Poll: Does the current school system actually work?

[TheJavaPirate]

I'm a 16 year old student attending an unnamed school in NoVa. I do not like my school, nor the way it is run. I am stuck in my current situation of taking useless classes that i cannot bare to stand much longer. Are all schools like this? Is it really worth the money and trouble? Or should we be doing research (off the internet if necessary) on stuff we are truly interested in instead of spending useless time learning about history. I use history as an example because i find it useless. Let me hear your opinion, can the school system be improved or are we gridlocked in our current state?

Edit: I find history useless in my daily life, and therefore dislike it.

 

[TheJavaPirate]

yeah, NoVa means Northern Virginia, i forget not everyone knows this.

 

[Cortheya]

nope in CA it sucks too...sitting there writing and writing and pointless classes...this in public AND charter schools.. i attend the latter

 

[Cortheya]

plus they value self esteem WAYYY over learning...sorry double post

 

[MaxFan]

History can be fun if it's done right. I had a teacher in high school that ran a simulation stock market in which I ended up losing billions of dollars while learning about the Great Depression.

I don't know that things are any better here in Southern California than for you. My nieces routinely don't know important historical facts even though they're in supposedly advanced courses at their high school. I can say their math is certainly well taught, they were doing basic algebra way back in fourth grade. I never liked English because the way it's taught in most modern schools is "write an essay saying the sorts of things about a book that this teacher wants to hear".

I certainly don't think that throwing money at schools is going to somehow make them better. All I ever hear is politicians beating their drums that schools need more funding, but we've been funding them more every few years and getting poorer results.

plus they value self esteem WAYYY over learning.

And this.

 

[leugim789]

i'm 16 too, and i feel like the school system is letting kids get by to easily the average rate to pass is only 16, a B is now considered above average, and an A seems godly to people now, its ridiculous i'm tired of my parents spending tax payer money for jailbait assholes who wont make an attempt at bettering themselves and only go to school for the next fuck they want to have in the weekend. well to your point history is one of those things its good to have as a backup, if we don't study history we're doomed to repeat it. but yeah i could do without having to mandatorily take french, now theres a useless class.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

I'm not so sure if it does. It works for natural students, of course, but for those who aren't quite so keen and/or able to learn, I'm not sure if it does, nor am I sure if there will ever be a way for it to work for them.

It would be nice if the classes in general were more geared towards preparing students for college, being that it's very unlikely that anyone without a college degree really makes it, though there are astounding exceptions, and rightfully so.

 

[Novajam]

It sounds like you're in the years of schooling where you don't get to pick your subjects, or not very many of them, and have to learn a broad course of Maths, Science, English, Sose, P.E etc.

If so, it's just to give you an idea of what's available to you, and to give you a foothold in some important areas. You're going to be in a mess for a lot of your life if you don't know some basic Mathematics, for example.

Once you get to year 10 (at least, that's the year here in Australia) you're swamped with options. Going down the paths of University, Apprenticeships, Vocational Training are all shown to you and then you think about what you'd like to do with your life, and go down the path that'll let you do that. The good thing about this is you get to pick out your own subjects and take classes that you'll find genuinely interesting.

Next year I'm taking English Literature, History, Biology, Geography, Automotive Workshop and Maths. Despite the fact that there's no Art course, I'm really happy that I'm able to take all of these and I really think I'll take in a lot this year now that I'm not going to be so restricted (e.g. forced to take classes I don't like much. Looking at you Phys Ed.)

 

[Cortheya]

History can be fun if it's done right. I never liked English because the way it's taught in most modern schools is "write an essay saying the sorts of things about a book that this teacher wants to hear".

Thats exactly why language arts classes suck

 

[Lord Beautiful]

but yeah i could do without having to mandatorily take french, now theres a useless class.

Do what? Dude, French is excellent. Foreign languages in general are excellent. And think of the girls you could pick up if you were an adept French-speaker, as properly spoken French is beautiful. It's a shame that I had four years of education in French and I remember so little of it now.

 

[hypothetical fact]

I completed school but was unable to get into a writing course because my OP (A ranking totaled up from combined grades over year 12) wasn't high enough despite getting Straight A's throughout all year 12 for English class.

So no, when you can't be a writer because you failed Business Management classes the system doesn't work.

 

[leugim789]

but yeah i could do without having to mandatorily take french, now theres a useless class.

Do what? Dude, French is excellent. Foreign languages in general are excellent. And think of the girls you could pick up if you were an adept French-speaker, as properly spoken French is beautiful. It's a shame that I had four years of education in French and I remember so little of it now.

my good fellow escapist, while i do agree that french is a beautiful language, its usefulness in todays world is about as important as knowing how to cook dirt, which is why i am taking mandarin chinese online so at least i know that i can speak directly to our invaders and plead for mercy when they take over the world.

 

[Apocalypse Tank]

On a national/NY state scale, regents and mandated curriculum needs some improvements: too much multiple etc. Courses like bio>chem>phy should have been phy>chem>bio (students joining HS with fundalmental knowledge of phys but not biology).

The staff at my school is pretty kewl though, I think I can put the knowledge into everyday life.

Edit: O and yea its too bad that we only get French/Spanish and not Mandarin/Latin/German

 

[Cortheya]

but yeah i could do without having to mandatorily take french, now theres a useless class.

Do what? Dude, French is excellent. Foreign languages in general are excellent. And think of the girls you could pick up if you were an adept French-speaker, as properly spoken French is beautiful. It's a shame that I had four years of education in French and I remember so little of it now.

my good fellow escapist, while i do agree that french is a beautiful language, its usefulness in todays world is about as important as knowing how to cook dirt, which is why i am taking mandarin chinese online so at least i know that i can speak directly to our invaders and plead for mercy when they take over the world.

I live in America....so im learning to speak spanish for those who will soon become the majority of our country

 

[SwiftFlux]

I've graduated from all public schooling for the rest of my life thank god. But if you want to see horrible funding towards school, visit Ohio. Not necessarily regarded as one of the dumbest states out there, but holy crap. School funding, and take this without sarcasm, is at the bottom of the state government's budget. It's baid. Er, bad?

 

[neoman10]

yeah, NoVa means Northern Virginia, i forget not everyone knows this.

my brotha!

 

[Lord Beautiful]

but yeah i could do without having to mandatorily take french, now theres a useless class.

Do what? Dude, French is excellent. Foreign languages in general are excellent. And think of the girls you could pick up if you were an adept French-speaker, as properly spoken French is beautiful. It's a shame that I had four years of education in French and I remember so little of it now.

my good fellow escapist, while i do agree that french is a beautiful language, its usefulness in todays world is about as important as knowing how to cook dirt, which is why i am taking mandarin chinese online so at least i know that i can speak directly to our invaders and plead for mercy when they take over the world.

Good point, but say that you come across an attractive Chinese woman... French would come in handy, methinks.

"Bonjour. Voudrais-tu un... petit morir... s'il vous plait?"
Congrats. Your last duty is to guide Chun Li to the sack.

 

[TheJavaPirate]

yeah, NoVa means Northern Virginia, i forget not everyone knows this.

my brotha!

hahah, the traffic is so terrible here