6.

Some people are just not morning people, im not. I wont lie or harden up, i hate getting up early. Was the same all through school. I think better at night.. when i get up early, i find i just dont concentrate as well.

I see the point that most jobs dont allow you to start later and finish later however if the kids are staying up later (which they are) then why not adapt the schools to meet their needs. We do it for everything else - we dont teach releigion cos its too offensive, we dont 'hit' kids anymore beacuse it might give them mental issues.. i bet everone was outrage when they got rid of the cane...

Im not saying we should do it, its probably a bad idea however it would mean that you could drive to work without hitting a school zone...everyone pisses and moans about that. Also, schools finish at 3:30pm (roughly), whats that teaching them? Ok, in the real world you start at 8:30/9 but you get to leave by 3:30...hahah bull shit. They should make all kids work till 5 so they get used to full time employment and not having the abiliy to get to the shops before they close.

aZk.

[vs-v8-ute]

id love to finish before 5 some days i strart at 6:30 and finish at about 5 5:30 monday to friday sometimes saturday but finishing before 5 would be great for getting down to the shops before they close

[Drawnnite]

It's not only that keeping us up late, I am currently in year 12 and I don't get a whole lot of time during the week to go on the net... I mostly do on the weekend and on my long bus ride home. I do 5+ hours of homework a night. I get home at 4:30 (6 on a Wednesday) and start homework straight away, do my 5 or 6 hours of it and if I am lucky I get 1 and half hours to eat, shower, prepare for the next day and have a break.

not saying its a bad thing, but 5hrs+ of homework a night really is a massive overload. im really surprised that your school is allowed to do such things on such a permanent basis. personally i think unless homework is to finish work from class, or on your own accord to get a little ahead (massive design folios etc) it really shouldnt be given out.
i can see in your case (and im sure many others) that it isnt social networking, but its the overloading of homework.
i do thank you for pointing that out. and good luck with your own studies.

So are you citing this as an ideal?

no im stating this because i staying in japan for a few weeks with a family about 2 years ago. and boy was it a shock to the system having some of those massive days.
and recently i did have a young fella from japan staying with us. he was really surprised he didnt have to go to school on the saturdays. and how short the hours were during the week.
the teacher that came with them said an average day for a Teacher in Japan is. start at 7am. not going home until about 8pm each night. and some busy nights its not until 10pm. for 6 days of the week. and then bonus tutoring by the teacher would occur on the Sunday.

i think its good..

I hate getting up early but love staying up late.
I would quite happily start school from say 10/11 and finish at 5/6.

Some people are just not morning people, im not. I wont lie or harden up, i hate getting up early. Was the same all through school. I think better at night.. when i get up early, i find i just dont concentrate as well.

i can see where you are coming from. many people aren't good in the mornings, and work better in the afternoons.
unless they want to have a hong kong like schooling system of 1 group in the mornings (7am-1am) and then one group in the afternoons (1pm-7pm) a new timetabling system will not work.
just think of the amount of people who take their kids to school (mostly by car). and still go to work.
if the timetable is changed, then all of these parents will need to either dump them with the grandparents (if they are not working), get the kids to school early still anyway, try and change their own work timetable.
sure they could still catch public transport, or walk/ride, but when they are young (like prep-grade 5) it just will not happen. parent will not allow to let their kids free.
then its a whole kettle of fish for those who do not live near transport, or within walking distance.

[writeoff]

not saying its a bad thing, but 5hrs+ of homework a night really is a massive overload. im really surprised that your school is allowed to do such things on such a permanent basis. personally i think unless homework is to finish work from class, or on your own accord to get a little ahead (massive design folios etc) it really shouldnt be given out.
i can see in your case (and im sure many others) that it isnt social networking, but its the overloading of homework.
i do thank you for pointing that out. and good luck with your own studies.

Thanks mate. Our school code and VCAA recommend a minimum of 4 hours of it a night (for year 12 students). I do more because I struggle to do well in English so a 1000 word essay most nights helps me keep up. Oh and yeah I do have a large folio of work for design and technology and that does take up a huge portion of time. Oh and in case you wonder why I am not in bed and on here at this hour it is because there is no school for me tomorrow, just incasee any one brought that up.

