The Boomers' Sleep-Deprived, Stressful Way to "Successful Education"

As a child born of boomer parents, I believe most of my peers are born from at least one boomer parent. Baby boomers are born from 1946 to 1964. I'm afraid most of the idiotic comments I'm reading on Facebook are written by baby boomers. Some of them still insist on facts that weren't available to them back then. For example, it's very common to see baby boomers who still insist that the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. ran a parliamentary form of government even with all the evidence pointed to them (read my article here). Some people still argue that the problem is the people than the system running the people. There's really so much stupid argument to deal with a lot of boomers huh? Fortunately, some boomers are still open-minded. 

Fatigue as a badge of honor taught during pre-college days

Having grown up in the 1990s, there was this misconception that fatigue is a badge of honor. I remembered being chastised over my poor study habits. I keep getting told that so-and-so sleeps at 11:00 P.M. or even later just to finish studying. It was often written that a good student burns their midnight candle side-to-side. I remembered working on my high school term paper last School Year (SY) 2001-2002 when it was still K+10. A lot of typical stuff happens like not having a printer, irritating elders who say young ones are lazy just being lazy if they refuse to use a typewriter (which is a paper-eating monster), stingy parents who take their frugality too far, and I wonder what else can anybody name since my experience is just one example. Even worse, we were scolded back in high school and said how previous batches developed eye bags. I wonder if it's really a cultural thing among Asians that "fatigue is a badge of honor".

I remembered getting mad at how difficult high school was. Sometimes, the most irritating response can be, "Well your children are getting more spoiled these days! Back then, at your age, we already accomplished much! We were proud to wear our badge of honor! We wrote good reports using typewriters, etc." That kind of talk can be very irritating since children will never be their parents. It's like there's no use complaining that their children aren't honored students when they were. What year was it anyway and what year is it now? That's often the question that I tend to fire back and get into trouble for. I must admit exhaustion was a real issue. What's even worse is that some boomers like to talk like they've built mighty business empires when they didn't. 

One of the many things I remembered, back in high school, was thinking about why my grades dropped. If addition to computer games is one thing then fatigue is definitely another. It doesn't help that schools really give what's hyperbolically termed as "five-feet-fall homework on the table". We were told back in Grade 6 that, "If you don't work double time, you don't deserve to be called a graduating class." It doesn't help is that high school get harder every year under K+10. It was all about, "Your grades determine your future! If you have bad grades then just take HRM." I remembered staying up late to study for several exams. I did my best. The next thing was that I just really failed every exam the next day. Sure, it's good to control electronics addiction. However, it's also stupid for schools to give loads of exams and homework to deal with almost every night. Even weekends aren't time to recover. Come on, even exercise requires rest days. Some gyms are even closed on certain days!

I even remembered complaining it was hard to get up during my last year of high school. Many times, I only saw myself as a failure and that it was inevitable. Much of my misbehavior back then came from the mentality that I've got nothing to lose so why strive? Though, there was also a sense of insecurity because if I don't enter a school like Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU)--I'll become the black sheep of the family. Take note that I was never pressured to enter ADMU and my parents never wanted it anyway! I always felt that staying up late makes it hard to get up early. Meanwhile, sleeping early makes it easier to get up early. Yet, sleeping late to do homework was considered a "noble task". I felt like the Department of Education (known as DECS back then) must've been responsible for that mess! It's because I heard regardless of which school I enter--it's always like that!

The shocker that I got in college and the MBA program

I think one reason why I was not justly accepted into the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT) program after my Associate in Computer Science (ACS) days might be linked to fatigue. I remembered a friend of mine pointed out I had eye bags. I wonder if my failing midterm Trigonometry grade came from my choosing a ridiculously early schedule. I remembered entering my classes with eye bags. I remembered how often I kept forgetting things in college. What I never counted on was that I keep becoming absent-minded because of one simple fact--a lack of sleep can make one stupid! I graciously accepted that BSIT wasn't for me, I simply took a business course, and discovered many BSIT students shifted either to business administration or management accounting courses.

