School System: Flaws?

[yesaspoon]

Dear Viewer,

I am going to discuss my feelings on the school system here in America, i do not live in your Europe and have never been to a European school, so my stand point is only of the American schools.

I feel that American schools are a completely flawed system. THey make you get up at wee hours of the morning and make you stay there up to 7 or more hours. These times also require homework and assignments to be done also. And once all that time has been wasted, they grade us on our performance which will shape our lives forever? That seems really fucked up... Our lives are in the hands of underqualified disgruntled adults. Makes me feel real good. Share your opinion. Thanks.

Arbalest ;)

[Commander-K25]

At 5/5/03 11:34 PM, Arbalest wrote: Share your opinion. Thanks.

"They make us work....the horror! And then, they grade us objectively rather than on how we feel...how unfair!"

No offense, but a lot of whine and not much point.

[yesaspoon]

Sorry, its just that it revolves around time at home, school, and how well you do it. I think that schools should only judge by performance at school, not tests and homework, extend the day 2 hours and no homework, that would be good.

[Shih]

Part of the reason homework exists though is to teach you to work independently and responsibly.

[JudgeDredd]

At 5/6/03 01:46 AM, Shih wrote: Part of the reason homework exists though is to teach you to work independently and responsibly.

And it fails miserably IMHO!

(damn, i just wrote my review on this issue in the other thread ;O)_*

[Ted-Easton]

The only problems I have noticed in the Canadian school system is with the teachers. Besides a number of them deciding to harbour personal grudges, many seem to be on a permanent "power trip". Mainly those teachers with the attitude of "my way or the highway".
Not only should teachers be schooled on what to teach before they enter the profession, they should be of an appropriate demeanour.

[yesaspoon]

Yeah, some teachers have weird personalities here in America, where if you do something they dont like you are basically fucked. :(

Arbalest ;)

[ichbincow]

hmmm so essentially your complaining about going somewhere..."working"...and going home with the possibility of doing "overtime" work=sounds like the realityies of living on your own with a job.

Seriously=Budget your time better,learn the material--only time I recall haveing late night homework stuff was termpapers/reports to do and this during the "no computer must use a typewriter" era. Sorry kid but no sympathy from me---save the whine for someone else please...try holding down a real job--pay your own bills AND go to school WITH "homework". Dont worry though...turn 18 and move out/live on your own OR get your folks to sign off on letting you join the military early (16yrs old).

[FUNKbrs]

I dont know about you guys, but when I went to school (Im an old man now), they used a converted prison for classes (seriously, its called Craigmont). Every morning we had "lock down" where we were all searched for weapons and given a head count. We were forced to wear uniforms and werent given a choice where we went. We had armed guards at every entrance. And now they wonder why so many young people are going to jail instead of college. The reason: because the transition between highschool and jail is a lot less difficult than the transition between high school and college.

[JMHX]

The problem isn't that they make you work (boo-hoo, you have to do some homework you don't like to keep you away from Newgrounds), but the fact that the things they're making you work ON are outdated and, in some cases, irrelevant. I see no benefit in having school books that still say "Soviet Union" and give mention to the Cold War when it was still going on.

Not too long ago I discussed a plan with the administration to open school at 8:00AM instead of the traditional 7:30, but the way classes are scheduled would not permit that. Eventually, the class scheduling was revised so that school generally starts around 8:00AM, when a second bell rings. The setup is simple:

Green Days - Three, hour and a half long classes, one half-hour lunch, and one hour and a half Student Resource period.

Red Days - Four, hour and a half long classes and one half hour lunch.

The classes alternate so that there are 3 'Green' and 2 'Red' one week and the opposite the next. I enjoy it.

[JudgeDredd]

At 5/6/03 09:56 AM, FUNKbrs wrote: The reason: because the transition between highschool and jail is a lot less difficult than the transition between high school and college.

ahh, well that explains why i was sent to a single-sex "high"-shcool :)

[RydiaLockheart]

Bitch, bitch, bitch. Do you really think life is gonna be different when you graduate and get a job? You have to do "homework" thhen, too. Your boss will probably give you assignments and a due date. God forbid the almighty Arbalest should have to work and have responsibilities! It's called life. Deal with it.

[Jiperly]

3 things-
#1 if we prove we know the work before we do the homework, then why do we have to do the homework?
#2 If we complete the work, then shouldn't we have the right to leave? hell, if the teaching is over, just give the students the homework and LET them leave- it isn't a prison, its a school
#3 Why (in Canada, i'm assuming America has simular standards) do we not have equal rights when we step on the school property? In real life, we vote for our leaders, get fair fairs, and many other equalities, but in school, we lose all those rights- why do we learn about the greatness of democracy in a Oligrachy(that being where the people who rule were appointed not by the people and there is limited representation of which cannot change anything without the approval of the appointent members.)

[JudgeDredd]

At 5/6/03 11:54 AM, Rydia_Lockheart wrote: Do you really think life is gonna be different when you graduate and get a job? It's called life. Deal with it. God forbid you should have ...responsibilities!

