My High School Senior is Driving Everyone Crazy

After 12 years in the public education system, my child is driving me crazy. We can not blame it on hormonal rage or a transition period between the 10th, 11th and 12th grade. We can blame it on one thing, the failure of public schools to change and address the needs of our children. The senior in high school is at the top of the social order in his or her adolescent world with a vision, and only a vision, of what college is about. Many are left unchallenged academically and we all know that “idle hands are the devils disciple”. Unfortunately for many of these seniors they will return home after a semester at the college of their choice, a failure.

At that time, the parents and student will start the blame game. The student will not go back to visit their favorite teachers in high school because they would have to admit failure. They will probably take some classes at a community college and work until they grow up and mature. Then possibly re-enter a postsecondary institution to complete a bachelor’s degree.

This has become a norm of our society. State universities used to be famous for “tripling up” students in their dorm rooms which were designed for two students with the understanding that after their freshman year of college, 33% will fail out. Back in 1973 in my first Biology lecture, a seasoned professor told us to look left and then right, because next year one of you will not be there!

Change is difficult in public education and my book, Overcoming the Senior Slump: Meeting the Challenge with Internships, calls for such change. All of the adults in a child’s’ life, parents, educators and relatives will benefit from the progressive nature of the recommendations made in this book. The path for change is clearly outlined and the planning process needs to start now. We need to increase the academic rigor of the senior year, make learning challenging and relevant and give our seniors a chance to develop productive relationships with adults. Then, and only then, will all of our children make a smooth transition to college.

Dr. Randall Glading is a school administrator at Yorktown high School and an adjunct professor of Graduate Education at Mercy College and The College of New Rochelle. He is the author of Overcoming the Senior Slump: Meeting the Challenge with Internships, which will be available February 28th. Dr. Glading is the author of Overcoming the Senior Slump.