A play day? for high schoolers? Last week, on February 6, 2019, I participated in the Global School Play Day with my English class.  When was I was first introduced to the idea, I thought of it as childish. Isn’t playtime only for children? Why are they having high schoolers have fun during school instead of classwork? Even though these questions ran through my mind, for some reason, I was still excited.

The rules of play day were no phones, no homework, only play and have fun. For play day, I played Uno, BS (card game), and spoons. I really enjoyed my experience because I was able to relieve my stress and just have fun with my friends. It reminded me about how I used to play cards every day in middle school. As I began remembering my past, I also thought about the nostalgia of elementary school where I would play pretend and have no care in the world. No homework. Grades didn’t matter. No tests or quizzes. Just fun.  

“Playing in school never even crossed my mind, because teachers are usually focused on school and nothing more than school. Nowadays, teachers and students in high school believe that playing while at school is only for little kids.” – Derek Nguyen

Tests. Homework. Projects. Sleepless nights. Every day students are stressing over these things because we have been given the mindset that good grades will get you into a good college which will lead you to a better future. School has taken up so much of our time to the point where we aren’t able to hang out with our friends as much or go to school events because we spend hours on homework and studying.

Technology and social media have also been a problem. Whenever I want a break, I always resort to my phone and go on social media. Then I procrastinate and I stay up even later to do homework. Trust me, I bet everyone does this. We use social media to relieve our problems and escape from reality. When we hang out with friends, nowadays, we always end up going on our phones instead of actually talking to each other. We’re there to hang out but we’re texting each other when we’re sitting right next to each other. One of the rules for GSPD is no phones this is because the teachers who participate in this know how much we use our phone and they’re trying to teach us to take a break from it sometimes and enjoy interacting face to face with your friends.

GSPD has taught me to take a step back, take a break, and have fun once in a while. As we get older, we become more occupied with work and school and forget to have fun sometimes. We spend long hours on homework and studying for tests with content that we are most likely to forget after high school or college. Teachers need to let students have a break once in a while. We’re only in high school once. We should be able to enjoy our experience instead of stressing over our future. We need to learn how to live and savor the present.

Overall, GSPD has helped me reflect on how I’ve been spending my time. I realized that I’m too focused on school to the point where that’s all I ever think about. I hope more teachers can participate in this event next year because I feel that students will enjoy school more knowing that teachers understand what we’re going through and there are days where we should relax, have fun, and not worry about school.