The power of the pack
Every morning there is always an exhausted student taking a dreamy nap during first-hour U.S. History. I don’t blame them. With all the homework we get (it is a known fact that some teachers blatantly ignore the 30-minute-a-night rule), plus extracurriculars, some students have only a few hours of shut-eye every night.
What I simply don’t understand is why such sleep-deprived students willingly subject themselves to homework torture.
History teacher Bill Sutton always tells students to take a stand. Talk to the teacher, see if he or she will understand that the class has a lot going on and will have trouble meeting a deadline. If the teacher isn’t willing to compromise, simply ensure that no one turns in the work.
I completely agree, especially since I’ve had firsthand experience protesting a deadline with an entire class.
Though this “protest” was in Steve Rayburn’s Asian American Literature class, which is a laid-back class with an even more laid-back teacher, it did work. (Granted there wasn’t much at stake since Mr. Rayburn usually doesn’t take off points for late assignments, and futhermore, Mr. Rayburn was the person who suggested that we band together and turn in our papers late.)
So, we all decided that we would turn in the research paper originally due on Friday on Monday.
But I’m guessing the tricky thing about staging any of these protests is that there will be more than a few strike breakers. Even in our Asian American Literature class there was one student who decided to turn in his/her paper on Friday, though they knew full and well that there would be little to no consequences.
However, I would fully support all students in a protest for shorter homework hours in any class. It is not impossible. All it will take is a little organization and a lot of earnest commitment. The power of the pack is greater than we all think.
— Andrea Park