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Why Don't We Still Take Naps in School?
By
Erin Maglaque
Asking the question, 'Why don’t we still take naps in school?’ cannot be answered simply, for the question is only the tip of the iceberg. Naps, to me, symbolize innocence, youth, and childhood; therefore, the question, 'Why Don’t We Still Take Naps in School?’ really should be, 'Why has our childhood and innocence flown away? Where has it gone?’
Naps in kindergarten and preschool meant a little break, a time to lie on the sagging blue cots and relax. At least, this is what the teachers thought naptime should be. To us, naptime meant an unwanted break, a boring, uneventful period spent wide-eyed, while little mouths formed silent words to the girl on the next blue cot. If only we knew.
Now, naps are few and far between, if existent at all. An occasional 'powernap,' a short five or ten minute period during the beginning of class, is all we are allowed to have. We long for the half-hour of relaxation after gorging on a homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The time when, after recess and playing on the swingset, we could come in
So why did we dread naptime? Perhaps it was because we felt we were too old for naps. We thought that naptime was only for babies, for little kids who couldn’t handle long hours spent on the playground. I remember lying on my mother’s white comforter, dismantling the embroidery, praying to my own secret four-year-old God to release me from this hell. I felt angry that I was treated like a baby. At four years old, I was convinced I counted as a big kid, not a little kid who had to take naps.
Oh, how I wish I could turn back time! I would savor every peaceful moment, hug the cot, and beg my preschool teacher for another minute, just one more minute, of lying on those blue cots. Our days as students are jammed with classes, sports, drama, and countless other after-school activities. It is a never-ending continuation of work. Exhaustion is commonplace;
The ironic thing about naps is that they are needed so much more now then ever before. They were frequent until I turned five - where have they gone? Now that I am about to
Allow today’s over-worked, over-tired, and over-stressed teenagers the much-needed break they deserve; not only a nap, but also a break in life itself.
The loss of not only naptime, but also of innocence, experienced by today’s teenagers, is emerging everywhere. Gone are the days of clutching the fat marker with two fists, a look of ultimate concentration crossing your face, all for the purpose of presenting the picture to your mother when she picks you up from preschool. The proud feeling of both parties
Last week, in Eighth Grade Life Skills class, students were asked to draw the reproductive systems of the opposite sex. There certainly was no proud feeling there when they were shown
Teenagers grow up too fast; we are always being pushed by friends, parents, and the media to cross the line of adulthood and childhood, no matter how fuzzy and unclear that line may be. We are, in a sense, being cheated out of our well-deserved innocence. Although there are certain things we didn’t enjoy about being a kid, now that we are older, we would take any opportunity to relive those simple, pure moments.
Whether our childhood is lost because of the influence of other people, or if we force ourselves to grow up too fast, matters not. What does matter is that we need to regain some of the
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