The real problem with education... in the US

[nadinbrzezinski]

No, it is not the teachers, (mostly), no it is not the administrators (mostly), yes part of the problem is NCLB, and part of the problem are parents and kids who could give a fuck about it. (And some teachers and administrators who couldn't give a fuck either)



The problem goes deeper than this and it is reflected in the attitudes of many a kid.... (Hey EGGHEAD, care to join us in football? That's where the real cool kids hang out)

Or the attitudes of parents... (Ranging from the very honest, three jobs can't spend time with kid, no time, and am exhausted... to the I could not care how you do it, but I want my kid to pass. See he \ she has self esteem problems... what do you mean fifty kids in the class are too much?)

To the attitude of the general society... what do you mean you want MY TAXES to go to little Suzies schooling? I have no kids in school, or what do you mean you need MORE money in it? You've heard them...

Those are symptoms of the problem.... which is cultural. The high religiosity in the country has led to a deep sense of anti intellectualism, and schools (science in particular) are seen as a threat. They are also a threat to the good social order.

This is not a recent problem either, before anybody screams BUSH... it is a deep problem though. We have seen it come up with a vengeance in things like the Scopes Trial, but we have seen it also go down... after the ruskies launched a satellite and we saw this as a science gap. But it's been there, in the background. And until this changes in the general culture, and we come into the 21st century, from the 14th where we are currently stuck... don't expect schools to be funded. Those who know stuff are a threat to the general culture.

So the question is how you change it? And you and I, who dare to ask this question, are in damn good company... the few, the happy few, who'd like this country to join the rest of the world, and leave this provincial attitudes behind. I don't expect to see this in my lifetime, and I suspect that will be one of the reasons the US Empire (if not outright the country) collapses

Chew on this... as you discuss the problems with education and try to lay blame... for blame is all of us, or at least the general culture

[Orrex]

1. Anti-intellectualism underlies a great many problems in our society

You're absolutely right about its effect upon education, and it also curtails inquiry--or even the skills of inquiry--in just about every aspect of life.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Of course it does... it affects all areas of life

but right now we are having this blame the teachers

And this blame the teachers translates to blame the egg heads....

:-)

It also translates to the work place, where nobody wants to change a thing, or even ask questions

[Orrex]

3. Well, that's because it's the teachers' fault. Duh.

:evilgrin:

I think my initial reply came across as a challenge when I meant it as an "I agree" post. Whoopsie!

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Nah, you extended the discussion, and that is fine

you are absolutely right... this affects all our lives

(As I type this the History Channel is showing UFO tapes... you know Aliens coming to Earth... no, we are not that important, it is the Anthropology 101 class coming to visit, the Yanonamo)

:evilgrin:

But UFO on the history channel, part of the problem

[Orrex]

10. Yes indeed

There's a subsidiary channel called, I think, History Channel International. I swear to you that in the past month and a half I've never turned to that channel without finding an hour-long special on Nostradamus, bible prophecy, or the Book of Revelation. This is history? I'm not a scholar of the subject, but I would have thought that some actual, you know, history had happened in other countries. Weren't there wars or something?

My most hated broadcast offender is TLC, the channel formerly known as The Learning Channel. It used to air fantastic programs, easily among the best on television, and now it's pageant moms and house-swapping 24/7.

The Discovery Channel is another bad one: its slogan used to be "Explore your World," back when their schedule included a significant amount of actual science programming. But a few years back the slogan became "Entertain your Brain," and we were deluged with endless shows about blowing shit up.

Granted, it's a mistake to seek enlightenment via the boob tube, but in playing to the lowest common denominator, television both exacerbates and demonstrates the problem.

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. It is a tool of social control

though I'll defend discovery for a second... the Mythbusters, and lord knows they blow quite a bit of shit... are a good program to intro people to basic physics... (and as a writer you find interesting shit, like what do you mean the larger the bullet the least likely it will go through water... there goes every Hollywood piece of footage)

They tried for a while to do their Science Content, what I hated was... they had the scary shit music, like if science was scary or boring

[Believing Is Art]

18. I want my Nat Geo back!

After TLC, History, and Discovery started showing nothing but religion, hocus pocus, and reality shows, Nat Geo was my savior. Then Comcast took over cable in the area and a couple months later, it was gone. I'm still pissed about it.