Nope, Adult life IS different.
You can at least (if you're lucky) choose your job, choose where to live, choose whether or not you want to enslave yourself to your credit-card or mortgage or new family, etc.

But kids don't have any such options.. THAT'S the REAL FLAW in the SYSTEM!

Responsibility naturally infers credible choices ..which kids just don't have!
_

[nitroxide]

The school system has let me down it was never there to nuture my interest people throw there kids in the hands of strangers for hours a day not knowing what goes on inside school walls...the school system is not teaching the kids anything but european lies it isnt american history becuase this wasnt our land in the first place...if the schools are here to prepare us for life for the future then why not nuture specific interest in kids why not teach kids the basics of resume writting and job search when i became 18 i realized the school system never taught me this why not teach the people there rights and the laws in school when you get arrested you have no idea what your rights are becuase noone taught you...the schools need to be change drastically with the parents involved and caring about what the hell is going on....parents cant get involved becuase they have become so dependent on the 9-5 to survive forced by the goverment to give up all your money to live...so the parents are to busy and its a cycle that starts with homework is 7 hours a day not good enough for a child to learn does he have to throw away his youth so fast to get a job to become to busy to pay attention to his own kids...

[Nirvana13666]

It begins with compulsory education, with the idea that indoctrination is the same as education. We are fed all this nonsense that doesn’t prepare us for the real world. School should teach us to be leaders instead we are outcast if we don’t meet the standards or question the curriculum. Teachers get paid whether you pass or fail and I admit most of them try hard to help the students but they themselves worry if we are well prepared to step foot into life without guidance. Texts books rewrite history and leave out all the important parts because it is a tool used to form your opinions in the favor they choose. Students follow a routine and everyone learns the same stuff until you get into college. What if I don’t want a 9-5? School takes up 7 hours of a kid’s day 5 days a week, that’s more time then mot parents give attention to their kids. School plays a big role in molding the characteristics of a student. They want to make you believe that you can’t succeed without school and degrees….I'm living proof that isn’t true.

[Freakapotimus]

At 5/6/03 10:32 AM, JudgeMeHarshX wrote: Green Days - Three, hour and a half long classes, one half-hour lunch, and one hour and a half Student Resource period.
Red Days - Four, hour and a half long classes and one half hour lunch.

I often wondered why our high school classes were so short. We had a setup like this:

Letter Days: A, B, C, D, E, F
which classes you went to - eg Health class on A, B, and C days, while Gym class on D, E, and F

Number Schedules: 1, 2, 3, 4
1 was a normal day, ie 1st bell at 7.40, 2nd at 7.50; homeroom until 8.05, 8 42-minute periods with 3 minutes between classes
2 was extended homeroom with 40-minute periods
3 was early dismissal with 34-minute periods
4 was morning assembly with 34-minute periods

The short classes were more noticeable in courses that required "setup" and "breakdown", like orchestra, art, gym, etc.

I think a better setup would be something like you (JudgeMeHarshX) mentioned, or possibly different schedules for different semesters, almost like college. Instead of one day consisting of 8 periods, have 4 periods with a seperate lunch time. For example, Fall would be math, english, art, and history; Spring would be science, language, music, computer.

[bumcheekcity]

At 5/5/03 11:34 PM, Arbalest wrote: Dear Viewer,

Thats nice.

I feel that American schools are a completely flawed system. THey make you get up at wee hours of the morning and make you stay there up to 7 or more hours. These times also require homework and assignments to be done also. And once all that time has been wasted, they grade us on our performance which will shape our lives forever? That seems really fucked up... Our lives are in the hands of underqualified disgruntled adults. Makes me feel real good. Share your opinion. Thanks.

I have to get up at 7 and work until 4. They make me do homework and then I do it. They test me if I'm clever and I am. If they didnt then id still be dumb. As it is I'm not. You've just described schools in general.

Arbalest ;)

Why the wink?

[Slizor]

Studies have actually shown that if you have school starting at like 10am...more people attend! Ain't that something?

[yesaspoon]

I would be "happy" to attend at 10:00 am. :(

[VasIndustries]

At 5/6/03 02:53 PM, Slizor wrote: Studies have actually shown that if you have school starting at like 10am...more people attend! Ain't that something?

I always try avoid scheduling classes before 10 am. When I have an 8 O'clock, its too much of a struggle to stay awake, and I learn more when I'm rested.

I am in college now, and I've noticed that a person's education level is partially related to what state or even what part of New Jersey they are from. I've taken Spanish for 4 years, and I was able to hold conversations on a trip to Mexico. My friend also had 4 years of Spanish, but he says they didn't get much further than conjugating simple verbs.

The American Education System is uneven. An obvious point, but I feel there is too much of a gap between my education and someone from South Jersey. I'm guessing this is because the US sets the standards and doesn't enforce them. My school was strict on completing the set syllabi for its classes. My friend should have had more training in Spanish than what was offered to him at that level. We were both on the honors track of Spanish, but I came out with more than him. I'm sure this is the case for other courses as well as other school systems.