[Jonno]

i do vcal (no im not retarted i just decided yr12 vcal is better than yr 11 drop out..true?) and i love school vcal is so much fun :P

[328FTW]

Ok I'm about to post a long video, watch it. It resonates with a lot of what I think about education. Education as a whole is not as it should be, it's a very negative system that stifles creativity and alternative ways of thought. I used to be told rather than come up with my own strange solutions, ideas, ways of planning my day or anything else for that matter that it should fit some kind of bizarre criteria set forth by the regulated. That never worked for me, I did a whole lot better after I listened to an english teacher that taught me a few things about "life" and how I should drop what the silly system thinks and do what works for me. This was reinforced at university where you were no longer grouped by age or any other rubbish like that and were a lot more free to build your mind freely in a unique way using a unique path. The video explains things better than I can after a couple drinks but it's quite a good video providing some very valid arguments. Once you change your way of thinking you start to see why things as they are make little sense and how stupid crap like the time they start is not the key issue.

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms - YouTube

[monkeys437]

I Think making school start/finish later will only add to the problem. When I was doing my VCE I would be home by 4:30, then start doing my school work at 5:00 and work until 8:30. I kept this same basic routine for 2 years so I could watch a few hour of TV to switch my mind off.

If school started at 11am, your getting home by 7:30, and doing school work until 11-12:00 at night. Then by the time you relax a bit its the wee hours of the morning

[walesy]

is it ironic that i kept falling asleep at my desk at work while reading this? lol, i start work at 3:30am :P

[Drawnnite]

Thanks mate. Our school code and VCAA recommend a minimum of 4 hours of it a night (for year 12 students). I do more because I struggle to do well in English so a 1000 word essay most nights helps me keep up. Oh and yeah I do have a large folio of work for design and technology and that does take up a huge portion of time. Oh and in case you wonder why I am not in bed and on here at this hour it is because there is no school for me tomorrow, just incasee any one brought that up.

yeah i read my school diary (YR 12 last Year) and it was saying like 3-4 hrs of homework a night. i was like seriously? barely had up to 1/2 hour a night in year 12.
although those 2 lots of study lessons a week (10 lessons a week) were fun, catch up on design tech, graphics, sudoku puzzles, mind teasers (when no work to do)
i actually found having these times to study at school i would get more done as it was quite, i was in the mood to focus and so forth.
maybe more of these are needed in the current school system to help kids out. atleast you can get the teachers help in these studies, as normally you will get teachers related to areas you do (eg English) and its great for 1 on 1 help.

i do vcal (no im not retarted i just decided yr12 vcal is better than yr 11 drop out..true?) and i love school vcal is so much fun :P

too true, atleast your willing to stay there. and Work Placement/Trade school 1 day a week gets you so far ahead.
i was able to while doing VCE go do 1 day a week at Tafe with the VCAL kids, put me 6 months ahead in Electircal schooling cant complain with that.

[jesse_lankey]

the problem i found with being to tired to learn is that the classrooms are to warm and you really struggle to stay focused, even at trade school i struggle because its just way to warm, i don't understand how people can productivly work in an office with the heater cranked up

[sik_dose]

I finished year 12 in 2009 and attended a christian brothers school in Wollongong seniors started at 12am and finished at 5pm. its the way it should be for years 11 and 12.

[CapriciousWL]

When I look at the working patterns of the younger guys I have, there is a lot to be desired with many of them. Turn up late, no manners or consideration. I compare them to the kids at my sons primary school - the younger they are, the worse they seem to be. Parents allowing their kids to have a day off for their birthday? Just because it's easier than packing them off to school!?

I remember my parents complaining that we had fans, open windows etc. There is now air-conditioning in all the classrooms to maintain a good environment.

We had no tv until I was in year 11. My father didn't think it was needed. I didn't know what was happening in the crap that people watched, but I had other interests as a result.

I believe that we are too soft on the kids - no responsibility or respect. The only way to alter this is to make sure your kids aren't as soft as those around them. They have to understand that in a soft, disposable world there is still value in hard work and that when situations aren't ideal you have to persevere.

To blame social networking is shifting the blame - the kids are responsible (as I was at their age listening to music at night). More so, the parents should be taking an interest and having the discipline to have a relationship with their child and set an example of how to maintain good work (school) life balance.

Take the tv out of the kids rooms and restrict their pc and phone access after dinner. Make them go to bed.

You need to conform with society to an extent when your young to get an education. Once you leave, if you can find an industry that will allow you to work flexible hours, good for you. As pointed out by others, many people start at ridiculous hours. Most start later than school kids (we started at 8:30 at school). I prefer to start earlier so I can be home earlier and spend time with my kids.