Senioritis - a Term of Privilege

A few weeks ago, our school had a special winter spirit week.  One of the days was "Fake and Injury Day," which turned out to pretty fun.  One of my students came in with completely normal dress, so I asked what his injury was.  He said, "I'm a senior."  Seriously, that's your injury?  Being a senior somehow makes you pitiful?  Just stop it.  

From the first day of school, I have students claiming "senioritis" as an excuse for everything from not wanting to participate in an activity to not turning in their homework (in August).  A junior told me two weeks ago that he was not going to do anything his senior year, once he got accepted into college.  Setting aside for the moment that colleges can and do rescind acceptances, this is just a gross way to think.  I told him that would dishonor the God who gave him intelligence and the privilege of private schooling, and he looked at me like I was the crazy one.  A few months ago, a girl in the hall was bemoaning her "senioritis" because she had to do homework on the same weekend as another activity.  I said, "Senioritis isn't real.  It's a cute name for your sin." and walked away as she gasped in horror.

It's an excuse - a socially acceptable one - but an excuse, none the less.  Society has just accepted it to the point that it is almost expected.  Adults feed this crazy, which makes it grow.  We act like they have actually been infected by a virus and therefore have no control over their own actions.  Giving it a cute name doesn't change the fact that it is just an excuse for sin.  Whatever work God has put before you today is what you are supposed to do, and you honor Him by doing it well and dishonor Him when we choose to do less than our best.

I'm not saying the temptation isn't real.  Everyone who has ever left a job knows that when you near the end of something, you feel a strong temptation to do whatever you want and be lazy (because, what are they gonna do, fire me?).  I've known a lot of people who left jobs that way, and it ruins their memory at that company.  People remember the way you leave.  I don't use the term senioritis in my physics class because I don't want to even open that door.  If they signed up for physics, I expect them to learn all of physics.  A person can't honestly believe that it is okay to write off the highest quarter of their high school education.

So, yes, the temptation is real.  Like any other temptation to sin, however, giving into the temptation is the sin.  Here's the deal, senior.  God has given you gifts that he didn't give others.  How dare you waste them.  God has given you (my students) a lot of privilege; you live in an area of high education and social standing with parents or grandparents who have chosen private education for you.  How dare you waste their sacrifice.  They could have done a lot with that money, and it is wrong for you to do less than your best with it.  

Believe it or not, senioritis has a Wikipedia page.  Before you jump to the conclusion that it is real because of that, remember that Wikipedia also has pages on the tooth fairy, leprechauns, and unicorns.  If you visit the page on senioritis, something might stand out to you in the first sentence.  This term is used "in the United States and Canada."  It is not a term used in places where people would give everything they have to receive an education.  Remember Malala Yousafzai, the girl from Pakistan, who was shot in the head by the Taliban for trying to attend school.  She would not have used the term senioritis, I can assure you.  It is a term used by those for whom easy access to education has made it familiar, thereby causing them to view it as a hardship rather than a blessing.  In short, it is a term of privilege.