Why are high schoolers studying less, but grades are rising?

Are C's really a thing of the past? This really caught my attention because statistics show that high school seniors are spending less time per week studying (about six hours), but their grades are better than ever compared to their predecessors. Educators are admitting to the grade inflation and that C's are very rare. "Only 17 percent earned A's in 1968, while 44 percent did in 2000"(Link)

Specialist report that student are spending more time on the Internet, but they are unsure of weather this is helping them with their studying or not. The Internet could help them do their homework faster, or it could take time away from them being productive and studying at the library or using other useful resources to better help their grades and their learning. It allows them to take "the easy way out". There is a relationship between the decline in time spend on homework and the increase on the Internet use.

The best observation that UCLA professor Alexander Astin said that they can make about the increase of this grade inflation is due to the pressure the teachers deal with from the parents and students to help them become more competitive for college.

Does this mean that they are giving these students better grades so that they can look better on paper when presenting it to the college that they dreamed of going to? If that's the case then the teachers aren't really preparing them very well for college. They are giving them false hope. I think that students should get graded on what they do, without the influence or the pressure of the parent, or that they have to pass. If the student is eager enough to get the good grade and impress a college, then they should work hard for their grade, just like they will in college. Giving them a "break" isn't really helping them for their future education, which only gets harder. I don't believe in strict teaching, and overloading students with work. But i think that they should be pushed to their potential. I think students at an early age need to realize that they have this potential, and the teachers should help them realize that. In that case when they get older and develop their own learning patterns they will push themselves because they will know what their potential is. The Internet is very useful tool if used properly by the students. it can help them do their homework better, and students can expand on the subject and learn more interesting things.

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