Third quarter slumps affect both students and teachers in different ways. With standardized tests around the corner, teachers work to thoroughly prepare their students. Students, on the other hand, get restless, complacent and often neglect school work.
“Sometimes [the third quarter slump] is influenced by the weather because people don’t get to go out in the sun and do some of the activities that they are used to doing,” guidance counselor Rebecca Mooneyhan said. “And because they don’t get to go out, they get an ‘I do not care attitude’. That attitude is sometimes because they want to sleep more, and do not want to do their work.”
According to USA Today, students usually slack with homework and studying because they feel tired and bored. These negative emotions can influence young people’s attention, memory, decision-making, school performance and social lives.
“It’s nearly the end of the year and everyone is exhausted from overworking,” junior Ambar Santiago said. “All the homework keeps me up late at night, it prevents me from seeing my friends and leaves me tired the next day.”
According to Stanford News, the pressure to get good grades can lead to cheating and high levels of stress. A national survey by Rutgers’ Management Education Center of 4,500 high school students found that 75 percent of them engage in cheating. Students feel their lives feel depend on having good grades.
“I think that the best thing is to continue to encourage students to keep focusing and remind them that these grades are important,” Mooneyhan said.
If a student feels like he can not turn himself around, he needs to talk to teachers, guidance counselors or anyone who can talk to him about what he needs to do.