School is like starting life with a 12-year jail sentence

[Tdc2182]

no not really. yes we have cures for diseases woopty-do. with constant stress, high speed environments, coupled with extremely poor dietary choices those extra years will be spent in an old-folks home because your joints have worn away from all your bad habits and your senile.

That is something you really need to explain. Yeah, it is all fun and very wishful thinking to believe that sometime in the distant past, people used to have it easier, but its very shallow. Kids have never had it more easy and luxurious. And yes, I include myself in that. When you come to accept that we are all spoiled little pricks, the more insightful you began to see things.

 

[captainwillies]

Wow! For 6 people to be considered "the most", the world must have, like, no more then 10 CEOs!

you want more? look them up yourself. heck John Locher never even finished high school and became a senior design engineer for General Motors.

Yes, it's absolutely possible to achieve high pay with little education and usually a lot of luck, hard work, and making connections..

fixed.

Most CEOs usually have years of experience and an education. Alot of balls and come from prominent families.

fixed

 

[Booze Zombie]

I do think most modern systems need to be stripped back to basics, with people just looking at them and going "what's the point" if they can't find a point (education is meant to educate, for instance), then that system is replaced.

Really, that's what I'd do.
Of course, I'm not the government.

 

[Cynical skeptic]

While school might be tough its a lot more required then it seems.

Elementary to high school to me is not meant for what you learn. That's what college is for. Elementary through high school is to teach you how to act in society.

While some kids are emotionally destroyed by school the majority of kids pick up the lessons they need to learn and the other minority are the bullies, elitists that learn the harsh reality that once your 19 (in Canada) your no longer cool because you can get alcohol.

Hell, my time in school was rough as well. I was pretty damn depressed most my childhood.

However, i have learned to become better then i was because of it. I know whose opinions of me i should care about and who i should just give the finger to and go home. I learned how to deal with getting shit on by faceless nobodies. In life someone will eventually shit on you. Best to learn how to deal with it when the worst that happens is you get suspended, not fired and have assault charges filed against you.

I don't believe in home schooling. People need to learn how to function in society. Your education from P-12 might be private school worthy but unless you have a social network set up how will your child learn to work and play with his or her fellow people? It is, however a parents choice. I will respect that choice they made and if any home schooled kids / parents take offense to that statement i apologize.

Honestly p-12 is about learning how to behave in society. Its about getting your thick skin to deal with assholes and recognizing how people act. Learning who is going to screw you and who is going to back you. Humans are social creatures, we crave interaction even if you feel you hate it.

The education you get from it is only meant to be a brief outline. While i confess i have no clue how it works in the US or UK, or anywhere else but in Canada you can get caught up from grade 10-12 in one or two semesters of college courses. 20 months of High School can get condensed into 6-8 in college, or in 3 hours if you independently study and just take a few tests.

School is how we learn to act as a society. You might wanna say "Well society is so fucked up!" I however don't think society is fucked up so... Not getting into that.

The problem with everything you're saying is children aren't being taught how to be a part of society, they're being taught how cheat systems. The primary lesson being "you only get punished if you get caught." Secondary courses in "suck up for an easier ride," "appearance is everything," and "when in doubt, cheat."

Its the reason society is so fucked up right now.

But, of course, you can't really fault the US public education system for inconsistency. These ideals are applied at every single level. From student to faculty to administration.

 

[captainwillies]

no not really. yes we have cures for diseases woopty-do. with constant stress, high speed environments, coupled with extremely poor dietary choices those extra years will be spent in an old-folks home because your joints have worn away from all your bad habits and your senile.

Yeah, it is all fun and very wishful thinking to believe that sometime in the distant past, people used to have it easier, but its very shallow.

no I never meant to make it sound "easier". I meant that kids still face problems the problems have just changed. You know in many indigenous societies they don't even have a "word" for "boredom". Can you imagine that? a society were boredom doesn't exist and yet how many times have you seen kids in a house surrounded by Games and DVD's say "I'm bored". Yeah they got it easy one way but another way they've lost something, something important.

 

[Billion Backs]

Wow! For 6 people to be considered "the most", the world must have, like, no more then 10 CEOs!

you want more? look them up yourself. heck John Locher never even finished high school and became a senior design engineer for General Motors.

Yes, it's absolutely possible to achieve high pay with little education and usually a lot of luck, hard work, and making connections..

fixed.

Most CEOs usually have years of experience and an education. Alot of balls and come from prominent families.

fixed

So now it's 7 CEOs. A whole lot.

Making connections comes very much under luck. You either meet someone or you don't. Have met an important connection early through family or friends? Luck. Have met your future partner accidentally, in college or whatever? Luck. And so on.

Most companies won't have you as their CEO if you can't prove you can do shit.

 

[captainwillies]

Really great article though.

Although it's 20 years old...I think school's have changed quite a bit in that time.

really? I don't think so. I think what was said then is still true today. but thats just me :3

 

[captainwillies]

Making connections comes very much under luck.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA good luck in the "real world"

 

[Billion Backs]

Making connections comes very much under luck.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA good luck in the "real world"

Thanks. I'm sure I will, unlike some anonymous troll on the internet.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

While I hate School, I certainly think there's a difference between School and Jail.

In School, your allowed to leave whenever you have a reason to leave, and you end up leaving it anyways.

In Jail, you are stuck there forever...

 

[captainwillies]

While I hate School, I certainly think there's a difference between School and Jail.

In School, your allowed to leave whenever you have a reason to leave, and you end up leaving it anyways.

In Jail, you are stuck there forever...

you didn't read the article did you

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

School is really, really not that bad. Really.

Granted, university wipes the floor with it, but school isn't bad. You have very few responsibilities, if any, and it really is a good experience, provided you have a good teacher, which I must say I was fortunate enough to have. Back when I as about 15/16 my GCSE physics, english, maths and history teachers were all incredibly inspiring and helpful blokes, to whom I am enternally grateful.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

While I hate School, I certainly think there's a difference between School and Jail.

In School, your allowed to leave whenever you have a reason to leave, and you end up leaving it anyways.

In Jail, you are stuck there forever...

you didn't read the article did you

Nope, and I honestly don't plan to.

 

[Daipire]

"School is a lot like prison, the sex you want, you ain't getting...

...And the sex you're getting... You don't want...."

 

[similar.squirrel]

On one hand, I really did appreciate my free education. The majority of the teachers were affable, smart and genuinely funny human beings. And I suppose I learned how to function in society to some extent [I'm still not great at it, but at least I know what I'm up against now >,>].

On the other hand, the sheer amount of bureaucracy and charade and general dicking around was absolutely infuriating and impossible to face on a day-to-day basis.

Uniform, the priority that sport had over academia, religious announcements over the intercom system.

The teachers were great, but the administration had some damned funny ideas.

 

[captainwillies]

The majority of the teachers were affable, smart and genuinely funny human beings.

really? man you got lucky. where did you go to school?

 

[falcontwin]

You do know most company Ceo's don't have college degrees?

You do know there are more than 5 companies in the world right? The people you have quoted are people who have a certain trait (either genius or straight up personality) that means they didn't need the education. But I bet you they employ a whole bunch of people with degrees to watch their asses now they have made the money and they are just figure heads of corporations.

 

[Duskwaith]

My school was decent enough in that it didnt focus so heavilly on grades and focused on setting you up to be a man and have a good life but teaching you stuff out side of the cirriculum and doing stuff that isnt just stuff the government sets.

Plus i had/have some pretty liberal kick ass teachers, one being so awesome he taught us the entire biology course and then told us all the things wrong with the course that we where taught.