Twenty-five bored students sit in rows in a classroom while two teachers drone on and on about whatever from the front of the room. At least two-thirds of the students have their laptops open scrolling through Twitter, not listening to a word their teachers are saying.

There’s something wrong with this picture. And yet it is happening at our school during the Freshman Seminar.

I am a freshman and what I just described is going on in many of these seminar classes. The classes are alphabetical by last name, and some even have assigned seats.

The objective of this time is to get freshmen adjusted to life here at Pascack Valley. Each week focuses on a different aspect of high school, whether it is where to go for help, digital citizenship, or taking responsibility.

The seminar takes place during Session A of the Pascack Period every week, and often, the lessons go well into Session B.

This class is not necessary at all. It is a waste of time for all of the students; the kids in the classes who don’t pay attention are distracting to the ones that do want to listen.

Because students are not interested in these topics, they don’t participate. To be quite honest, many just don’t care about what the seminar teachers are talking about anymore. With it not being a graded class, teens are not putting any effort into it.

Furthermore, I don’t see how Freshman Seminar is going to take place every week for the rest of the school year.

We are all adjusted to high school by now. We are already three months into the year and the first marking period is over. Most of us have had the mandatory meetings with our guidance counselors already. What else can we learn about transitioning to high school that we don’t already know?

I have spoken to multiple other freshmen, and all agree that this class, while it has good intentions, is doing nothing for them. If freshmen can’t participate in Pascack activities and sign up for classes, then it should be a study hall.

When first introduced to the idea of the Pascack Period where we could do anything we wanted, we believed that it meant it would be a free period to use as a study hall or to visit a teacher for extra help.

Taken directly from Pascack Valley’s district website about the Pascack Period: “This period is about student choice, they can choose to do something that helps them; study, homework, projects, read, or any number of things that contributes to ‘student wellness’ or simply making some headway on their work… So, no, students are not REQUIRED to do anything formal unless there is a program that the administration requires the students to attend (class election speeches, class meetings, school-wide programs and assemblies).”

Notice the words “student choice”. It is not our choice to take Freshman Seminar. Not once in that paragraph does it say anything about it, and even when it mentions administrative programs, this class is not in the list.

However, since we are not allowed to take classes that pique our interests during this time, we should be able to use it as free time. Staying in that one classroom would be fine with me, but at least then, I would have an extra 85 minutes to get some work done.

For the students that would like to take this course, it should be optional. We should be allowed to pick which topics we are interested in hearing and talking about. It would make discussions better-the people that are curious about these themes will participate and the ones who don’t care won’t be there.

To get students to participate, make it an open class with the students leading the discussions. If we could ask questions about high school, classes, etc. and the teachers, or other students, answer, we would get a lot more out of it. Because we would be asking the questions, the topics and discussions would revolve around issues that interest us. Therefore, more students would pay attention.

Quite honestly, while it was a noble idea, Freshman Seminar isn’t working. Of course, it wasn’t expected to be perfect, as this is the pilot year for the program. Maybe with a few changes, Freshman Seminar can help ninth graders ease into high school and reach their full potential.

(Lauren Cohen is a Staff Writer for The Smoke Signal. Her opinions are not necessarily those of The Smoke Signal or its staff.)