School time

The relationship of students with life between the desks. Confirmations and some surprises ...

Free time per se seems to be conceived by pupils and students as time freed by the presence of someone (teachers) or something (rules, schedules)

School year over, schools closed, pupils on vacation. I tried to ask some of them what these long-awaited holidays mean, how they spend them, how they imagine them or would like them. It seemed to me that many were surprised by the question (all in all useless, since holidays can only have a positive meaning ...) and therefore questioned my real interest in their answer.

Very few have reflected a few moments before even mentioning the boredom, the obvious repetitiveness of summer days spent "doing nothing" or the lack of daily presence of companions. The majority confirmed the idea of ​​the closure of the school as the main source of the sense of "liberation" felt, as at the end of a bad scare, or a serious illness, or a nightmare. But is school really just that? Something that is obviously longing for an end as soon as possible? An experience so terrible that it can only be endured with a view to its conclusion?

Perhaps we should all ask ourselves about the meaning and perhaps also about the authenticity of this "obvious" image that our children and teenagers paint as (almost) the only one possible. Among other things, we could ask ourselves if and how much all this derives from the image that we adults probably give of our relationship with work (and ... with holidays!).

"Holidays are always too short, but school is very long," says Davide, 7 years old. "On holidays I can do what I want, while at school you always have to do what the teacher wants", adds Alessandra, 9 years old. "And then to go to school you have to get up very early, but I sleep late when we're on vacation." "I like to choose what to do and when to do it and above all how much to use the cell phone ... all things impossible at school!" (Benedetta, 13 years old). "Finally on vacation I will be able to stay connected with my friends as long as I want!" (Sofia, 14 years old). "When I go to school I never have time for video games, but on vacation, yes!" (Carlo, 6 years old). Therefore, on vacation, the concept of time and the very idea of ​​being the masters changes completely. Time is missing so much. Everyone misses it, even the little ones, obviously. We are tossed from one task to another and carry with us the feeling of never having enough time to do what we really want.

The problem of time haunts us every day. But is it really a problem with no solution? “Whoever says I don't have time wants to have time for everything. You have to decide not to have time for everything "(Enzo Bianchi, founder of the monastic community of Bose). However, this means making choices and consequently being willing to give up something. Furthermore, "free time for oneself" seems to be conceived by pupils and students mainly as "time freed from the presence of" someone (teachers) or something (rules, schedules) that prevents or at least hinders the personal choices of each one.

Is the school therefore essentially felt as a place of denial of individual freedom? Not always. In a recent interview, an eighteen-year-old girl attending a technical school was asked what she expected from those who teach: "We want teachers who can also say no, but these must not be clear, explained and shared". As if to say that adolescents know they need limits given by serious and consistent adults, capable of motivating their requests and the possible imposition of rules without reticence and hypocrisy or too condescending attitudes.

Let's listen to them.

Gabriella Del Pero

NP Giugno Luglio 2022