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Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Swimming Against the Tide of Boredom
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s hard to focus on just one point I gleaned from my visit last Friday to Augusta’s Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School. Click here for the story.
I think I’ll go with this: boredom. Usually when I visit middle and high schools, I see kids who are obviously bored out of their minds. Over the years, I have come to see this as their shortcoming. Life isn’t a nonstop party, and school doesn’t exist for students’ entertainment. BUT… I have to say that I observed at Davidson what school can be when boredom is not an issue. These kids are engaged. They do not need toothpicks to hold their eyelids open, even in academic classes. I have to think the constant changing of gears - from tap dancing to French to drawing to calculus - keeps them alert. These kids are so active. They’re doing stuff, not just sitting.
I know, I know, not every school has the luxury of accepting the most teachable kids. But there has to be a lesson in there somewhere for those who educate the masses. Doesn’t there?