[hfojvt]

22. don't you get the Ants channel?

I am not sure what it was, cable being gone a month or more now, but there was one channel that always had shows about ants. Every night for two hours or more, it seems like I found a show about ants. Maybe it was ant-week or something.

[anonymous171]

5. Blame religion and culture. That always works.

:sarcasm:

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. So tell me, the Scopes Monkey trial had nothing to do with

the anti intellectualism in the US?

By the way, the US is the most religious of WESTERN democracies

You chew on that

[anonymous171]

11. The "cultural values" of Tennessee are not the cultural values of the nation,

As this last election clearly showed. The problem is actually the states themselves and the way they spend their money, not the culture.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. The egg head in the school will get harassed problem is not limited

to Tennessee... go around to ANY school in the US and I challenge you to show that the kids who are eggheads are also the popular kids

Exceptions to this rule do exist, but I'm not the only one making this observation

Historians and social scientists have done such over the course of the years. The US has a problem with intellectualism, and it goes back to early in its history.

As they say, open a book and read it. Hofstader is actually dated, but accessible...

[anonymous171]

23. How do we fix such a problem then? What is your solution?

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. We need to start fighting this general culture

try to read in a public space

Seat down with your kids to do homework

Have books at home... and I mean the classics, not just Harry Potter, and read them with your kids...

Do things together... and yes your kids will fight you

Go to the PTA....

Defend those in education

And do demand (and be willing to pay for) good education

It will take all of us consciously changing how we do business. That includes turning off the tube when the kids are at home, and the play station...

And I will commit heresy, but we, as a society, need to insist that spelling meets are more valuable than Friday Night Football

Chiefly this may not work, since we are fighting the culture, but we need to try

[sense]

39. That is exactly why we home school

My son was bullied, harassed and ostracized by the teachers and the kids because he wanted to learn. By the time we pulled him out he was a completely different person, very, very angry and certain that school was some cruel joke. It took nearly a year for him to recover and he was only in school 4 years.

[MedleyMisty]

47. My high school was an exception

No one knew or cared who the football players and cheerleaders were and the most popular guy was the valedictorian. And this was an upper working class/lower middle class school in rural northwestern North Carolina - like I said in a thread the other day, it didn't have IB and only had like four AP classes. I don't think that we really had a "popular" set. There were groups of friends and plenty of drama but I don't remember any group being considered "better" than any other group. And the valedictorian was definitely the most popular guy but I don't think that he belonged to any group, really - he just had an assload of friends.

I got respect for being the school "genius" rather than teased and bullied for it. Also it probably helped me a lot socially that said most popular guy had a crush on me from sophomore year on. It really helps your self-esteem as a high school girl to hear all sorts of *positive* gossip and whispers about you in the halls and in class.

When I had to take vocational and non-honors classes I was with different people than usual but they were cool and liked me. And actually I liked them better than the other honors/AP people really. I think that the other honors/AP people were your general sort of motivated high achiever who got good grades by working (note - if you have to work to get good grades, at least in a rural relatively poor American high school in the 90s, you aren't actually smart) and who cared about being "successful" and stuff. So when I rolled up all apathetic and reading something that was actually interesting instead of paying attention in class and didn't care about grades and my GPA but scored higher than they did on the SAT in 7th grade and kept up with them in grades I weirded them out and made them uncomfortable.

Also it probably didn't help that when they would have a class discussion about the terrible tortures of being smart I'd roll my eyes and remember how I had to define "angst" and "exonerated" for them and how uninspired and stereotypical their essays were and how I had no one to talk to about the books I was reading because they only read the ones they had to for school.

So when I got on the internet and tried to talk about giftedness and everyone jumped on my ass, it was a huge culture shock. All through my life until then - which was in a mostly white rural Southern small town - being smart was a good thing.

