Please note I'm still a teenager so my views could change. Also this is mainly talking about American schools, since I've never been to school in another country. Anyway so far in my life I've been to public schools, cyber schooled and a private school. Now look I can under stand learning the basics like math, reading, writing and all the other basic stuff. Now the upsetting part for me is what school is suppose to do. It's suppose to prepare you for life right? But it doesn't at all why is stuff like science a mandatory class over something like cooking. Now don't get me wrong science is cool to learn but why in the world is it mandatory! It does nothing to prepare you for your future unless you are planning to be in a science based field. Things like car repair (not all of it just like oil and tire changing), cooking, balancing your check book should all be mandatory. Most of Math after middle school is almost pointless, unless you plan on majoring in a math field. Who is going to use Alerbra in your life unless your majoring something that requires it. This last part may have just been my experice but it feels like I keep learning slavery and the civil war constantly. Did anyone here ever learn about WW1 or Vietnam during there school time? Also should gym be mandatroy? I can understand why health, but gym doesn't really prepare you for anything. Don't get me wrong it's fun but it doesn't do anything for you. I don't know maybe this is just unintellegient rant. But it just feels like school is only reaching to certain group of students instead of the student body as a whole. We could be learning so much more stuff but we are forced to learn almost useless things day in and day out. Anyone else feel as I do? You guys are welcome to disagree but if you do disagree plese bring up a valid point. I'd also like to here about if you guys went through any of these thoughts when in school or now (if you still are in school)
In school you are not only learning some of the most important facts about the world outside of your comfort zone, but you are also learning how to learn. And school equips you with everything you need to make your own way in the world, and be a dynamic, well adjusted member of society. I'll never seriously use the information that woodlice like somewhere damp, warm and dark, which I learned in first school, but I'd be poorer not knowing that; and it's a part of trusting my own observations and use of logic. This is the most important thing about school and to say it's 'unimportant' is missing the point. It does not have to be what the fact is, exactly, but what it represents: your growth as an individual and developing an internal, logical, analytic process. Also, I wouldn't like to enter the modern workforce without at least a basic education, because I know most wouldn't actually survive.
It's a complicated issue, but overall I do think it is better to give everyone a grounding in the various key subjects up to at least 16 - if you aren't thoroughly exposed to these things you won't know what our strengths and passions are. Young minds can change quite quickly (mine certainly did), so someone who drops science at 13 may have actually turned out to be gifted/interested in it if they had gone through an extra year or two of education. I dropped all sciences after 16, and I do sometimes wonder whether I should have continued with one or two of them at A-Level, because I was actually quite good at them and the work areas would have suited me, I just hated my science teachers so I was deterred. I absolutely loathed maths at school, I dropped it as soon as possible and I would loudly complain in lessons that I shouldn't have to do trigonometry as I would never have to measure a triangle in real life. Now I am a chartered surveyor and it always amuses me when I'm measuring up building plans, and I have to use google whenever I get to a triangular section
Well you have to see there are some schools, middles schools, that allow you to chose your own classes. Though the reason you are disapointed in the system is because you say they don't train you for life. But the things they teach you are basic things you need to know as you go on in life, for the most. They spread out different subjects so they can try to get to everyone's dreams as a whole. And gym is manditory so the people who want to grow up and be athletes can get a head start without having to stay for practice. Because no everyone can do practice. And other classes such as Engineering are available in college. And even computer class is trying to reach out to certain people. But, you must see these classes are doing this so as you get out of middle school, high school, and college. You can have different options for your life in case one thing dosen't work, you can have multiple second options. So more Americans can have more jobs and all that good stuff.
My daughter was forced to take three science subjects when she took her O levels some 20 years ago. That meant that she couldn't take the subjects she wanted to take - languages in particular. She didn't like science, it hasn't been useful to her, it wasted several hours a week of precious school time which could have been used learning something that would have prepared her for her working life. Now she is a solicitor. She started work on a Youth Training Scheme, because she hated college. After 6 weeks it was apparent that most of her school friends were more interested in socialising that learning. From the YTS, she became a legal secreatry, then a PA, then she did several years distance learning at university before taking the exams which gave her qualifications. Now she is a solicitor. While others who did full time university courses were unable to obtain work in the legal field, she, because she had practical on job training, was assured of a permanent placement where she has gone from strength to strength. The point I'm making is that school doesn't necessarily provide the education that an individual needs. The education system doesn't fit all pupils. It should. It's compulsory to attend school - it should also be compulsory that school provides the education the pupil needs. Also, no matter what school does or doesn't teach you - it is only the beginning of the road. Most people learn much more when they leave school. Be prepared to carry on learning for a long time, that way you should, eventually, get where you want to be.