The fourth year came and I soon expected more pressure. My only solution was to keep taking summer classes. I still had the bad habit of choosing overly early classes so I could go home early to study. Eventually, it was time for the fourth year. I took three mathematics subjects during the summer even if my grades will not be high. It's because I wasn't aiming for honors, nor I was a dean's lister anyway. All I needed to do was to get good grades and learn. Soon enough, practicum days came and it was time to prepare for real pressure. Not the pressure to pass, but the pressure of dealing with groupmates who would be an irritation. I do get irritated thinking about having people with poor priorities. I even kept shouting at them, "Isn't it any wonder why the country never improves?"

I could remember the time before the initial defense. I remembered even working with two friends for the whole evening. We considered ourselves the overnight trio. The three of us threw corny jokes at one another. What shocked me was that the day before the defense, the college professors told us we needed to be well-rested. We did have one more briefing after several nights we had to meet. For that overnight work, it was fortunate most of our classes were in the afternoon. There was time to sleep and recharge the neurons to avoid becoming morons. The same principle applied to the final defense. We were told to be always well-rested. It was a big contrast to me facing the class with eyebags during our defense. Almost everyone had eyebags back in high school when it came to our defense. Sure, having a term paper back in high school helped. However, I think the way education gets handled can cause unnecessary stress to students. 

During my MBA days, the same principle applied. It was time for the comprehensive exam. I remembered we had our review classes not so early in the morning. None of the graduate school advisers wanted anything so early. I was told to be well-rested before every consultation. I could remember working on my thesis. I confess it was a lot less stressful than my high school thesis. I saw many fresh faces during the consultation time. It was a different sight from my high school days. The professors were well-rested. Almost everyone was well-rested. It was a different sight from what I had in high school. It was very different from when our high school teachers eventually got stressed out so easily. I guess the DepEd really failed to help people manage difficult tasks. It's not the difficulty of the tasks but making it more difficult than usual that's the real problem. Sure, making a thesis is difficult but forcing students to use a typewriter when there's a PC and printer is stupid. I was glad that the typing room was eventually removed back when I was in high school. Typewriters should always remain as they are--paper-eating monsters!

How this can apply to the school system?

Back then, I ended up thinking that not doing homework over the weekend is just plain laziness. Eventually, I remembered the stress of homework over the weekend. When will the students ever get the chance to relax and bond with their families? I remembered getting disciplinary notes because of failed homework or forgetting to bring it. However, some people get so tired that they choose to deliberately rebel. I even remembered my high school English textbook, where it's a fallacy to say, "Sleep is needed so I'll just study later." I did write about the dangers of too much homework (read here). Balancing homework is absolutely necessary. Give only homework from Monday to Thursday. No homework should be carried over the weekend. That would give students the time to relax or do some cardio exercise to de-stress. If there are school projects to be done, students can use the weekends to work on the projects without having to worry about homework for Monday. 

I think the school needs to avoid opening unreasonably early. I took 7:30 A.M classes in college only to find myself becoming stupid. I think it's time for schools to start no later than 8:30 A.M. This also means balancing homework. Students should do some homework, broken into reasonable tasks, and they should be allowed to sleep early. A good reason to avoid TV over the weekdays is not just to study. TV should also be avoided to promote the habit of sleeping on time. However, too much studying can deprive one of sleep, resulting in high grades at the cost of learning or low grades because of a lack of sleep. Having school start a little later might make going home a little late. However, it should at least help students get adequate sleep. 

This can also help develop better sleep for the teachers. Teachers may have worn fatigue as a badge of honor. However, it can severely compromise the teachers' performance. Checking test papers for an entire night is already bad enough. Giving teachers very little to no sleep can cause stress. I think many teachers become cranky (or even nasty) for the reason of being overworked and underpaid. I remembered not having enough sleep, resulting in me shouting at almost everyone the next day. 

This would be beneficial to both teachers and students. Good teachers produce good students. If teachers and students are givena  reasonable workload,s then both can function for the better. Teachers need to be warned not to give too much homework. Maybe that's a reason why it's a common problem that school projects can be bad. Some teachers end up doing stupid things because of the system. The same goes for students. It's not enough for students and teachers to be good--there has to be a system that will enforce them to do good!