I don't know - maybe it's because there weren't any class issues because, with very few exceptions, all the people I went to school with fit into the same relatively small range of tax brackets? So I guess that maybe for us intelligence wasn't connected with social class and privileges, because we were all in the same social class. My mother worked in a mill just like everyone else's parents and I lived in a singlewide trailer and drove an older used car and wore the same clothes from Mayberry Mall that everyone else did.

I think that may be it - when I try to talk about intelligence on the internet it always seems to come down to class issues. I think that people who grew up in more economically diverse areas probably saw the rich white kids get identified as gifted while gifted poor and minority kids went unrecognized. And then ignorant people assume that the effect is the cause and get crazy ideas about rich white people as a group being naturally smarter than poor and minority people as a group.

It goes back to the idea I came up with on the other forum a while ago when this topic came up. It seems like people have a concept bundle that goes: intelligence = education = money = personal worth.

In my hometown the great majority of us had the same amount of money and, not being college age yet, I guess we didn't really factor in the education thing. So for us it was just intelligence = intelligence, and no one had an inferiority complex and projected that on to me and thought that I thought I was "better" than them and needed to be "taken down a peg or two" or anything like that.

I've seen this idea before so I can't really take credit for it, but people are going to be anti-intellectual as long as there's a price tag on education.

[Fireweed247]

61. That is a very interesting perspective.

Thanks for posting it!

[raccoon]

48. I agree, kids who are eggheads in school are usually not the popular kids.

And in the adult world, eggheads are ridiculed by many people too.

As far as I can see, this country's been like that a long time. How to change it? I wish I knew.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

35. When was that again?

[nadinbrzezinski]

37. You are aware that Kansas tried to ban the teaching of evolution

in 1999 Right... you remember that right?

If you don't here you go

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/conlaw/evolution.htm

I am sure there are far more links, but it is late

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

38. Maybe you should have brought that up instead.

[chrisa]

56. Ahhh the Monkey Trial.

What a freaking mess.

And it proves that these morons knew nothing about "evolution" (which is also an incorrect phrase); because we all came from a common ancestor, not monkeys.

[NYC_SKP]

7. "the general culture" BINGO!

The OP is correct in our needing to take a more global, wholistic look at what is wrong.

Our culture probably values teachers and the institution of public education with less regard than any other developed nation, and most of the rest of them, as well.

I could go on and on and on, but I'll just say, "Bratz", SUVs and, oh, "Cribs", to just give a flavor of how far up our collect ass our priorities are.

:cry:

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. So how do we change it? Until we do

we will continue to have these problems

[NYC_SKP]

16. One step, one person, one action at a time.

I do what I can to lead a life that is true to my "leave the world a better place" frame of mind, without preaching about it.

We engage in constructive conversation with those who don't appreciate the importance of the choices we make every day.

We strive to educate others even as we educate ourselves, most folks are willing to understand when exposed to good sources of data.

I've always found it best to do this without being confrontational, by appealing to others' better nature.

People aren't inherently evil, they're just misguided and a little ignorant.

And, really, everyone wants to leave the world a better place, they just don't understand the wrong they do or the power they have to do right.

You and I have to do what we can to enlighten them, and one another, nadinbrzezinski. :toast:

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. We do, that we do

as is my nephews see both BIL and me writing, and readying constantly... so by example they may pick it up

WE HOPE

[NYC_SKP]

21. Right, and we focus more on the younger ones, with open minds and hearts.

Your mention of the nephews reminded me of that important point.

WE MUST! :P

[dysfunctional press]

9. personally, we solved the problem for ourselves by not having kids.

nt

[Orrex]

12. Thanks--that means that you did our kids a favor!

They won't have to squabble with your offspring for precious resources in decades to come.

