Poll: Are most of the things we learn at school useful?

[SoulSalmon]

What we were taught in school stopped being 'useful' before the end of primary...

Heck, the only reason I passed year 12 is because it looks better on a resume then being a dropout...
The actual experience itself taught me a great deal though, it's amazing what you learn when having staples slammed in to your back and morons throwing oranges in to the ceiling fans. After highschool I became a lot more tolerant, and a lot less optimistic.

 

[Yopaz]

Almost nothing is useless, nothing is useful for everyone. Honestly I have no use for history, literature, sociology, German or whatever I learned in P.E. (I work out 4 times a week, but that's not because I've had P.E.) however those subjects are important for someone else. I have use for what I learned in math, science, biology, chemistry and English. Math is a big part of chemistry and I also study a little math, I study biology and chemistry so those subjects are important (obviously) almost all of my books are in English so that's been a very useful subject.
Later in life I will be using these subjects for my work so they will always be of use. All the other subjects are however useless to me.
I don't need either history or to know what literal classics have influenced the modern writing styles.

 

[Astoria]

Things you learn in primary school tend to be more useful in that they help you exist in society but in high school it tends to be more specific to getting a job and while to you it is useless to someone else it could be very important.

 

[teebeeohh]

yes
in the long run most things won't be useful to me but they will be useful to someone else who graduates with me.
So when considering everyone, most things will be useful to someone.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

It's more about the methods, school is merely learning to learn and how to display your knowledge. You can't exactly teach primary school kids everything they need to know and then ask them to write a university essay, you need to develop the mind and teach them how to think about things analytically.

 

[CrashBang]

Yes, with the exception of higher maths. I'm glad I have a decent enough grasp of history and geography and I'm very grateful for my English lessons because I have a great grasp on spelling, grammar etc and I read a lot.

It depends on what you classify as useful. I'd call it personally useful because I want to know things and, thanks to school, I do! I/t may not all be practically useful but I'd hate to be stupid so yeah, useful. I don't really remember much maths, despite being quite good at it, so from my experience a lot of maths isn't all that useful. I mean higher maths, algebra etc.

 

[rob_simple]

The most useful thing you learn in school, especially high school, is to shut up and do as you're told. No matter how bright you are, if you don't do things their way you'll never succeed.

And as jaded as that sounds, it's a valuable lesson for later in life.

 

[Al-Bundy-da-G]

Reading, writing, and basic math are necessities now. Everything else you learn that pertains to culture, social skills, and intellect stimulation serve their own purposes when grade school is finished, but are not necessarily required to sustain yourself.

 

[Darius Brogan]

Alot if it isn't, but you don't know what you like or what you are good at until you do it.

You have to try everything till you find out what you should stick with, if anything.

The very basics of Reading, writing, and mathematics are taught (Read: Should be taught) by your parents,

I'd disagree...that only works if the parents have the time and ability to teach those things to their kids. What about single parents who are working fulltime, and/or are crap at teaching maths?

Having professionally trained people to do that seems a better idea to me.

Well, that would make sense to me if my mother didn't raise me, my older sister, and my older brother all by herself on less than thirty thousand a year for 18 years, working full time.

I've been reading, writing, and doing math since long before I started school, as has my sister and my brother.

If a parent doesn't have the resources to teach even the very basics of those to one child before they begin school, they shouldn't have become a parent so soon.
It sounds horrible, and there are exceptions to that statement, but having a child shouldn't be viewed lightly. If you're not ready to have a child, take measures to prevent it from happening.

 

[Panorama]

Yes, have you people never been to a pub-quiz full of facts you learnt at school.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

ehhh a lot of it becomes useless once you get out there, depending on careers, i honestly think grade 11 and grade 12 should be used for much more in depth use of what you want to do, as a student, instead of having required bullshit still, by that point you've learned more than enough of the basics and should be able to take what you want to give yourself a further interest in whatever field. (also so i don't have to take stupid as fuck english/literature class anymore, i fucking hate those classes more than anything.)

