The first five years of a person’s life are blissfully unrestricted. Of course, not being able to walk for a few of those years and the need for a parental figure’s constant presence creates plenty of barriers. Nevertheless, children experience a type of freedom in that half a decade they will likely never know again, because, in August of their fifth year, they are snatched away from a life of leisure to begin their first year in the education system.
The abruptness of this switch is the first of many issues in the system. Although some children are eased into school through daycare and preschool, the jarring shift in the ratio of work to play has a major effect on a young person.
According to pediatric occupational therapist Angela Hanscom, children should be spending at least three hours a day outdoors. After entering elementary school, children who previously had no trouble meeting this requirement are given 15 minutes of designated recess time with little to no explanation.
This restriction is one of many ways in which traditional educational models discourage freedom in students, with another major problem coming in the form of how success is measured in schools.
In 2022, the CDC reported an estimated 7 million U.S. children between the ages of three and 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD, as opposed to 6 million in 2016. This chronic condition causes difficulty focusing and shortened attention spans, along with other symptoms that make learning in traditional education models incredibly difficult.
Attributing grades to learning progress is not only blatantly unfair to children with conditions like ADHD, but it also creates a fear of failure that has an effect on any child. Not every child will excel equally in math or English or history, and providing negative feedback to children who have less aptitude for a certain subject is confusing and discouraging.
In an article published by the Harvard Graduate School of Education, a senior lecturer at Stanford University named Denise Pope stressed the distinction between grading and assessments: “Assessment is feedback so that students can learn. It’s helping them see where they are and helping them move toward a point of greater understanding or mastery. Grading doesn’t always do that, but assessment should.”
Although some exceptional teachers make it a priority to help students and provide constructive assessments, most instructors default to unfair grading systems that are neither an accurate reflection of a student's performance nor a helpful tool in helping them succeed. This system continues to unfairly judge young learners and discourages them from improving, especially with an exponentially increasing number of these students working under the added pressure of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Trapping young kids in a building for eight hours a day during their formative years is a restriction on freedom that is further exacerbated by trivial measures of success that don’t encourage an actual understanding of material, but rather an ability to perform well on exams and assignments. The future of education lies in the importance of individuality and the encouragement of genuine learning, rather than on control and conformity.
Sophia Rooksberry is a junior studying journalism. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Sophia know by tweeting her @sophiarooks_.
