More school, yay or nay?

[AdhesiveTape]

Yes, hand over your childhood to the American education system and no one gets hurt!

 

[MagicShroom]

Something like this will keep kids focused (honestly, they should get use to it now, because at college they'll wish for a summer break without messing them up.)

 

[stone0042]

I think the right move for our country is to impeach Obama before he does serious harm. But hey, I'm a junior so I'll probably be gone by the time any legislature passes.

 

[Rawker]

we need more school like we need more STDs

thats the dumbest idea i ever heard

Care to elaborate?

quality not quantity

Well that's all very vague, and really just repeating what others have said. What do you think good quality teaching is?

we already learn more that we dont need and not enough that we do need. tell me, when in you career have you ever had to make a paper maché version of the solar system? teach us something we need. I know people who don't know how to start a fire, something necessary for survival, and we are not taught this? having all the multiplication tables memorized mean nothing when something goes wrong. we need to be taught to deal with problems. we need to learn how to interact with people, we need to master ourselves before we master anything else.

 

[Jinx_Dragon]

Problems I've run into from my experience in public schools.
1) Students who aren't learning at the same pace as everyone else are pushed along if they are ready or not, thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act.
2) Items learned are repeated, repeatedly(yes I know that's bad English, but it stresses the point). Learning the same thing like it's brand new to the students every year is both dumb and unnecessary. That's why the school systems should have classes that go back to basics for those who need it, not for all.
3)Most school systems are top heavy. Administrators make 100-150 thousand dollars a year. Teachers make maybe 35 in my area. Too many administrators mean more secretaries eating up the budget gotten from the tax payers that should go to finding qualified candidates for teaching positions. On top of that the administrators don't listen to the children or their parents about the needs of each individual. You're supposed to be an individual an easily herd-able flock, which is never the case with a true individual. Schedules are supposed to give "basics" and in that, classes that people have a hard time relating to (such as history or math) are forced on them at a level which they can or do not want to learn on.
4)Classes are boring, most of the time not relating to skills actually needed in today's world, using information that most people don't want to know, or even preparing people for post-secondary education. In no school is it told to you that life will kick you repeatedly until you have had enough and decide to do something about it, ie. nothing is handed to you.
5) Students have no incentives anymore to do well in school. College for most is something that's too far away to grasp for middle school age kids, who learn to do nothing and get by. By the time high school comes around they no longer apply themselves to anything. Parents are also to blame, as most don't give a flying fuck about their kids (shown by decreasing numbers at school open house), as long as they are happy.

Sadly this is spreading to other western based countries too, Australia is falling down that slippery slope from what I have been told (don't have kids and been out of school for years now but it was bad back then!)

Some replies:
1) This has also brought in new generations of standardised testing. As now your federal funding is dependant on a large chunk of children in your class being able to pass the test a good deal of the class will involve learning nothing more then how to tick the right box. They might as well just write the answers on the board when the test is taken and send all the kids home. The schools that need the most help, under this system, are being cut like 'dead weight' instead of getting the funding and assistance needed to actually educate. Likely so the USA can have a 'smart and lean' education system... at least on paper.

2) Repetitive study also leads to sloppy habits. One becomes distant and bored with learning the basics over and over again, then naturally they will tend to 'shut down' during class. Then if something new is taught there is a good likelihood it will be ignored or quickly forgotten. Classes should not just teach 'fresh' knowledge as much as possible, but allow the students to better partake in the education they are getting.

3) Schooling is only as good as the people teaching. When I was leaving high school I had a teacher for maths. He was a master of chemistry and mathematics, and I mean a master. He had degrees and had worked a whole life 'in the real world' furthering his education with actual, to goodness, experience in the field. He was old school, where most teachers would have a life and then RETIRE to education. The biggest gripe I heard him talking about, openly, was how the younger generation of teachers did NOT know what they where teaching.

Why? Cause that is all the schools can afford now! Teachers who went to school not to learn any single subject matter and master it, but to get a degree that says they can now teach others. Most of these teachers, and I knew quite a few, don't know enough about the subject matters they are meant to be teaching to answer basic questions! If it isn't in the book... they are clueless. Might as well just have us read the damn book.

4) Same as 2, but I too feel about the knowledge being irrelevant or unsubstantial. Indeed one of the largest 'jokes' about college and university is that the first half of your 'greater education' is being deprogrammed from all the flaws you picked up in high school. I don't mean misconceptions you might of fostered on yourself... no I mean the fact they deliberately teach you information that is flawed simply because it is easier to grasp. With how few people actually go out to learn what parts of their education is flawed it isn't hard to picture just why we are getting dumber and dumber. Classes, particularly high school, that are geared towards more then basic maths and English need to drop this 'crutch' and teach the truth.

5) I still can't rationalise why we have stopped teaching children to think for themselves. Now it is mindless scribbling of information into books to... well make working drones but that is not a good damn reason to cripple a child's education. A student that knows how to reason and think for themselves will not just grasp information better, but would be able to ponder 'how is this relevant' and make better choices that will further their education towards a realistic goal they can set for themselves.

 

[Lazzi]

As an honors student I wouldnt have minded longer school days if it ment not having so much homework. After all homework was originally ment to assit students who were having trouble with the in school corse work, however know its being used to provided every one with additional corse work. I mean requierd reading and studying are cool in my book.

I wouldnt mind longer school days if it that school and home stayed truly seperate. School is school, and home is home. When the bounderies are blurred things tends to get fustrating.

 

[Neurowaste]

If most kids don't give a flying fuck about school, why would they pay attention to it if it was longer? I'm glad i graduated from High School last year cause that would be bullshit, school isn't about how much time you put into it, i can do something for hours simply because i have to do it and not pay attention to it, and I did very well in school even though i found i highly inefficient even though i went to one of the best High Schools in the United States... It's all about dedication and actually caring, it's not going to make a difference if students aren't motivated.

 

[londelen]

Quality not Quantity, and anyone who says otherwise needs to go to school for longer.



wait wat?