Advisory Spoils Good Intentions

By Kirsten Wheeler

With the new online learning format comes a new block schedule. This left many students to question what eighth period would consist of as there were only seven periods with the old schedule.

This question was answered with the addition of “Student Advisory” to everyone’s schedule. A class dedicated to “social emotional learning,” checking in on students’ well being, and discussing prevalent issues that have a large impact on this generation. While the concept may seem compelling on paper, the same can not be said about the execution.

One of the biggest issues about the class is the fact that attendance is required. Being a class that no one signed up for and that does not satisfy any specific credits, some feel that their time is being wasted. “Advisory drains me because it’s just another hour cramped up in a chair, staring at a computer screen when I could be doing something productive and comfortable,” junior Melia Gayaldo said, “if it [were] optional, I wouldn’t show up.” Although there has been a recent reform making Advisory on Fridays a check-in, with opportunities to go to club meetings afterwards, students still have to endure the extra hour on Tuesdays.

Despite the class being proclaimed as an outlet for student connection, there is an ironic disconnect between classmates. One of the top goals of the class is for students to connect and socialize with one another to reduce feelings of isolation during quarantine. But forcing a handful of students who barely know each other in a Zoom call who most likely have their cameras off is awkward, and causes the opposite of the intended effect.

“This isn’t how you get students to socialize,” senior Annika Simpich said, “I don’t know about everyone else, but I never talk to people in my homeroom so there’s no reason why I would start now.” And with the highly sensitive and personal topic of mental health being the focal point, students are not inclined to speak up. Many have a hard enough time opening up to people they are closest with, let alone a class full of students and a teacher.

Starting a new school year in this uncertain climate has undoubtedly added tremendous amounts of stress on students. And while Advisory aims to reduce it, making students listen to a teacher repeat phrases on a screen at a fixed time, and after having had a full day of learning, is not the way to do it. “I think it would be more beneficial to the mental health of students to just end the day after seventh period so we can do things that we actually need to do,” Simpich said.

This is not to say that the content of Advisory is completely useless. In fact, some of the information has been found to be quite useful, albeit redundant at times (such as explanations of how COVID-19 is spread six months after the fact). Rather it is the way in which it is presented that takes away from its potentially redeeming qualities. “Honestly, I think advisory is kind of helpful... But after th[e] presentation, we just s[i]t in silence with our cameras off,” reports senior Abby Wilson. Keeping students knowledgeable and having access to mental health resources would be very beneficial, but there are simpler, less time consuming (and optional) ways to do so. “[T]hey could keep the virtual classroom on Canvas where they can continuously update resources like this so we can always access them but don’t have to attend an actual class,” suggests Gayaldo.

As well intentioned as Student Advisory may be, it is more seen as an unnecessarily long, boring, and awkward mental health resource outlet to fill the schedule.