 

[IamQ]

Nope. While I agree that school is necessary, I can't honestly say that most of what we learn are things we will even remember the week after we did.

The thing is that the things we do learn outweigh what we don't.

 

[Mozza444]

Its hard to say really.
Some of the things we learn we will never use again.
I'm in college now and i use little of my previous education, i am just learning completely new things.
However i do see school as very useful, i suppose it helps you to "learn how to learn" and without a slight knowledge of everything you don't know what you will enjoy.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Alot if it isn't, but you don't know what you like or what you are good at until you do it.

You have to try everything till you find out what you should stick with, if anything.

The very basics of Reading, writing, and mathematics are taught (Read: Should be taught) by your parents,

I'd disagree...that only works if the parents have the time and ability to teach those things to their kids. What about single parents who are working fulltime, and/or are crap at teaching maths?

Having professionally trained people to do that seems a better idea to me.

Well, that would make sense to me if my mother didn't raise me, my older sister, and my older brother all by herself on less than thirty thousand a year for 18 years, working full time.

I've been reading, writing, and doing math since long before I started school, as has my sister and my brother.

If a parent doesn't have the resources to teach even the very basics of those to one child before they begin school, they shouldn't have become a parent so soon.
It sounds horrible, and there are exceptions to that statement, but having a child shouldn't be viewed lightly. If you're not ready to have a child, take measures to prevent it from happening.

jesus how old were you when you started school then? 2? i don't know a single person off the top of my head that taught there kids/were taught before pre-school anything beyond the basics of how to live and common sense.

 

[ultimateownage]

What is your profession? How did you find that career path and decide you wanted to work in that field? Imagine now, that all the subjects related to that career were never taught to you.

Sure, maybe some things won't help you in the end. BUT, they will help somebody. The Schooling system can't teach only one thing, because there are so many careers and so many students. They have to teach a little bit of everything, or we'll all have thousands of Writers but not one Mathematician.

 

[Darius Brogan]

Alot if it isn't, but you don't know what you like or what you are good at until you do it.

You have to try everything till you find out what you should stick with, if anything.

The very basics of Reading, writing, and mathematics are taught (Read: Should be taught) by your parents,

I'd disagree...that only works if the parents have the time and ability to teach those things to their kids. What about single parents who are working fulltime, and/or are crap at teaching maths?

Having professionally trained people to do that seems a better idea to me.

Well, that would make sense to me if my mother didn't raise me, my older sister, and my older brother all by herself on less than thirty thousand a year for 18 years, working full time.

I've been reading, writing, and doing math since long before I started school, as has my sister and my brother.

If a parent doesn't have the resources to teach even the very basics of those to one child before they begin school, they shouldn't have become a parent so soon.
It sounds horrible, and there are exceptions to that statement, but having a child shouldn't be viewed lightly. If you're not ready to have a child, take measures to prevent it from happening.

jesus how old were you when you started school then? 2? i don't know a single person off the top of my head that taught there kids/were taught before pre-school anything beyond the basics of how to live and common sense.

If that's the way things are going these days, then parenting skills may soon become a thing of the past. I started grade one at five years old, and was quite capable of reading, writing, and doing math by then. I never entered 'pre-school' because it's just unnecessary. You have a large group of kids with no attention-span trying to focus on someone who isn't their parent for an extended period of time.

In fact, I'd have to say that it's because of my being taught the basics before starting school that I performed as well as I did until my car accident, but that's neither here nor there.

Also, while I appreciate the sentiment, I'm not Jesus, that right is reserved for my older brothers best friend ;P

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Alot if it isn't, but you don't know what you like or what you are good at until you do it.

You have to try everything till you find out what you should stick with, if anything.

The very basics of Reading, writing, and mathematics are taught (Read: Should be taught) by your parents,

I'd disagree...that only works if the parents have the time and ability to teach those things to their kids. What about single parents who are working fulltime, and/or are crap at teaching maths?

Having professionally trained people to do that seems a better idea to me.

Well, that would make sense to me if my mother didn't raise me, my older sister, and my older brother all by herself on less than thirty thousand a year for 18 years, working full time.

