'Merica.
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Another giant problem that I've seen ( and I've only been in schools in Detroit and Nashville so I'm not saying this is the case all across America, but it probably is ) is there isn't enough focus on computer courses.
In a day and age where almost everything is being computerized, and many tasks require the use of a computer to begin with, I'm not sure why any school in existence doesn't have mandatory computer courses. Just like reading and writing, it's pretty crucial to know what a computer is and how to use one because you're going to be faced with one sooner or later. Especially when a lot of employers are now requiring applicants to apply online. When I went to work at the university, a couple of my co-workers who were around my age didn't even know how to close out a browser window. They went out into the lobby to apply for jobs, and when they walked back into the dining area one of them approached me and said "Hey, can you show me how to close this page?" I walked with him back to the computer, and had to literally show him the red "X" button at the top right and tell him to click on it. I mean, come on. 2014 and people don't know how to close a Firefox window? WTH is this? It's depressing to watch people just have an absolute lack of basic knowledge. And then when you look at today's schools, and today's home environments, you begin to understand why. There's something seriously wrong with handing a kid a diploma before you've taught them how to use a computer. And as far as "No Child Left Behind" goes, all that did was force schools who weren't passing the standardized tests to pass the kids anyway. Think about it. If you have a school who is under-performing on state tests, why would they NOT tweak the tests and pass students anyway just so they can remain in good standing? I had students in my class who copied off my paper 24/7. Then when test time came and it was nearly impossible to copy off me, somehow they passed the test without my assistance. How do you go from copying everyday off of me, to getting a 80% on a state test without my help at all? I'll tell you how: the tests were being tampered with. Teachers were being told to give students the answers, or to take their tests and just bubble in the correct answers for them after class. Not for ALL the students, just enough so that they could meet the level of "proficiency". I even had a couple teachers literally give us the exact answers to the state tests minutes before we took the test. A science exam, for example. We'd have to report to our science teacher first, and then we were escorted to a separate room to take the exam. We reported to the science teacher first because she was told to drill the answers into our head. Then when we'd take the state test and pass it because we'd all be able to memorize most of the answers she just gave us 5 minutes ago. Then voila, the school meets the quota, the kids pass, "HURR DURR NO KID LEFT BEHIND" brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Dubya Bush administration. Cos that's how we roll here in Murica! Lol | |
It's really up to the student - but at a young age parents/teachers should be the ones to guide kids who otherwise won't make the effort.
At the same time, the teacher's union and the 200+ year old binary smart/dumb schooling system designed to fill factories and universities doesn't work. Back then you had a fuck ton of jobs, low paying, dangerous as fuck, but with everyone in the family pitching in it was doable.
Anyone they found to excel at school were pushed into the very exclusive universities, often backed by some investor, later that person would either run the factory or go on to do more academic stuff and "help society".
That system no longer works, since 1. there are no "super factories" in the US, and 2. Everyone and their 50 year old grandmother goes to college.
Don't forget the standardized tests that butchered teaching to focus on regurgitation either - or the fact the amount of superfluous technology we throw at kids makes sitting in a room boring as all fuck. The system works based off the idea of finding "smart" kids, in a very narrow and shitty way, but at the same time 'no child left behind' and 'everyone is special' turns the entire schooling infrastructure into a hypocrisy.