Should Schools Have Tri Time?
Nowadays, a lot of children face the issue of not knowing what to do in their free time. A bigger problem is that most of them never even had time to try whatever they wanted to do. Parents all want the best for their kids, so they limit their screen time, cut off their time to socialize, do anything to help their kids become more concentrated on their school work. What they don’t realize is that by doing this, they are also bounding their kids to think in a specified pattern, bordering them from thinking on their own. The result? They are clueless at solving real world problems, and were never intrigued by anything, much less than getting motivated for work. “While they are the youth of today, they shall be the leaders of tomorrow,” John F Kennedy, the 35th president of the US, once declared. No one wants a leader to have limited abilities on smoothing out all the problems thrown at them, right? The solution? Tri Time. This is a time where kids can imagine, investigate, and iterate. It’s a time for new interests, a time for trying different things, a time for doing what they choose to do. It’s is a wonderful way to help kids find their passions, explore, and pursue their dreams.
Lots of teachers argues that Tri Time is a complete waste of time, but please, think again. Tri Time not only boosts creativity, but also invites children to think more critically. “Students are learning what they want in classrooms across the world,” AJ Juliani, a teacher who teaches with project-based learning, states. They choose their own project, which encourages them to do whatever they’re passionate about. Sometimes, the parent isn’t even aware of their kids’ interests, which is just another reason why Tri Time can be such a constituent part of their lives. For example, an Elementary schooler actually designed and sewed her own outfits from basic cloth bought from a fabrics store, while her mother explains, "I always knew my daughter liked design and fashion magazines, but what girl doesn't?” There was an entrepreneur program at my school last year where students rent booths and sell things they made themselves. My friend and I decided to give it a try and sell cookies. The experience was amazing, and I learnt just so much from it. During the 5 hour period, we encountered lots of problems, like how no one was buying our cookies. However, we used our thinking skills and solved them by going around asking people to buy our cookies, as we realized that our booth was far off from where people wander to. I gained lots of new knowledge about entrepreneurship, and I know for a fact that if I do it again, I would do so much better.
Tri Time isn’t only operated in schools. In fact, a lot of established companies like Google have a “20% Rule”, leading to great discoveries and ingenious inventions. Google, one of the most successful companies on Earth, allows its employees to spend 20% of their work time working on their own ideas, and their hard work was paid off. A lot of the popular Google apps were created as a result of this 20% rule, like Gmail, AddSense, Google News, etc. In the 1950’s, 3M, one of the world’s largest stationary store today, started a 15% Project, which resulted with multiple inventions of small but very useful stationeries, like Post-its and masking tape. See, people don’t need to be a geniuses locked inside a room for days to invent something useful and creative. Some of the best designs are made when people do what they’re passionate about! Look at the invention of graphene, for example. Two brothers working in a science lab dedicated a few hours of their time on Fridays to work on anything they choose. Later, they discovered perhaps the world’s thinnest, yet strongest material, naming it graphene. The brothers won the Nobel prize, and all because they were having fun each Friday pursuing their passions.
Another reason why schools should have Tri Time is that this period of time allows children to pursue their dreams. That is, if the child has a dream. Today, many children never think about their future and spend their days roaming around house. What are their hobbies? What about their future? Tri Time encourages students to try, and when students try a variety of different things, they are most likely going to find their one true passion. According to Deloitte’s Shift Index survey, about 80% of the employees are unsatisfied with their jobs. So how do you make sure that you land with a job you actually enjoy? My guess is that those 80% of people didn’t know their passions in the first place, and, you guessed it, dreams can be discovered in Tri Time.
Trying different things also means that students would get introduced to new things and ideas. They can always find new interests, and can change what they do, allowing them to enjoy a spectrum of activities. A 3 decade long study, inspired by a test Harry Harlow, a professor at University of Wisconsin, performed earlier, clearly proved that the more people get rewarded, the slower they are at the task itself. Lots of children get rewarded from their parents if they get good grades. They stress out, become really slow at actually doing school work, and don’t actually have any motivation, other than the prize. School is a place for friends, a place for learning life skills, and a place for finding new things. The solution? “It sounds obvious, but people work better when they’re involved in something they’re passionate about,” Bharat Mediratta, Co-founder and CTO at AltSchool, states during an interview with New York Times’ reporters. Yuting Liu, a member at Moody's Investment Services wrote in a TED conversation, “What I find so precious about learning outside of school is the willingness to acquire more knowledge.” And to me, it’s utterly true. As the two successful businessman and businesswoman had proclaimed, interests are the best motivation. It makes the process fun, and enticing, and Tri Time gives students this essential motivation, helping them become a more efficient student and also help them enjoy learning.
Having Tri Time at a school will allow students to try different things they’ve never done before. It will help uncover passions, and bring out creativity and curiosity that was once tucked inside. I’m voting for schools to have Tri Time, how about you?
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