Schoolloop Causes Unnecessary Stress

Eva Smedeby, Staff Writer
November 3, 2019

A “helpful” method for achieving academic success can actually cause mental turmoil for students.

Whether balancing sports, APs, honors, or even normal academic classes there is no doubt as to why students can feel overwhelmed by their hectic schedules. This is why some teachers, parents, and advisors may find Schoolloop helpful as a sort of planner for seeing grades with an end goal of keeping students on track. 

However, this tool seems to be causing more problems than it fixes, as anxieties and stresses rise to unhealthy measures upon scholarly users. 

Students as well as their parents, receive daily emails after school hours about their grades via Schoolloop. When can students catch a break?  When do the pressures of academics simply cross a line? According to Schoolloop, the small period of time students have to themselves, if anytime that is, is encouraged to be spent checking their grades.

“When I get home and get sent my grades, I feel stressed knowing my parents can also see them, it’s a scary feeling; It’s like I never catch a break from school,” said sophomore Elizabeth Smerker.

It’s unfair to completely disacknowledge the fact that sending students their grades day-after-day is unhealthy, and people’s dismissive behavior towards this practice is shameful. Students deserve an email positively affirming them for their hard work, instead of an ongoing ranking of school performance bound to make them stress out. 

Even if a student aced their tests that day, and seeing their grade notification positively affects the rest of their afternoon unhealthy behavior is still displayed. School’s importance in a student’s life is only emphasized here, due to the level of overjoyment it causes to receive a good mark.

Yes, of course students should be proud of their academics, but what about their personal successes? The song they helped write or the skateboard trick they finally mastered, that should bring them the most happiness. This academic tool is not helping kids develop balance in life, and will only encourage work over personal, non academic achievements if school’s keep insisting on good grades through a mask said to be a beneficial implement for students.

 

Let’s not even get started on the term frequently used by teachers, “It was on Schoolloop”. Due to Schoolloop being a mobile app as well as a website, most teachers find it helpful for posting the homework assignments on. many of the teachers are taking advantage of its accessibility, and result to the app as the only method for knowing what the homework and assignments are. 

“I’m not always aware that there is something on Schoolloop to check. I’d rather teachers talk about it in class, it stresses me out having to look constantly,” said junior Brandon McGeagh.

It’s more beneficial to go over assignments verbally, in class, so students can ask questions, and talk about it with their peers. Students will also thereby save the stress it would cause to have to check Schoolloop, which will not acknowledge their work ethic, only the letter stamped on their paper. 

Encouragement and positivity is important for all students, not just the ones receiving As, so while the very flawed system remains the same, students with anxiety and under any emotional distress are completely open to speak to the counselors on campus.