As the graduating class’s final year comes to an end, a phenomenon known as senioritis occurs. Senioritis can be explained as a large decline in academic motivation as graduation draws near.
“Stress, sweat, tears, no motivation, no effort, no organization, complete academic burnout. The work itself is unmotivating because knowing you’re going to graduate in five months makes it feel like nothing matters,” said senior Alex Garcia.
Despite how students may feel, grades do matter for the final part of senior year. Not just for walking on the graduation stage, but also for college. Even though college acceptances are starting to roll out, it’s important to remember that these can be revoked if a student fails a required class. To help mitigate the issue, students have suggested a few ways that teachers could potentially help other students who suffer from senioritis.
“What I would do is break up assignments into easier ones to make it manageable for students struggling with senioritis. Making it easier for students to bring up their grade would definitely help a lot of kids,” suggested senior Andrew Quintana.
It’s important to note that senioritis isn’t solely the fault of teachers. As seniors are in their final stages before adulthood, they have to be able to understand that neglecting responsibilities has its consequences. It’s completely up to students if they’re going to go out of their way to do their work, study for a test, attend tutoring, and generally do what’s necessary to perform their best in school. With that being said, it’s important for teachers to know how to not inadvertently break students.
“Don’t put too much pressure on the students or else they’ll completely give up. Some students will put in all their effort but by the end of the year, they give up. When teachers give a lot of assignments like busy work, or grade unnecessarily harshly, it’ll put a lot of pressure on the students,” said senior Amir Elfouwal.
Another cause for decline in academic motivation is the fact that life starts to happen around the end of senior year. Many students get part-time jobs, get tasked with more responsibilities around the house, and much more. Giving students a little more class time to get a head start on assignments would help many students tremendously.
“Another thing that would help students a lot is if they had more time in class to do their work. Section off a little class time to help kids get started,” said Garcia.
In essence, senioritis happens as high school students start to transition into what will be the next stage of their lives. It’s important for students to be accountable for the responsibilities they neglect, and to do their best to keep up with their academics. However, teachers also have to be mindful of their students’ transition and support them along the way as best as they can.
