It's funny how so many adults wished they had paid more attention and learned more things when they were in school. I know I do. And I made straight A's in High School and College ... okay, maybe a "B" here or there ... but it was a high "B"!! I took the 4 years of Science and the 4 years of Math and the 4 years of English .... and a couple years of Social Studies. And I was taught a lot of great stuff which I promptly forgot upon passing the tests. Many adults, in hindsight, wish they had taken better advantage of the education offered to them in their youth.
American High Schools offer a tremendous amount of knowledge to our students, basically free for the taking. They are offered basic level courses, or Honors level courses. They are offered academics and arts and sports. Most of their teachers hold college degrees in their subjects and are extremely knowledgeable and talented and willing to share. And many of our students take full advantage of everything offered to them during their 4 years with us.
Sadly, though, the majority of our students deliberately choose to take the low road ... the path of least resistance ... the easy way out. In some of my Math lessons I offer my students the choice between a long, involved, detailed way to do a problem, or the short easy way ... they always choose the short easy way. Wouldn't you? So .... why are we surprised when we offer students a chance to take Algebra II or Math Models (a fairly easy consumer math course) ... many of them choose Math Models.
Students don't see any use for Algebra II in their lives. They don't see any use for MOST of the stuff they learn in high school. In fact, most of them think going to school is just a big waste of time. They sleep through their classes and do the bare minimum required of them to pass. They can't wait to get out of school and really start their lives!! Yep .... life will be MUCH better when they don't have to go to school all the time. School is a waste of time that they could be using for work ... for earning money .... and then for spending that money they earn. Just a few years later they end up regretting not getting every bit of education they could while it was being offered to them for free.
How can we get our nation's youth to respect and cherish the vast educational opportunities being offered to them in our high schools? I know .... FORCE them all to take Algebra II (like Texas is doing now) .... FORCE them to take 4 years of Science and 4 years of Math (like Texas wants to do). That will make them want to learn!! That will make them happy to be in school!
I have a better idea ... an idea that might even kill two birds with one stone .... not that I am advocating killing birds or throwing stones ...
MY IDEA .... Instead of sending students to ninth grade .... put them to work. Give them minimum wage jobs doing menial or manual labor. Make them work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week .... and pay them for their time. Report them for truancy if they are absent and dock their wages. Promote them if they deserve it and fire them if they deserve that. But if they get fired they MUST find another job ASAP. (Consequences to be determined if they don't.)
Where will all these jobs come from, you might ask? Well .... here is the other bird .... take all of the undocumented workers from all of their menial and manual and minimum wage jobs and send them back to their homeland. NOW!! Any AMERICAN ninth grader should be able to do the same job a non-english speaking, often uneducated, undocumented worker can do. Make those ninth graders work, and pay them for it. If the undocumented workers want their jobs back, make them get real documents!!
At the end of one full year of this labor (no holidays or summers off), the ninth graders will be given a choice .... keep working for the rest of their lives, fighting for promotions, risking being fired and replaced by some other ninth grader, aging but not going any further in education ..... OR .... go back to school and value the chance to get enough education to take you above the menial, manual, minimum wage jobs of our society.
And ... while we are at it .... if a ninth grader shows a special talent in some service area .... working on cars, doing hair, working with computers, construction, electrician, plumbing, etc .... then educate them in that trade. Our true tradesmen are all getting older .... many retiring soon ... and we have no young tradesmen to replace them because we are pushing the academic/College route so much. College is NOT the only answer. There are many worthy and wonderful trades out there and we need people who want to do them and are trained to do them .... yet our society makes them feel somehow less worthy.
6 comments:
You know, I felt a lot of the same way in my graduate work. I waited 6 years after graduating from a VERY nice private Texas school to go back for my master's. I'm really glad I did.
Even though I didn't think my undergraduate experience was a waste, I didn't take full advantage of it. I breezed through, but in hindsight, there were a lot of missed opportunities as well.
So, when I CHOSE to go to graduate school - I paid, my choice (not my family's) - it made a HUGE difference. I had ownership in what I was doing. And, I had maturity and experience to appreciate what I was getting.
I agree with your idea - showing kids the alternative may make them appreciate what they are literally being GIVEN by our state school system. Maybe then they'll take it a bit more seriously.
You are so right! I have a daughter in the 10th grade and when I help her study for a test or quiz, sometimes I am able to retrieve something from the memory bank that I stored long ago, but usually I find myself saying "Isn't that interesting!",or "I never knew that!' at which point she rolls her eyes and says "Mom! C'mon! I need to get this done and go to bed!" (16 year old girls! LOL) I made A's and B's in High School as well! Thank goodness for rote memorization! But there were a few teachers who were real "gems" and taught classes in an "unorthodox' way. Of course they had to keep their doors closed and I'm sure it wasn't on their Lesson Plan! But those are the classes that I remember and the ones I learned the most from. Kids today don't have that opportunity because they are exhausted and bored by the standards placed upon them. And not from the teachers. The teachers hands are tied as well!In my daughter's school, they are focusing on writing skills because of the new focus on the PSAT and SAT so of course EVERY class has some sort of writing rubric. Even Phys Ed (which the Phys Ed teacher even laughs at! So why would the kids take it seriously?)So yes! Let's put them out in the real world and I'll bet they come running back to school in no time!I would!
High school has become nothing more than a four-year STD swap-meet.
A high school diploma (or GED)doesn't hold the value that it used to hold. College degrees have become the new GEDs.
I - for one - learned a whole lot more in just one of my four years of college than I learned in four years of high school.
Timmy .... do you think that was because you were paying for college? Or because you were taking courses you chose to take? Was there more "ownership" about your college courses as opposed to being forced to take certain high school courses?
Wow this post that you put seriously got me thinking on my whole perspective on school, I am a sophomore at your school...actually I attend one of your geometry classes and the way you regretted not learning as much as you could in High school makes me think about the way I have been treating my school work and reasonability’s involving academics…the truth is if you think about it if I were put in a real world situation where I had to work at a ‘real’ job and work for any type of promotion it would make me want to go back to that nasty yellow building I dread having to walk into every morning at 8:45. Yes I am you typical teenager that if it were up to me I would work at six flags every day and spend every cent on video games or clothes however you post was somewhat of an eye opener for me as to where my life is headed. I just wanted to tell you that you are great at what you do and it’s a shame that you are retiring. Just my .02
Hey Anonymous!!
I have no idea who you are ... but thanks for reading ... and thanks for understanding!!
I really appreciate your response. It really is difficult for you to see right now how important your education will be to you in the future. You just never know what you might need and when you might need it.
Thanks again for reading and for commenting.
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