A full plate

I began working after school as a waitress when I was 13 and continued through graduate school. I realized quickly that restaurants offering limited menus were a better bet than those that tried to be all things to all diners. When you saw both fettuccine alfredo and fried rice on the menu, you could pretty much be assured that neither would be very good.

Is the same true for schools? Are schools trying to offer too many things for students and, as a result, doing none very well?

I spent three hours last week chaperoning freshmen float building for the weekend homecoming parade. A few days earlier, I attended a parent meeting where a social studies teacher explained how students can qualify for an April trip to Washington, D.C., by volunteering for a long list of special events.

Afterward, I went to an assembly by three high school counselors on how they assist students in their “academic, personal, emotional and career development.” And I saw two volleyball games that same week.

All this stuff goes on every week in every high school in Georgia. Schools in the United States are unique in the time, energy and money devoted to non-classroom activities.

For example, American-style high school sports don’t exist in most of Europe. Schools there have recess and outside time, but children compete in team sports through clubs or community programs.

As a German student explained, “I can only speak for Germany, but there, extracurriculars do exist; they just take a different form. For example, we do have athletics, but they are run by the township rather than the schools. We do have community service clubs, but they are run by churches or the township. ‘’

A University of Michigan report on Japanese schools noted, “Although the U.S. spends a considerable amount of money on education relative to Japan, much of the funds that are appropriated are used for things other than academics. These include funds for transportation, food, athletics and custodians as well as money for programs such as D.A.R.E. In fact, as much as 40 percent of U.S. curricula is devoted to nonacademic subjects.

“In contrast, most Japanese students walk or ride their bikes to school, and many traditional Japanese schools even have students clean the school at the end of each day. Furthermore, although students in Japan do participate in extracurricular activities such as sports after school, most are only allowed to choose one club. Additionally, most students who are considering college perceive such activities as a hindrance to their chances of passing the entrance exams that will pave the way to their success.”

Many of the contentious issues that crop up in schools have nothing to do with academics, but with the “extras” — how kids are selected for sports teams, who gets picked for the homecoming court, or what clubs and fundraisers are allowed on campus.

All the other stuff that schools do may be stealing from academics, where we seem to be losing ground with every new study, including a much-anticipated economic report last week that found a troubling skills gap in mathematics, technology and literacy between young adults in the United States and their counterparts in most developed countries.