Life after Q
Every student at our school has an account on Q. This powerful tool allows students and parents to check their current academic status at all hours of the day. Despite the advantages of having our grades at our fingertips, there are definite drawbacks. Are our lives really better because we have Q?
There are a few amazing things about Q. It allows us students to stay on top of our grades in a way that our parents were never able to. You don’t have to go ask a teacher what your grade is – instead, you can just do it yourself. This saves us time and also saves us from becoming that annoying kid that is always bugging the teacher.
Personally, I think the most brilliant thing about Q is that you have the opportunity to bug teachers if they make a mistake in the gradebook. Without becoming that annoying kid that I just mentioned, you can politely point out when the teacher gave you half credit on something you actually turned in on time. Because you can see every single item the teacher enters into Q, you can double check to make sure things are right. Power to the people!
A definite double-edged sword situation is that your parents have a password allowing them to check your grades on Q. This feature of Q may or may not have been the cause of many lectures and battles over grades throughout homes in Newbury Park.
With the great power Q gives us comes great responsibility. I’m sure you’ve personally experienced or know someone who has had a teacher refuse to round up because they say the student, “should’ve been monitoring their grade.” As much as these teachers have a point, I still don’t like it. I want to have my cake and eat it too, because I’m a high schooler and refuse to believe that the world doesn’t work that way.
Q has become a problem in my own life. I, admittedly, am actually obsessed with Q. Whenever I’m not busy doing something, I’m checking my Q. It’s slowly starting to take over my life, inching its way into every aspect of my being. There is also a nifty mobile phone-adapted Q so you can better check your grades on the go. This is when it got much worse for me, because it’s so easy to check. If someone you know or love becomes addicted to Q, please go see your counselor for help. Or maybe see a psychiatrist if it gets bad.
Despite the positives of Q, the negatives are there and they are big. We may be less stressed throughout the term without Q and we may argue less with our parents, but Q allows us to be better students. Bottom line? Be careful. Q is a beautiful thing and can make your life much easier, as long as it is used with caution.