First off Gym should not be mandatory. The reasoning that it is for kids who want to be athletes is just bad. Come on Leonard if it was just for kids who wanted to be athletes then the entire student body wouldn't be taking it. In fact that makes the teacher me and you had look sort of uneducated and playing favoritism.
I agree of course basic knowledge and education is always important. But I'm more trying to make points about classes only geared toward a certain group of people. I guess an example would be science. I won't lie it's a cool subject but in no way should it be mandatory at least when compared to other things they could be teaching you. Can you understand were I'm coming from?
Gym and sports did - or at least it used to and should - give you a sense of self-worth, confidence in your own abilities, makes you competitive and determined to succeed, and yes, it's to keep kids healthy so there are no health complications later in life. Most importantly it should make you competitive and determined to succeed, and give you the confidence in yourself; that is what keeps the economy going. No. Not at all. I love science and learning about the world around me, and the universe around that. If anything science gives you the pleasure to understand the world and think critically about things based on evidence, it's why I made the example of the woodlice thing I learned in first school. Science classes is just a more complex version of that at least, at best it'll give you knowledge you'll not have had before hand and make you more dynamic as a person and as a worker and give you an option you might not have considered without it. And personally I don't care for people who are happily ignorant. School is about learning, and learning how to learn. To ignore school is to impoverish yourself.
I agree sort of. I don't mind learning I just find half of what is suppose to be helping me have a basic knowledge of life is kind of doing a poor job of it. But I don't think this has to be. So much stuff goes untaught, stuff that effects everyone and not just the groups it seems to be made for.
Gym should also provide good experience of working as a team, being gracious in victory and defeat. I say 'should' because it wasn't like that in my school, where the 'rough kids' would just run around thwacking everyone else on the legs with hockey sticks! But even that was character building in its own way. In fact, having to do stuff you don't want to is pretty character building in general; if you were used to dropping things that didn't interest you or that you weren't good at when you were at school, the working world would come as a terrible shock! Also the idea of kids being in school 5 days a week with no mandatory 'get off your arse' time really doesn't sound good, but I don't disagree that the method and effort put into teaching the subject could be looked into.
I agree. I remember those PE lessons too with the meaner kids basically just beating up the weaker ones. But that's what happens, sport can channel anger in a healthy way which is another point in its favor.
Yeah that stuff never happened to me. Probably because I'm a bigger kid in terms of tallness. Nonetheless I've never considered myself throwing away my education I mean hell I still take all the classes I named that shouldn't be mandatory like science I still take and enjoy it. Maybe this stuff will pay off in the long run. Because I do like to learn it just feels like I've learned more useful things outside of school then I have in school. I can't be the only person who feels like that sometime. Though I tell you Lemex you defend school like a pro I didn't think anyone could steer my current way of thinking.
I think middle school isn't designed to teach life skills - high school is more the place for that. And I agree that classes on cooking, household finance, basic auto mechanics, etc should be mandatory in high school. But especially nowadays, middle/high school is not meant to be the last school one ever attends. A Bachelor's degree is now considered the new 'high school diploma' for any but the most basic jobs; trade or vocational school is needed for any of the trades. I look at middle/high school as the sampling school - where you're exposed to various disciplines (and I can't tell you how many kids I've known hated math or science and ended up in those fields later), teaches you how to study and research, helps with communication on various levels - and yes, even phy ed is useful overall (and I can't tell you how happy I was when I got to high school and it was no longer mandatory!). There are many things I considered a waste of time 'way back when' - but I've used either the knowledge or the skills taught over and over again through my life.
