Burning Out At Time By Labi Summary
Student Life Redefined Indisputable in today’s civilization, it has become unmistakable that the equilibrium of time spent on students’ social, emotional, physical, and academic life is categorically corrupted—an overload of assignments and activities for students often causes a lack of energy and inadequate spare time, many times leading to superabundant stress. Steven Guzman, a twelve year old, runs the same routine every day: He wakes up, goes to school, does homework, and sleeps, with no time for anything else but to eat. The author goes on giving solid information from examinations about extended school hours and time tired out from sports. Students pretty much experience the same time crunch as their parents. Additionally, nearly all children are now also losing free or play time, which could cause harmful effects in the future. The amount of television time per week also dramatically dropped, but the time was not replaced by reading, which just proves that there just isn’t any time for any of that. In the nonfiction article, “Burning Out at Nine?” from TIME by Nadya Labi, she claims that students are worn down because they are expending more time at school, devoting more time on sports, and suffering from the lack of sufficient
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free time. To begin with, students nowadays spend an exaggerated amount of time in school.
According to Researchers at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, “On average, kids ages 3 to 12 spent 29 hours a week in school [in 1997], eight hours more [21 hours a week] than they did in 1981” (Labi 33). This indicates that an average student spends approximately six hours per day at school, a shocking quarter of the whole day. Also, school hours have fiercely risen year after year, diminishing opportunities for other activities time-wise. This complication if really a “chain effect,” as one long school day leads to other activities being shortened; in this sense, students are exposed to a less diverse assortment of
avocations. In addition to the dizzying amount of school hours, engagement in physical activities is furthermore taking up numerous hours of time. The statistics from further research are self-evident; “Involvement in sports … rose almost 50% from 1981 to 1997 [a period of 16 years]: boys now spend an average of four hours a week playing sports; girls log half that time” (Labi 33). Subsequently, time has gone away from the superfluous hours spent during athletic activities on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, the weekly deducted time from these activities hinder students’ abilities to complete other homework, studying, and activities on time. This results in sleep deprivation (and possibly procrastination), causing a poor quality of life, a bad memory, and decreased alertness and performance. Even though some students may be able to squeeze in everything they need to do, they are still lacking what children need the most. The most grievous issue, it seems, is the inadequacy of free time. The decline is quite palpable; “children’s leisure time—defined as time left over after sleeping, eating, personal hygiene, and attending school or day care—dropped from 40% of the day in 1981 to 25% … Unstructured play encourages independent thinking and allows the young to negotiate their relationships with their peers, but kids ages 3 to 12 spent only 12 hours a week engaged in it” (Labi 33). Free time is a matter of significance in childhood as it helps promotes creativity and imagination. Under circumstances in which free time is limited, however, devastating effects may apply to students, including (but not limited to) obesity, dangerous stress levels, social ineptitude, unacceptable problem-solving skills and responsibility resulting in an inordinate dependence on adults, a decreased quality and quantity family involvement, a soaring risk of depression, and the loss of interaction with nature. As has been noted, childhood is a very precious time of life to build up personality and character, so children need to have time to play as it is essential that they, in return, play to learn. Nadya Labi claims that students are strained and overwhelmed with work because they are putting in over twenty-nine hours a week in school, becoming more involved in organized physical activities, and are in distress from unsuitable free time. The Los Angeles Times reports that about 1,300 college students commit suicide every year due to stress from exorbitant amounts of homework or peer pressure from other students or occasionally their parents. Students have to remember that academic abillities aren’t the final verdict of their life. They need not forget that social and emotional skills are also highly respected of a character. “All work and no play could make for some very messed-up kids. Child experts … agree: fun is good” (Labi 34). Altogether, it is integral that people understand the significance of having a balanced lifestyle with the division of the elements of study, pastime, and rest in equivalence; in other words, each and every person should keep in mind to enjoy himself.
free time. To begin with, students nowadays spend an exaggerated amount of time in school.
According to Researchers at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, “On average, kids ages 3 to 12 spent 29 hours a week in school [in 1997], eight hours more [21 hours a week] than they did in 1981” (Labi 33). This indicates that an average student spends approximately six hours per day at school, a shocking quarter of the whole day. Also, school hours have fiercely risen year after year, diminishing opportunities for other activities time-wise. This complication if really a “chain effect,” as one long school day leads to other activities being shortened; in this sense, students are exposed to a less diverse assortment of
avocations. In addition to the dizzying amount of school hours, engagement in physical activities is furthermore taking up numerous hours of time. The statistics from further research are self-evident; “Involvement in sports … rose almost 50% from 1981 to 1997 [a period of 16 years]: boys now spend an average of four hours a week playing sports; girls log half that time” (Labi 33). Subsequently, time has gone away from the superfluous hours spent during athletic activities on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, the weekly deducted time from these activities hinder students’ abilities to complete other homework, studying, and activities on time. This results in sleep deprivation (and possibly procrastination), causing a poor quality of life, a bad memory, and decreased alertness and performance. Even though some students may be able to squeeze in everything they need to do, they are still lacking what children need the most. The most grievous issue, it seems, is the inadequacy of free time. The decline is quite palpable; “children’s leisure time—defined as time left over after sleeping, eating, personal hygiene, and attending school or day care—dropped from 40% of the day in 1981 to 25% … Unstructured play encourages independent thinking and allows the young to negotiate their relationships with their peers, but kids ages 3 to 12 spent only 12 hours a week engaged in it” (Labi 33). Free time is a matter of significance in childhood as it helps promotes creativity and imagination. Under circumstances in which free time is limited, however, devastating effects may apply to students, including (but not limited to) obesity, dangerous stress levels, social ineptitude, unacceptable problem-solving skills and responsibility resulting in an inordinate dependence on adults, a decreased quality and quantity family involvement, a soaring risk of depression, and the loss of interaction with nature. As has been noted, childhood is a very precious time of life to build up personality and character, so children need to have time to play as it is essential that they, in return, play to learn. Nadya Labi claims that students are strained and overwhelmed with work because they are putting in over twenty-nine hours a week in school, becoming more involved in organized physical activities, and are in distress from unsuitable free time. The Los Angeles Times reports that about 1,300 college students commit suicide every year due to stress from exorbitant amounts of homework or peer pressure from other students or occasionally their parents. Students have to remember that academic abillities aren’t the final verdict of their life. They need not forget that social and emotional skills are also highly respected of a character. “All work and no play could make for some very messed-up kids. Child experts … agree: fun is good” (Labi 34). Altogether, it is integral that people understand the significance of having a balanced lifestyle with the division of the elements of study, pastime, and rest in equivalence; in other words, each and every person should keep in mind to enjoy himself.