Your school is thinking of introducing a new policy requiring all S1 and S2 students to join at least one school team. However, this suggestion has evoked a strong reaction from some students. You are an intern reporter for the Young Post and have just attended a forum involving representatives from parents, teachers and student. Write an article describing the viewpoints and arguments of the different parties. Give it a title.
Being a team player – A must for students?
Do you join any school teams? Maybe some of you find it enjoyable to join different activities, no matter whether you are in a sports and music team. But will you welcome a policy that all students should join a school team?
ABC School is proposing a policy requiring all S1 and S2 students to join at least one school team. However, this suggestion has evoked controversy among students. So the school has organized a forum inviting representatives from different parties.
In the forum, the head of the Extra-curricular Activities Committee, Mr. Chan, explained that the school has such a suggestion because the number of members in all school teams has dropped significantly. It indicates that students are more reluctant to join after-school activities. He said that the school is worried that the students will miss the opportunities to try different activities in their secondary school life. “Studying, of course, is the first priority of every student. But finding and developing other interests and strengths is also vital in order to achieve a holistic development.” Mr. Chan explained the aim of the policy is to gradually help students search for their hobbies. Some teachers are worried that some students are so studious that they do not want to spend time on other activities. The teacher-in-charge of the volleyball team, Mr. Lee, pointed out that he had found some students who were talented in sports but they refused to join any sports team to save time for revision. They expressed their concerns that students are more likely to get extremely pressurized so they support the policy.
However, students generally sang a different tune. They pointed out that it is their freedom to join school teams or not. They doubted the effectiveness of a mandatory policy if the purpose of it is to encourage students to find their interests. “Some of our schoolmates may sloppily find a school team to join to fulfil the requirement, but not enjoying the things they like,” said an S2 student. The chairlady of the Student Union also reflected that students still have the interest in joining after-school activities. She quoted some figures about the numbers of attendees in events organized by some school clubs to show that students are willing to relish in a range of activities and reiterated that there is no need to implement the policy. Nevertheless, a few students voiced their support to the policy as they agree that students should grab the chances to explore their talents at the early stage by joining school teams, but they may not join the teams if not forced to.
As for parents, they have diverse views towards the policy. Some parents welcome the policy because they think their children are so scared to stand out from the crowd to become a team member of school teams. They expressed that the policy can be an urge to their children to try being a representative of the school to join competitions in order to build up their self-confidence. Some parents, however, fear that joining a school team will consume so much time. They pointed out that their children are already joining some activities outside, thus taking part in school teams sounds unaffordable. “The school should understand the situation of the students if they cannot join the school teams,” said a parent representative.
In conclusion, there are opinions backing or disagreeing with the proposed policy. It is hoped that the school can consider the views of different parties when deciding whether the policy should be in place. After all, a school should be a place where different talents can be nurtured and it should have an appropriate approach to do so.
Chan Wai Hang
6E 2015-16