OPINION: JCPS is breaking us with NTI
JCPS’s approach to NTI is causing an overload of work that is burning out students. NTI is breaking us and it’s time for a break and change. Graphic by EP Presnell.
November 9, 2020
Wake up at 8, log on to classes, break for lunch, resume classes, start on homework, go to work, come back home for dinner and work, stay up until midnight, allow myself 30 minutes to read a book of my own choice, go to bed around 2 in the morning and repeat.
Repeat it with minor changes; instead of going to work, I do a test in the afternoon, meet with a club or work on more homework because the workload never ends. Or, I Facetime with this group of people, attend this study session. No matter what I do, I’m trapped in my house to work, and if I’m not working, I’m feeling guilty about the 20 Google Classroom notifications on my phone telling me something is due tonight or tomorrow.
I’ve reached a breaking point and I know I’m not alone. Across the district, kids, parents and teachers of all ages are reaching a breaking point with NTI and the relentless workload that comes with it. We can’t maintain this anymore and it’s time for a break for everyone.
NTI seems like a wonderful solution to the worldwide pandemic. They market it as a way for students to spend more time sleeping, to spend at home and give them more time to care for their mental and physical health, but the reality is starkly different.
NTI strips away the social aspects of school and breaks it down to simply learning and working, which leaves students feeling more overwhelmed. It feels as though teachers are taking this opportunity to pile more work with less clear instruction which causes confusion and a sense of feeling burnt out on everything, from classes students usually enjoy to the dreaded required courses. This creates a neverending workload which is unhealthy for students to constantly feel. This not only creates physical problems but also severe mental health problems.
Students may have less time to contribute to physical health if they don’t have a designated time, such as a sport or class that requires it of them, and with NTI’s structure, it feels especially easy to shove it down to the bottom of a priority list. NTI also requires students to stare at a screen for longer times throughout the day which is proven to lead to more headaches and potential eye damage, especially if students are staying up longer to finish assignments at night, which then leads to sleep deprivation and an overall groggy feeling. This then creates a cycle of unproductive tendencies and behaviors.
But what is perhaps more damaging is how students’ mental health is being ignored as events happening in the world.
On top of the worldwide pandemic, Louisville has dealt with a city-wide call for justice with the Breonna Taylor protests that many teachers chose to ignore or mention, a five day, painstakingly close election where our futures hung in the balance and other events that impact households mentally. Both of these events, by multiple teachers, were ignored or mentioned once. Never was there a chance to discuss these issues with classmates, teachers or any redirect to where we could discuss our frustrations or thoughts.
This mentality of “keeping things as close to normal” is painful and ridiculous because it’s simply not the case. 2020 has been an exhausting year, to say the least, and we can’t continue going on like it is normal.
We have to wear masks anytime we leave the house and we aren’t allowed to hug our friends or family if they don’t live within our household because a pandemic won’t allow us to be close. Weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, parties and much more have been taken from us. Seniors are going through one of the most anticipated years of their school careers with nothing but work and assignments on top of college applications, with no break.
Teachers and principals need to stop ignoring what is going on in our world and allow us a moment to breathe because we haven’t had one since September. The general anxiety of the world has already been recognized by Central High School who gave their students last week a “wellness week” to catch up on assignments and take time to reflect on their mental health.
Lots of important things happening next week. See the Announcements for next week for more information on Wellness Week for Nov. 2 to Nov 6.https://t.co/p6UpzxECqg pic.twitter.com/DmUAeCySyK
— Louisville Central High School (@LouisvilleCHS) October 28, 2020
And to those of you reading this saying these are just my personal feelings and that I need therapy, it absolutely is not. Go to the PTSA Facebook page and read the countless other messages from parents about their kids who are crying every night because they can’t handle this. When I talk to my friends, we all say the same thing, and it’s that we can’t keep this up anymore.
Take it from me, a student who loves school and learning. As I’ve been taught, education is a privilege, and I’m lucky to attend duPont Manual High School, the best school in the state. I’m lucky to have my position in the J&C magnet, but I can’t continue living like this. I can’t continue to work and have panic attacks or cry myself to sleep at night because I’m receiving notifications at all times during the day about assignments I have to complete. I can’t continue to run on caffeine because it’s the only thing keeping me awake for classes. I can’t maintain this lifestyle, and I know that there are students who have it way harder than I do.
I firmly believe that the district should take a week off school and learn how to reapproach students with work and classes. Weekends should be dedicated to decompressing, not working on assignments teachers give at the end of the week and expect us to have done by Monday morning. For the sake of our mental healths and grades, a week off is essential for moving forward during NTI.
The world has become a mess this past year; our lives were uprooted in March and hardly any normalcy has returned. It’s time that teachers and principals understand this and approach school understanding the world we live in.
