You can tell me what to do but not where to be.
I spend the end of the school day constantly checking the clock, waiting for the second I can finally walk off campus and leave the world of school behind. I close my notebooks, pack my backpack, thank the teacher, and walk out the door. I am finally free to relax and leave. When that bell rings and that classroom door shuts, school is over until I open it the next day, unless teachers force class time outside of the regular 8 to 3:05 window.
These out of classroom assignments determine my grade so I have to attend. I am left with no choice of how to manage my time in a way that works for me. The teachers who assign these assignments force my school and personal life to merge. High school is about learning to balance work and fun. Extracurriculars leave me with no choice of when and where to do either. When I have to sacrifice fun for work, academics take over my life and do not allow for me to enjoy the few years I have in high school.
These assignments no longer falls into the category of “homework,” but turn into an extracurricular I didn’t sign up for. This is teachers physically forcing their lessons into my life. Teachers can demand my time out of class and tell me exactly what must be done, but they cannot force me to go anywhere. Until the second I complete my homework, they are using my brain power, but I maintain the freedom of where to be. When they tell me where to go, their class is taking away what should be my choice of where I place myself.
Signing up for a class is one thing, signing up for extracurriculars is another. The class descriptions make no mention of these obligations that cut into my free time. It is deceptive and unfair, allowing teachers to create a class period that was never printed in my planner. For all the restrictions the school places on field trips, which are optional, teachers can freely remove themselves and stretch their classroom anywhere, without the consent of the students.
As students, we expect teachers to be available to help us clarify concepts or help us stay caught up with the class during school hours. But the moment the bell rings, they are free to leave, just as we are. A teacher signs a contract agreeing to what they have to do, where they have do it, when and it has to be done. A student who signs up for a class makes a similar commitment, only they are agreeing to not know what they will be participating in. In signing up for my classes, I agreed to a certain amount of homework but I did not agree to attend graded extracurriculars. The school can regulate what I do from eight to three, but when I step off campus, my time is my own.
Before I sign up for a class, I need to know exactly how much time I will have to spend doing class work outside of the classroom. I should be informed of the out of school requirements in the first week of school so I have more than enough time to drop the class. To make it easier, this should be written in the course description so I can decide before I even sign up.
When does the school day end for a student? Is it when the final bell rings, when the student finishes their homework or when they can finally relax and have fun? My time is my own to spend however I please, but when teachers unfairly take that away and force themselves into my life, all that I do revolves around them.