After that long winded explaination, all I'm trying to say is that the American Education would work better if they enforced that the teacher meet the designated schedule for each of their classes. This is only one fault I saw with it, but I feel it is the most menacing.

[TheShrike]

Circadian rhythms.

Teens will naturally stay up later and wake up later.

Making kids go to school when they'd normally be asleep is wrong. And it helps explain why so many fall asleep in class.

Many studies have shown students perform better in the later hours of the school day.

But nooooo.... It would just be too damn hard to bump the entire schedule back 2 hours, wouldn't it?

And The bell system is crap, too. Most colleges don't use it because they've actually listened to studies that have shown that the bells are distruptive.

[nitroxide]

School is like a 12 step brainwash camp they make you think if you drop out you dont have a chance to advance in life they try to make you pull your pants up students fight the teachers and get took away in handcuffs and if that wasnt enough then they expell you your people understand you but to them your a failure observation and participation my favorite is when they try to beat us in our heads with them books it dont reach us so wether you break dance or rock adidas or be in the bathroom with your crew smoking refer then you know that math class isnt important unless you adding up cash in multiples unemployment aint rewarding they may as well teach us extortion you either get paid or locked up the principal is like a warden and in a four year sentence mad people never finish but that doesnt mean i couldnt be a doctor or a dentisti tried to pay attention but their classes werent interesting they seem to glorify the europeans claiming africans where only 3/5 of human beings.-Dead prez

[FrakMan]

While I don't necessarily agree with your specific problems with school Arbalest, I do definitely think that schools in the US have a fundamental problem. That is: MONEY

No money = old books, outdated technology, faulty hardware, and worst of all BAD TEACHERS.

Our school system does not pay teachers enough... that is why many who would make the best teachers don't go into the field. That is also why so many are generally pissed off.

I believe the root of this problem is in the funding system in many states (including Ohio, check out this link if you don't believe me).

First of all, state funding for schools is simply not enough in most states. Education is rarely a priority for anyone... just a great buzzword for people to get elected.

Second of all, a significant amount of funds for each school come from LOCAL property taxes. That's right, if you live in a rich district, you get more money. (In the link above, Dublin School County gets $170k/student while others get $25k). That's just idiotic... a way to keep the rich rich and the poor poor.

School funding should be universally equal (a set rate per pupil for EVERY school... even inner city ones) and a Federally funded PRIORITY. We spend a CRAP load of money on stuff like defense (for greedy wars, yes, that's another issue) and not enough on education.

Bottom line, our schools need more money. Our K-12 schools are SHITTY for the standard of living we have compared to the rest of the world. We can do a lot better.

[JudgeDredd]

At 5/8/03 02:35 AM, nitroxide wrote: brainwash camp stuff..

:)_aye korumba!

Do you think parents would actually testify to the fact that the their kids have to go "somewhere useful" during the day while they iz out making a buck?

Do you think that kids get to do a weekly course called "My Future Job Prospects" where they are shown detailed tax-take statistics on real world career options like; professional sportsperson, legal street walker, or anti-social couch-potato weekend-father and poor excuse for a financial-loser?

Me thinks not! :P

[Freakapotimus]

At 5/7/03 03:44 AM, TheShrike wrote: Making kids go to school when they'd normally be asleep is wrong. And it helps explain why so many fall asleep in class.

During my senior year, I would come up from school and take a nap, because I was so tired. Most nights I had a crapload of calculus homework - I'd be up until at least midnight or 1 am, and that was on nights when I ONLY had calc hw. My dad would come home from work and find me asleep on the couch in my uniform, and he said there was no reason to be sleeping at 4 in the afternoon. If I didn't get my nap, though, I couldn't concentrate on my work.

[JMHX]

Funding is and always will be a problem with schools, because lawmakers just don't feel it needs as much funding as it actually does. Sure, here in Indiana schools gained a huge boost in funding from the General Assembly, but that's simply because there was a lot left over from cutting programs that the government found out couldn't be used to help curb the defecit. They had originally planned to spend all of the money to help relieve the fact that we're...um...out of money.

[Metabolic]

Couldn't agree with you more, I to am a slave of the school system. And worst of all, its a Minnesota school...ack!

[Alejandro1]

I think that there are 2 main problems in the American education system: the grading scale and the overabundance of idiots in the system who don't want to learn.

The grading scale in the US (A, B, C, D, F) is a very leanient system; the US education system is actually the easiest in the world to go through. The US should make stricter standards to make sure only the truly proficient people pass through the system.

Another big problem in the US is the abundance of "dropouts" in the system that don't want to be in school. I'm talking about the people who skip classes and smoke pot in the bathrooms and others who are annoying attention-getters who disturb other dedicated students in the classrooms. The US should not bother with these dumasses who dont want to learn and should give them the boot (Japan and other countries do this, but America is full of saps who feel like every person should get an education even if it means bringing down the majority for a small amount of assholes).

[Metabolic]

Ha I'm all those, infact just today I was suspended for commiting violent acts against a postal worker involving a book being tossed from 2-stories up. :)