The purpose of school has always been to educate students and prepare them for their futures. More recently, though, the standard of what it means to be educated has clearly changed. The expectations that schools have placed on students keeps going down, and with that, so has their motivation.

      Of course, there has always been the typical high school ‘slacker’, the type of student who doesn’t care or doesn’t go to school. However, when it comes to the priorities of students, educators have noticed a shift. “Priorities have changed with time,” said Mr. John Kendall. “A lot of people are looking at education as something they have to do as opposed to something that will better them. “

   One thing that is changing the way students view education is the Internet. Now more than ever, students have the world’s information at their fingertips. Growing up in this era of technology, it is so convenient to look something up or ask Siri. This, however, has bred a culture of laziness. Because students depend so much on the internet, they no longer feel the need to actually make an effort to study or read. “Technology has made it a lot easier to learn but because it makes learning too easy, people value education less,” said senior Frederick Lohmar.

The pandemic also had a major impact on students, and is what may be the root of this change. Because classes went online, school began to feel less like an obligation and more like an option. It was so easy to just not log on to any classes and sleep through the day, changing the mindsets of productive students and allowing them to slack off. Even after the pandemic, many students are still left unmotivated. “We use the pandemic as an excuse because teachers gave a lot of leniency, but after that not enough students have recovered,” said senior Swajal Shrestha. Because of the pandemic, schools, colleges included, altered their expectations and lowered them to accommodate those affected by Covid. This further allowed students to relax, since they no longer had the responsibility of meeting certain requirements.

    This isn’t to say that all students don’t value education. There are obviously the students who want to excel in their studies and go to college but even the smartest student may take being educated for granted. As a society, teens today are on a much different wavelength than teens in the past, which comes with changing times. What American students today need to remember is that not everyone has the opportunity to be educated, and many people around the world are still fighting for their right to an education to this day. 

Education is how change is made, and once my generation realizes its power, anything can be accomplished.