Forums » Smalltalk » Feeling horrible because school

I don't mean to be an attention seeker, call me one if you want.
Lately I've had school, and I struggle with school. I often sleep in class or refuse to do anything, and keep getting scolded and confronted by teachers. I don't do assignments in school if I don't like them, but they don't give a crap. They restrict me from doing much on my own devices and tell me that I need to do work. But I don't want to do work, I say. You need to do it anyways, they say. I feel like nobody in my school cares about my feelings. I know I 'have' to do work in school, I just don't see why.
I just want to have somebody to talk with. I'm not trying to attention seek, I just am really sad and need help..

I have the same problem! I am really behind in school ! I probably should have graduated already but I got lazy and didn't want to do the work so I got behind! I understand dragon eye!

I remember struggling in school for a mix of reasons. Some of it was that I just didn't want to do things, and some of it was tied up in my ADHD - I'd forget, or I couldn't keep focused, or I'd just sit and stare at it until I finally just went to do something else. I learned a few years ago that I also have a minor math disability that added to the difficulty with that. And... in a couple cases, I was just being dumb and trying to spite teachers I didn't like, even though I was really the only one to suffer for it.

If you can pinpoint something about the work that's bothering you, maybe you could talk to someone about it, especially if you have or suspect a learning disability that might be interfering. The sooner you speak up, the better, especially since it can take awhile to get something set up. If you haven't identified a learning disability yet, but suspect that you have one, then that will also need to be processed before most schools will be willing to make any accommodations.

Otherwise, so long as they aren't being abusive... you are going to be held to the same expectations as other students. That includes pestering you to do your work (which exists to help you learn and to show them that you are, indeed, learning) and asking you to avoid distractions like devices while in class.

I understand. School picked up again for me as well, and I'm returning after not having gone to college in some time. Lucky for me, I dove right into advanced classes.

I've been in a funk. I want to learn, yes, but the homework is tedious and time-consuming, and I am not used to doing all of these things again. I don't want to do it, either, and I can't sleep so I, too, sleep in class (which is not good because I have several lab classes).

SO.

You're not alone.

Well you have a good reason for the most part. I sleep because I don't want to work

LOL! Well. I mean. Boring stuff is boring, ya know?

Yes but the teachers don't care and bug me every other minute to do work. Which lemme tell ya, is the MOST annoying thing.

Feels, my dude.

You're probably going to have to do the work, or pretend to do the work. Their jobs depend on whether they can get you to show that you're learning, that's why they are pestering you. They might literally have no money for rent or feed their families if they can't show enough progress and show that they're trying to keep everyone on task, and that's a powerful motivator for them. They have to pester you, or they might lose their jobs. It's not that they really want to.

I have one suggestion for you. If you say something like,

"Can I do an alternative assignment? This assignment doesn't match my learning style," it might make the teacher think twice. They'll probably say, "Well what IS your learning style?" And then you say something like "hands-on," or "visual," or "auditory."

"Can I read or watch a video on the same topic instead?" Or, "instead of this, can I write a report on something I am interested in?"

"It's not that I'm unwilling to do work, it's that this work doesn't motivate me and doesn't match my learning style."

That might or might not work. It might make them more frustrated.


But then again they might give you an alternative assignment you're interested in doing.

You'll have to decide if it's worth the risk of making them angry on the off-chance that they'll understand where you're coming from.

If nothing else, it will surprise them that you're using teacher lingo and they'll think twice about it.

Like Zelph said, if you have a learning disability and get extra services for that -- for instance if you're in the United States and are covered under 504 and get accomadations, that might make a difference. You might have your parents ask if the teacher is using those accomadations or not on the boring assignments.


If you have meetings called ARDS (well, this may just be what it's called in Texas), and you get to go to the meetings along with your parents, bring this stuff up, even if it's intimidating to talk to a bunch of adults. Or, have your parents bring your feelings up. In fact, having your parents talk to the principal is a very effective way to put pressure on a teacher to change something.

Aside from that, you'll probably just have to do the assignments or else the teacher will be at odds with you.

You're pushing to be left alone, but they're pushing to keep their paycheck -- something has got to give.

One way to make an assignment more interesting is to include humor in your answers.

You could put some ridiculous, humorous answer along with the actual answer.

If the reason you find it boring is because it's too easy, I would ask for alternative assignment

If the reason you find it boring is because you have trouble with it, I would get your parents to talk to the school and see if testing and accomadations can be given (if you qualify for any services under 504 (which covers things like kids with ADHD and dyslexia), or the 1990 law that covers other types of things.

I don't know if any of that will help shift your perspective, or give you some tricks to use, but good luck.