The negative stigma towards different kinds of study

As a fifth year student, I've often been told by parents and teachers alike that if I don't get all my studying done this year, next year will be terrible. Then, they go on to tell me how much of an awful person I am because I don't study. What they seem to always look over is this: I actually do study. I don't study in the 'conventional' manner, which is why they seem to always believe that I don't study at all. I prefer not to read over the same notes in my hardback copies 1000 times or to write them out until I have a sprained wrist and a headache the size of County Cork.

Instead, I turn to a lot of online resources, mainly videos and power-points. Since this doesn't leave me with a piece of paper covered in words though, it apparently 'doesn't count' as study. Who are they to say that it isn't studying though? People learn in many different ways, usually broken down into Visual, Kinaesthetic and Auditory Learning.

While reading notes for 17 years may suit the visual learners, writing them for days the kinaesthetic and hearing the teacher's lectures the auditory learners, they don't always work for everyone. People's learning habits are different from each student to the next.

One person may be able to learn everything by writing it into a song, I myself, find video tutorials the most effective learning method. Alas, the teachers of the world only seem to care if you can show them a fat folder full of notes that you're definitely going to burn the second the Leaving Certificate ends. Is this fair? Not at all.

Can we change this and maybe even help create a larger source of new study methods for students? Oh, most definitely. But the thing is folks, we can't do this alone, we need to all work together to make a difference. To erase all the negative stigma towards different study methods, because let’s face it: If I get told one more time to take out a page and write out the notes, I'll go berserk!