[dysfunctional press]

28. you're welcome.

with our vastly superior norwegian/german/irish lineage, your progeny may have had some stiff competition.

or not.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Our "kids" have feathers... thank the Navy

and it is the Navy why we ended up not having any. Though we may look into adopting a kid

[dysfunctional press]

31. adoption probably isn't an option for us...

we both realize that we're just not parent material. we're very disorganized, sloppy, and we procrastinate about everything...just getting ourselves to the finish line may be a daunting task- the LAST thing we need to do is to take responsibility for another innocent human life. BUT- we do do fine with our 3 cats and the one big beautiful dog.

i had tried to get into the navy once, and even took and aced the test they give...they immediately started pushing me towards the idea of nuclear submarine training...BUT- (luckily? :shrug: who knows?)i didn't pass the medical exam- i didn't really FAIL it either- but the medical officer i saw pretty strongly disuaded me from considering it, due to a deformed right hand(a birth defect- it's not all that hideous...the thumb and pinky are mostly normal, and the middle finger is about 1/3 of what it should be, and the 1st and 3rd fingers are about 2/3 length, with the top knuckle fused- they all have nails, even the stubby middle finger has a trace of one).

maybe the dr. was just testing my moxy or my mettle over it- but self-confidence has always been my weakest point, so it didn't take much for him to convince me to bail.

[nadinbrzezinski]

34. That was nuke testing... you didn't have what it took

:-)

Hubby is a bubblehead

Retired...

[dysfunctional press]

42. for the most part, i think that was for the best...

i'm not too good being under authority- and i generally have to know WHY i'm doing something...

my main goal in life was to get to a point where i didn't have to have a boss or BE a boss.

and luckily, permanent disability due to a crippling congenital spinal arthritis and the chronic pain that accompanies it have made that all possible!

how many people do you know who achieve their dream by age 38?

and that was 10 years ago.

[hfojvt]

19. it seems to me you favor more schooling

it's hard for me to explain an alternative, but it seems to me that we may all be trapped in an unworkable frame.

Here's Paul Goodman's preface to "Compulsory Mis-education"

"In these remarks on the schools, I do not try to be generous or fair, but I have seen what I am talking about and I hope I am rational. This case is that we have been swept on a flood-tide of public policy and popular sentiment into an expansion of schooling and an aggrandizement of school-people that is grossly wasteful of wealth and effort and does positive damage to the young. Yet I do not hear any fundamental opposition in principle, nor even prudent people (rather than stingy people) saying, go warily. The dominance of the present school auspices prevents any new thinking about education, although we face unprecedented conditions.

It is uncanny. When, at a meeting, I offer that perhaps we already have too much formal schooling and that, under present conditions, the more we get the less education we will get, the others look at me oddly and proceed to discuss how to get more money for schools and how to upgrade the schools. I realize suddenly that I am confronting a mass superstition.

In this little book, I keep resorting to the metaphor school-monks: the administrators, professors, academic sociologists, and licensees with diplomas who have proliferated into an invested intellectual class worse than anything since the time of Henry the Eighth. Yet I am convinced - as they get their grants and buildings and State laws that give them sole competence - that the monks are sincere in their bland faith in the school. The schools provide the best preparation for everybody for a complicated world, are the logical haven for unemployed youth, can equalize opportunity for the underprivileged, administer research in all fields, and be the indispensible mentor for creativity, business-practice, social work, mental hygiene, genuine literacy - name it, and there are credits for it leading to a degree. The schools offer very little evidence of their unique ability to perform any of these things - there is plenty of evidence to the contrary - but they do not need to offer evidence, since nobody opposes them or offers alternatives."

Thinking about alternatives though would be a huge tangent, but it just kinda jumped out at me, as you kinda complained about our lack of social dedication to the current system.

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Thanks for proving my point and making education a bad thing

suffice it to say, education does not only happen in those evil classrooms, where the school monks impart their knowledge. Education happens at home, when a kid sees a parent readying, instead of watching the tube, and asking questions about the world, and HOW things work.

It happens at the scouts, (Or other activities some kids can still afford) where a kid is taught how to use, safely mind you, an axe... a skill many kids don't know today.. or how to walk in the wilderness.