To those of you struggling, you aren’t alone, and I hope that change can be made for us moving forward. This pandemic isn’t going anywhere from the looks of it, and we just need a moment to breathe.
Tori • Dec 1, 2020 at 12:55 pm
I completely agree with you, and I couldn’t have said it better myself. Thank you for revealing in this piece what almost every student is feeling.
Becky Slagle • Nov 23, 2020 at 12:42 pm
I would encourage a follow-up to this article. Don’t we have the responsibility to talk about the upsides of NTI and what is going well? No doubt –NTI is stressful and screen-filled and feels without end. No doubt –even in a non-NTI school year– Manual students experience great stress as they balance class work, extra-curriculars, work schedules, and beyond at a school that is academically challenging to say the least.
It was good to commiserate with you as you expressed yourself and your struggles with Manual’s version of NTI. Learning (and teaching) in isolation is its own kind of stress. But . . . we are all making it! Most of my students are doing the very best they can do. They are 9th graders, some of whom have never even been inside Manual and many of whom came knowing absolutely no one! I so appreciate their tenacity. I have learned so much about resilience through this experience as I watch them work and find success. I would hate for us to file this school year away as one full of nothing but negatives because I don’t think that is the case –even for students who are experiencing stress at Manual.
Consider a follow-up piece about the positive outcomes despite the inherent challenges of NTI. The counter-argument to this piece –one that celebrates student and teacher flexibility that has been such a part of my experience– seems somewhat obligatory after a piece that puts much of the onus for the horror of NTI on teachers and administrators. As ALL of us struggle with online realities, we need to consider the privileges and newly defined successes that accompany it: being able to roll out of bed and “come to school” as we are, being able to access top-notch teaching and learning amidst a pandemic, being able to avoid huge gaps in our school experiences, engaging in 21st century platforms and experiences, creating synergy around new ways to gather and share ideas, etc.
As it stands, this version of NTI at Manual is not reflective of the entire experience of NTI within our Manual community.
–Becky Slagle
Aletha Fields • Nov 12, 2020 at 1:39 am
I’m sorry this is so challenging for you and causing such hardship. I wish I could fix it for you and for all the children who are working so hard to meet expectations. Best wishes to you for a brighter, COVID-free future. You deserve so much.
A Teacher
Jaime King • Nov 10, 2020 at 10:42 pm
Everything you have just written is so spot on! The headaches, the crying, the depression, its real. Not just for high schoolers but all grades. My son is 9 years old in the 3rd grade. He has ADHD and several other things he is dealing with. Every day is a struggle for him even with a 504 plan. He’s already very hard on himself and NTI isnt helping at all. I’ve already told him to just do his best and if he has to take the 3rd grade over I will be just as proud of him as always. Dont get me wrong i dont want him to fail he’s always been an honor roll student but right now his mental health is whats important.
Susan Morreau • Nov 10, 2020 at 6:01 pm
Great words and advice from the first person who commented.
I’d like all the students to know that so many adults mourn your loss of the typical school experience… your words in this article are an important perspective that adults and students need to hear.
We must all face this together… and your article reminds us that this pandemic IS impacting us psychologically. Thanks for being brave enough to share your perspective – I believe that voicing our struggles will be an important part of our resilience through this difficult time.
Jeffrey M. Goldberg (alumnae parent) • Nov 10, 2020 at 4:36 am
Thank you for articulating so well what many students (and adults) are experiencing. I hope that JCPS administrative leadership will take notice of your words and improve your educational experience accordingly.
I hope you will also keep in mind that as stressful as this experience is for you and your fellow students, it is similarly stressful for your teachers and JCPS administrators. They are dealing with many of the same challenges to their emotional health, including personal and family stress, that you are. Just as being educated through NTI is challenging and unfamiliar for you, fulfilling teaching duties and caring for students is just as challenging for those who are responsible for your education. There is no instruction manual for how to educate our youth in the midst of a major pandemic, the likes of which has not been seen in over 100 years. It would be unreasonable to expect the educational system to get everything perfectly right from the start of the school year, or even two months in. Continue to make known your needs for improvement in the NTI program, but also advocate for patience and understanding during these uniquely challenging times.
Even just a single year of restrictions due to a pandemic is a very long time from the perspective of a high school student. I feel terrible that your generation is having to go through this, and is losing out on the typical experiences of a senior year in high school. It is unfair, and there is little to be done about it to make up for your loss. However, please keep in mind that you have your whole life ahead of you, and the current crisis will occupy only a relatively short portion of your life. Fifty years from now, you may be relating to your grandchildren a first-person historical perspective of life during the great pandemic. And you will hopefully have lived those fifty years with a resiliency, and a sense of perspective, that you would not have benefited from had you not lived through these trying times.
Best of luck to you and your classmates on the rest of your senior year, and your future.