I've been reading, writing, and doing math since long before I started school, as has my sister and my brother.

If a parent doesn't have the resources to teach even the very basics of those to one child before they begin school, they shouldn't have become a parent so soon.
It sounds horrible, and there are exceptions to that statement, but having a child shouldn't be viewed lightly. If you're not ready to have a child, take measures to prevent it from happening.

jesus how old were you when you started school then? 2? i don't know a single person off the top of my head that taught there kids/were taught before pre-school anything beyond the basics of how to live and common sense.

If that's the way things are going these days, then parenting skills may soon become a thing of the past. I started grade one at five years old, and was quite capable of reading, writing, and doing math by then. I never entered 'pre-school' because it's just unnecessary. You have a large group of kids with no attention-span trying to focus on someone who isn't their parent for an extended period of time.

In fact, I'd have to say that it's because of my being taught the basics before starting school that I performed as well as I did until my car accident, but that's neither here nor there.

Also, while I appreciate the sentiment, I'm not Jesus, that right is reserved for my older brothers best friend ;P

how old were you when you graduated grade 12 then?

and you'd be surprised but what kids learn in groups, the other kids end up performing better when they are catching up to someone they can't speak as well/do math as well/etc...

hell the smartest person i know didn't start school until she was 7, and she barely could read or write at that point.

 

[Jandau]

Not really, but it's important to expose kids to a wide selection of topics and subjects to give them a chance to find something they like. Also, a broad education serves to expand a person's horizons, give them perspective and some basic understanding of the world around them. There's plenty of time for specialization later.

 

[Darius Brogan]

Alot if it isn't, but you don't know what you like or what you are good at until you do it.

You have to try everything till you find out what you should stick with, if anything.

The very basics of Reading, writing, and mathematics are taught (Read: Should be taught) by your parents,

I'd disagree...that only works if the parents have the time and ability to teach those things to their kids. What about single parents who are working fulltime, and/or are crap at teaching maths?

Having professionally trained people to do that seems a better idea to me.

Well, that would make sense to me if my mother didn't raise me, my older sister, and my older brother all by herself on less than thirty thousand a year for 18 years, working full time.

I've been reading, writing, and doing math since long before I started school, as has my sister and my brother.

If a parent doesn't have the resources to teach even the very basics of those to one child before they begin school, they shouldn't have become a parent so soon.
It sounds horrible, and there are exceptions to that statement, but having a child shouldn't be viewed lightly. If you're not ready to have a child, take measures to prevent it from happening.

jesus how old were you when you started school then? 2? i don't know a single person off the top of my head that taught there kids/were taught before pre-school anything beyond the basics of how to live and common sense.

If that's the way things are going these days, then parenting skills may soon become a thing of the past. I started grade one at five years old, and was quite capable of reading, writing, and doing math by then. I never entered 'pre-school' because it's just unnecessary. You have a large group of kids with no attention-span trying to focus on someone who isn't their parent for an extended period of time.

In fact, I'd have to say that it's because of my being taught the basics before starting school that I performed as well as I did until my car accident, but that's neither here nor there.

Also, while I appreciate the sentiment, I'm not Jesus, that right is reserved for my older brothers best friend ;P

how old were you when you graduated grade 12 then?

and you'd be surprised but what kids learn in groups, the other kids end up performing better when they are catching up to someone they can't speak as well/do math as well/etc...

hell the smartest person i know didn't start school until she was 7, and she barely could read or write at that point.

Wait... 7? really? Where exactly do you live, then? Because Where I live, grade one begins at 5, and graduation is around 17.

Also, my car accident prevented me from graduating, which is a very sore spot for me, but I'm having that remedied shortly.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Just about everything I was taught in school turned out to be useless. The basic math has been helpful and I would be lying if I said I dislike the whole reading thing but I started reading when I was younger than school age. I tried a community college but it was the same useless crap only now I had to pay for it.

The most useful thing I got from school was the social aspects but even there it was a somewhat wasted effort considering that my closest friends were met online.