It happens at play, where kids learn things such as sharing and social mores

It happens all the time

But our culture sees that formal school as evil... and this hate of the intellectual goes from there

Does it need reforms? Yes... but you can do all the reforms in the world... nothing will really change until we change this cultural belief that this is evil...

Did I say thank you for making my point? After all, we eggheads are the big problem, since we eggheads produce nothing...

This reminds me of a kid in college, no matter what the discussion was, he actually asked after I answered yet another question in depth... how do you know so much? I read....

:sarcasm:

[hfojvt]

30. I made education a bad thing?

Did you read this?

"I offer that perhaps we already have too much formal schooling and that, under present conditions, the more we get the less education we will get ..."

There is a large part of our culture that certainly does not see the formal school as 'evil'. In fact, it seems to me the dominant meme of our culture is reverence for formal schooling. If you question the formal school hegemony like Goodman did, you 'get funny looks' and then you get ignored while the debate goes on to expand and improve formal schooling - longer school days, less summer vacation, more science and math, college for everyone, etc., etc.

The answer to our social problems is almost always given as more schooling. Even your answer is probably gonna be to TEACH people to have more respect for education.

Try to keep in mind that I am at least as much of an egghead as you are.

[nadinbrzezinski]

33. Yes you made FORMAL education evil

here is more... we actually NEED more formal education, but ONLY as long as it is one that is of quality

I went to school in another country, in a culture that VALUED that education... formal and otherwise

I am shocked when parents complaint their kids have to do homework, or lord, spend more time in school

Mind you... this will only work, the more formal education, if we actually have more of it that is quality.

But yes, you made that formal education sound evil

And that is part of the anti-intellectualism that goes to the early republic

And why when one types, Sic Sempter Tyrannis, regarding people like Bush, folks have NO CLUE...

One reason, we no longer teach history... at all

[sense]

40. That's not what he said.

What he said wasn't remotely anti-intellectual, nor was there any indication that he thought formal education was evil. You are contributing to the problem by refusing to see other's ideas as having any merit. There are many ways for people to learn and just because it might be different than one way that you think works doesn't mean he said something evil! Way to overreact.

[hfojvt]

41. but formal education is not the same as education

and if you agree we have the wrong kind of formal education, then merely having more of it would not be a good thing.

What would you consider a quality education? One that stamped out religious beliefs? One that taught Latin? One that required more work?

I cannot say what is or isn't being taught in schools. I no longer teach or even substitute, have no kids and my nieces are kinda far away. Whatever may be the zeitgeist of my republic, my family was certainly not anti-intellectual. My grandmother and uncle were teachers, my dad is a scientist and I was taught to expect a college education from a very early age as well as buying my own telescope at age 14 or so.

[nadinbrzezinski]

62. Here is the rub... this country, the zeitgeist, is against any formal

and also informal education

Try to watch the teevee machine in a critical way

Try to answer why people don't read

We are against it, and have been from early on in the Republic

And yes, more formal education MAY be part of the answer, but ONLY if this formal education promotes things like Citizenship and the love of learning

Otherwise, we're spinning our wheels

But we must stop this bashing, period

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

36. I didn't get that from his post.

[Mr. Hyde]

24. who cares? Our football team has a good chance of going to state this year.nt

typo

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. Again, thanks for making my point

tell me, those football players, how many of them will make it to the NFL? Less than 0.0001%

More of them will have life changing injuries

And you know what? They are not heroes... they are victims

[Mr. Hyde]

43. The ones who don't go pro still have a chance of becoming rap stars

or possibly winning American Idol.

[nadinbrzezinski]

49. And you keep making my point

there is a problem where we as a society value far more a football player, than a nobel prize winning physicist

Ot s historian, or any of them egg heads

[Mr. Hyde]

65. I've been making similar points for years,. American youths are plagued by inappropriate role models

[hfojvt]

32. football team? What about March Madness?

Who did you pick for the final 4?