I'm currently training to be a teacher. I would have to justify it, even if it's only to myself. But I'll speak from experience here, I didn't stick in at school, didn't bother because at the time I wanted to be a policeman. I found out just after taking my GCSEs (where I got 7 As to Cs, not good but the minimum to get into college) that I couldn't because I'm partially blind - I was half way through my application to join the service at this point. I sent my application away anyway, and got exactly that back, that I couldn't be considered because I am partially blind. I went to college instead and then University, I worked my ass off, and now I have a good English degree and am applying for a PGCE teacher qualification. I couldn't have done this without having those 7 GCSEs that I didn't try for and do not really deserve. I was lucky, because I still had options available, many people I knew at school just do not have that. One of the things I regret most of all is not working harder at school because if I did worse I honestly don't know what I could have done instead.
I have a very strange amount of jobs I would want to do first is a writer now and forever. But other work I wouldn't mind doing is anything involving trains
If you want to work with trains you'll likely have to know about engineering, and mathematics is key to engineering. And physics is related, as is Geography. When you think about it all these subjects have their place.
Good point. Though I consider Gerography and math kind of basics. Not sure where physics fall into the category of. Is it normally in a science class. That's were I'm learning about it.
Wow! Seriously dude, schools are not baby sitters, despite what some parents seem to think. Guess what, there are still parts of life that its expected will be learned from your family. Also seriously balancing a check book, this is crossing into stupid easy territory. If a school is teaching that they are pandering to the lowest common denominator. Instead if they are teaching that they should be able to get someone up to the level of being able to keep and run accounting ledgers. First of what is your problem with math, at that level it is simply fallowing directions? Not going to use it? Seriously after you say that why should any of us take you seriously? I find that I am using more then your middle school math daily. Did I major in math. No ! marketing and Economics, a soft business and a social science. Personally we went up to 1970 in my history classes in high school. My military science classes we covered pretty much every war the US has been engaged in with more focus on modern ones. I think you miss the point of Gym. If you have not noticed there is a positive correlation between an active mind and active life. Any idea where the word gym comes form? Its Greek for a place to educate young men. Even at its most simple it’s a good place to blow of some steam and have fun. From my memory its pretty easy too, I always remember PT for JROTC being worse. You know what classes I hated in school. English and lit ones. I think the only entertaining story we read in it was Beowolf. In my Military Science classes we read interesting books, but not in my high school English ones. It was not until college I had a English class I liked. In summery deal with it, it builds character.
as a "meaner kid" we don't want to be playing with you either. seriously get on my level. most of the people in gym class as i recall were lazy and not competitive. my favorite instructor broke us up. had the aggressive people play against each other on a separate field. it was a lot of fun.
I would say "either lazy or not competitive". Or just not interested in sports. Other than lazy, I would not consider the other two to be character faults. I coached youth soccer for several years - the non-competitive league. We had a few kids for whom the game (and winning) were practically life and death matters, but most simply wanted to learn the game and enjoy themselves. I switched all the kids around to different positions every week - the competitive ones hated it, wanted to be in the 'glory roles'. Tough. I had parents come up to me and tell me their kids learned more about the sport and sportsmanship under my coaching than they had any other year. My first year coaching, before I learned not to coach like the competitives wanted, we lost all but one game. The next four years, we lost two. Total. Hmm. Guess that was sort of a derail/rant. Sorry...
According to the theoretical physicist, Michio Kaku, the educational system has to change anyways. Memorizing has nothing to do with science anymore. And yet, you mostly memorize to proceed in ya exams. But what does remain in your head afterwards? You simply do not memorize in order to LEARN.
I can't speak for Lemex, but at my school the 'mean' kids had absolutely no interest in sport, it had nothing to do with the ones who were attacked being lazy; in fact it was the sporty types being targeted. After school sports clubs were great because everyone wanted to be there to play a sport and when it got rough it was for the fun of it, but daytime gym was basically just the kids who broke people's legs in the park after school attempting to do the same thing in school. As I said though it was character building, and the actual competitive games after school were great.
I never said I had a problem with math it was more related to who it was being taught to and yes math is simple. And in case you haven't noticed Lemox and I already had a long conversation on the subject. Also it is my right as teenager to complain so let me enjoy it well I still can. You go read Beowolf in english! I wish I had that class, only thing I got to read was a boring book about rainforest demolition.
