– I am exhausted every single day, and sleep two to three hours when I get home from school. Everyday school life puts so much pressure on me as a student and it is very difficult to keep up with class, says Børgesen to news. Do you think the absence limit should be removed? No Yes Don’t know Show result She is 17 years old, and attends the music department at Askim upper secondary school. She is also deputy leader of the student organization in Viken. She wants to get something done about everyday school life and wants the Minister of Education to take students seriously and student participation to become part of everyday school life. One of three falls from Thursday’s Debate broadcast was devoted to youth. The debate asked upper school students to come up with proposals. 140 proposals were received from 70 upper secondary schools. School was the topic most wanted to talk about. It might not be so strange. One in three drops out of upper secondary school. The debate was about how to prevent this dropout, which has been fairly constant for many years. Hedda Børgersen had a clear message for Knowledge Minister Tonje Brenna. – Performance pressure For Hedda, school is experienced as an arena where you have to perform all the time. There is little room for practical work and everyday life is filled with tests, homework and exams. And if you don’t do it, students are labeled as lazy, she believes. Should students be able to influence when the school day starts? Yes No Don’t know Show result – You arrive at school at 8am, and from then on you have to be on and perform, and if you don’t do it, you drop out. You have maths and social studies and then you have to change your way of thinking in 2 seconds. After all, school is also a social labyrinth, we have to find out who we are, said Hedda in the Debate, where the absence limit and flexible time were also central themes. Hedda’s dream everyday is to start at 9am and end at 3pm – When you get up, it’s not completely dark. And it is possible to get eight hours of sleep. But there was little comfort from the Minister of Education, Brenna: Part of growing up Minister of Education Tonje Brenna was asked what she thinks about everyday school life becoming more flexible and whether more students could start at 9am. – Learning to both on time, and getting up on time, is part of growing up. At the same time, I remember well that I was also quite tired when I was a teenager. The schools can set up flexible days if they wish. The important thing for me is that the students get the training and teaching they need, writes Minister of Education Tonje Brenna in an e-mail to news. Hedda responded to this in the Debate: – I find it quite disappointing that you say that. There are the prejudices that I find scary – that students are lazy, answers Hedda, who was supported by Lars Senneseth Stokkebekk. Brenna thinks the students are labeling – I don’t sleep anymore and later in the day because I’m lazy. It’s because I’m a youth. When school starts this early, it affects students’ sleep, mental health and grades. With such outdated formulations as the Minister of Education comes out with, you automatically label tons of students, says Stokkebekk, who is a student at Bergen Cathedral School. – Were you offended by that? asked debate leader Fredrik Solvang. – I wouldn’t call myself offended. The research shows that we young people have a different biological circadian rhythm and should therefore be taken into account. The Minister of Education replied that she remembers very well how tired she was when she went to school. – You will not be happy with me, but I think it is a value to learn to get up in the morning and go to bed at night. Part of growing up is taking responsibility for how you plan your day, says Brenna. She says that she is in favor of the trial project with flexible hours in Oslo, but that she does not think it will solve all problems. Big differences, says Professor Elaine Munthe, professor, center manager at the Knowledge Center for Education, tells news that the physiological changes that occur between the ages of 13 and 19 stand out compared to younger children and adults. What should happen with the exam? Remove it Change it Nothing Show result – Sleep research shows a connection between good sleep and performance, creative thinking and mood. And little sleep is linked to aggression, negative behavior and lack of learning. Therefore, it is not unlikely that the start of school can have something to do with pupils’ performance, she says. She says most researchers agree that it is stupid for students to start early. It simply does not work to ask students to go to bed earlier if they cannot sleep. – Pupils get more sleep if the school day starts later, notes Munthe. When it comes to the group who drop out of upper secondary school, there are some clear characteristics. – They are the ones who struggle at school and students with an immigrant background. You can see that the dropout follows the parents’ background. So among students of parents with higher education, almost all complete, 94 percent. Among parents with a primary school background, there are far fewer, says Munthe. She says a lot has been tried to prevent dropouts, and that attendance is key.
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Hedda (17) struggles with long school days – has to sleep when she gets home
