Why Students Should Not Be Forced To Take An Extracurricular Activity.

So picture you're at home, burdened with homework, rushing to get it all done and all of a sudden, your parent gets an email from the school saying that every student will have to take one extracurricular activity. Your parents are worried because extracurricular activities are expensive, how you'll get to and from that activity, and your school work. How fair is that? It puts stress on you and your family. Don't get me wrong, extracurricular activities are great for growing teenagers, it can be a great safe space for them, but why should they be forced to take one?

They Are Really Expensive

Some popular activities are dance, martial arts, sports, and music. Which are all VERY expensive. They are great extracurricular activities to do, but so expensive, and not all parents can afford them. For dance, costumes are at least $100, dance shoes vary on quality, but are usually expensive, dance wear is about $30-$50 per piece, and makeup, lots and lots of makeup. Plus, you usually have to know how to sew, and if you don't already, you might have to add the expense of sewing classes in there. See how they all add up? That's about $230 for just costumes, dance wear and shoes. Let's say your parent is a teacher, the average teacher makes $65,000 per year which isn't that much. Some even make $35,000 per year, even less. And to have school expenses, plus that, that's a huge chunk of your parent's paycheck. Some parents have to use that money to pay rent or mortgage, heating bills, water bills, electricity bills, and extra things like clothes, and food. That doesn't give them that much of a flexible amount to spend. Some kids prefer to save their parent's money, plus if they dont want to take one, that's even more unfair.

They Won't Be Committed To It

Let's say the options the school provides are all not of interest to them, so they're forced to take something they don't want to do. How would you like to be forced to commit to something you didn't want to do to start with? I'm pretty sure no one would want that. Though extracurricular activities are great for students to do, some are just reserved and are shy when having to do things in front of people. For students with anxiety, that is extremely embarrassing. Plus, if you force someone to do something they don't want to do, they'll just do it with half-effort and that makes everything one step harder for the people who actually wanted to do that activity. I can almost guarantee that this will happen if schools force students to do this, and it'll just make the activities less fun for the ones who actually want to do it.

They May Have Other Things To Do

So as we all know, in middle school, there's a lot of homework, even more so in high school. A lesson is usually about an hour and a half long. School ends at 3:30, so they'd get home at 5:00. 5 or 6 is the most common dinner time, and it usually lasts about 30 minutes. That's 5:30. Then, they have to go and try to finish their homework. If they have a lot of it, it can take a long time, and can usually lead to them putting off important stuff, like personal hygiene (GROSS!). They're probably super exhausted from their activity, and just want to take a shower. But nope, they have to do the rest of their homework. Depending on how much they have, they could end up staying up really late. Highschoolers can usually end up staying up until 3 am in the morning doing homework. That makes them more tired and not ready to focus the next day. It could've saved them so much more if they didn't have to do the activity.

So how much is forcing students to do an extracurricular activity really saving them? I feel like if schools force students to do an extracurricular activity, they will see lower test grades, lower participation rates, much more attitudes towards them, and more tardiness. This behavioral change will be because of the time wasted on things they don't want to do, and less sleeping hours. Though extracurricular activities are great for them, dont force them on people, because instead of helping, it's actually hurting.