Why do so many kids hate school these days/don't want to go?

[Anonymous]

School is such an anxiety and depression trigger for so many kids these days. Why????

[Anonymous]

From my observation its related to the instant gratification of screens. They are used to everything happening instantaneously. A teacher just is not as dynamic as someone that is making money as a YouTube content creator.

[Anonymous]

When have kids not hated school? It's a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When have kids not hated school? It's a thing.

+100000

[Anonymous]

I hated school, my kids hate school.

It’s not new. There are many reasons why.

[Anonymous]

Also, presumably because parents accept it? Like many girls, i had morning anxiety-induced stomach aches almost every school day from grades 3-6 as a kid. My mom knew; didn't care. And she was a pretty normal, nice loving mom.

I have multiple friends who, best i can tell from outward descriptions, have kids with similar anxiety in similar grades. The kids frequently stay home for mental health days - once or twice a month. Plus i notice that these kids seem to have a lot of "illnesses" that occur with more frequency and last longer than the rest of the family - also stay home for those.

I suspect when you open the door to periodically saying "you don't have to go to school today", that results in at least some kids realizing they hate school. Versus for me, when i didn't have the option, i never even thought of "hating school". It was just something you did.

I'm not sure the better answer; obviously lots of kids have terrible anxiety and other needs, and school is legitimately more torturous for them. But on the flip side, much of life sucks and when you let people off the hook for those things, no surprise they are less motivated to do those things.

[Anonymous]

Agree with screens.

Also...too much testing. Not enough fun/creativity in the schools. I remember putting on plays or having a big dress up type educational project every quarter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, presumably because parents accept it? Like many girls, i had morning anxiety-induced stomach aches almost every school day from grades 3-6 as a kid. My mom knew; didn't care. And she was a pretty normal, nice loving mom.

I have multiple friends who, best i can tell from outward descriptions, have kids with similar anxiety in similar grades. The kids frequently stay home for mental health days - once or twice a month. Plus i notice that these kids seem to have a lot of "illnesses" that occur with more frequency and last longer than the rest of the family - also stay home for those.

I suspect when you open the door to periodically saying "you don't have to go to school today", that results in at least some kids realizing they hate school. Versus for me, when i didn't have the option, i never even thought of "hating school". It was just something you did.

I'm not sure the better answer; obviously lots of kids have terrible anxiety and other needs, and school is legitimately more torturous for them. But on the flip side, much of life sucks and when you let people off the hook for those things, no surprise they are less motivated to do those things.

The question is why does school induce anxiety?

[Anonymous]

Testing and screen time.

[Anonymous]

I liked school and my kid hates it.
To me there are two reasons:
- I was a stellar student and he isn’t
- I had it rough at home and it was a respite; he has it easy and warm at home so why would he want to leave?

Maybe if I fed him only yucky healthy stuff and made complete endless worksheets and do chores he would be more inclined to go love school but I don’t really want my home to be prison like

[Anonymous]

My kids hates school b/c it is taught to the test, and he has ADHD, the teachers are overworked and can't control the classroom and some kids are major behavioral challenges, he has sensory issues and it is overstimulating, kids call him the f slur on a regular basis.

But yeah, blame screens.

[Anonymous]

My observation is that my kid dislikes school because so much of it is about controlling the students and avoiding behaviors deemed inconvenient (not even bad behavior, just inconvenient behavior). She likes learning and usually enjoys the academic aspects of school. But she does not like going to school because she spends so much of the day being told she must be quiet, still, and perform repetitive and rote behaviors that are not alway related to learning. A lot of the rules, I can't even justify, like being told they must not talk during lunch (I get it's more convenient for teachers and enables a shorter lunch, but it's like a rule you'd have in a prison), having recess taken away as a punishment (hello, counterproductive, have you met children?), or issuing class wide rewards and punishment in an effort to control the behavior of a minority of kids who likely need a different approach entirely.

I can't wait to get my kid out of this school.

[Anonymous]

Also, active shooter drills, hearing about school shootings on the regular, teachers that are overworked and underpaid probably give off a little stress, not being able to use their coping skills if they need to, the entire environment is just a source of stress.

[Anonymous]

Too much testing, shooter drills and knowing there is a potential for a mass casualty event at school every day (something we didn't have to deal with), teachers who are stressed for the same reasons students are and underpaid in addition, crowded schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with screens.

Also...too much testing. Not enough fun/creativity in the schools. I remember putting on plays or having a big dress up type educational project every quarter.

This.