[NYC_SKP]

27. Of course you realize this means we all have to take responsibility and quit blaming others.

And that doesn't go over well with folks who want to blame teachers, or unions, or charter schools, or merit pay, or president Obama.

Which is soooo productive, (not).

Recommended.

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. Yep, that's the case

I know that fully

So did Hofstader and other observers of the culture

Didn't go so well when all these eggheads wrote them books

[ConcernedCanuk]

44. propaganda and rewriting history to the PNAC gang's satisfaction

.
.
.

with the exception of some bloggers and boards like DU,

USAmerica's population doesn't really know much about the World outside it's borders,

other than what the Government and the Media feed them.

USA has always been sort of ignorant of Canada and Canadians

I remember as a teen working in a gas station where Americans came up in July with SKIS on their car asking where the nearest slopes were.

And in my late 20's when I lived in California, people asking how the heck we made tires out of snow - yeah - "snow tires"

BUT

now USAmericans are getting a wee bit more knowledgeable about Canada as some realize how much gas and oil comes from here to feed their energy needs

AND

we got lots of fresh clean water - -

so we are next on the hit list.

I believe it.

(sigh)

[nadinbrzezinski]

51. Nope, yuo are not

But Americans are provintial, not ignorant, (the latter goes with it)

There is a major difference

You can see it in how many people who are Americans have a passport and chiefly have used it

I dare to say that most who do are either in business, the miltitary or foreign born

[The2ndWheel]

45. Then it sounds like the time to get rid of the one-size-fits-all

culture. If that is the cause of it, why do we continue to push everyone into the same box? Probably because public education wouldn't work if everyone wasn't made to be a part of it, or at the very least, the road to something different is made much more difficult to travel.

It works the same with any organized effort. Religion doesn't like diversity, and public schooling doesn't like diversity. Both forms of organization love if all different types of people are on their particular boat, but neither one would want another boat on the ocean, as that takes money away from each one.

[nadinbrzezinski]

52. Public school works

alas it needs reforms, and one thing it needs is to have two tracks

One for the college bound kids and one for trades

How do you think it works dandy in other places?

Oh and it has to be a federal program... no more of this local boards shit, which actually makes public education in the US quite unequal

The IDEA of having national standards is not bad in principle, is the implementation that sucks

[The2ndWheel]

57. Obviously it has to be federal

Everything has to be federal. To me, that's part of the same functioning of the general culture. No matter what the peg looks like, we will make it fit into that one round hole. Then when everyone comes out of the other side in the same shape, productivity can be maximized. We all become interchangeable, predictable, and expendable. We all become what the industrial machine system needs the most in order to grow...mass produced products. Each cog as identical as the last. We're cheaper that way.

[nadinbrzezinski]

60. You realize that right now we don't have a federal system

in fact, if your kid goes from one school district to the one in the neighboring county the differences are so huge at times kids go up or down grades

We do NOT have a federal system and this is hurting us in getting a competitive system.

Chew on that

Kids of military families, for example, are acutely aware of this problem

[ananda]

46. It's the numbers game ...

... derived from the flawed logic of mechanism,
which began with Descartes, and the assembly
line mentality of the Industrial Revolution
and Prussian military style thinking and
tactics, such that every person and student is a
number and numbers rule the system as opposed
to humanity and vitalism.

[Life Long Dem]

50. How do you change it?

President Obama needs to do what he said he will do. He said he will end bubbles. But I heard nothing about the education bubble. And if anyone doesn't see the education bubble, take a look again, because this is the next bubble if nothing is done.

Good luck in teachers wanting to go into education with the cost of college today.

[nadinbrzezinski]

53. You start by taking away local control

yes I can hear the screams but local control is actually part of the problem, see Kansas in 1999 for a good example

You realize that indeed NOT all kids will go to college... no interest, no capacity, whatever... in the 1950s the system had tracks and kids who were not going to college got trained for trades... time we do that again... and time we deemphasize sports in schools

And this is just the begining

But we actually need to federalize the educational system and create national standards (no, not NCLB that's a failure)

But we also need to once again emphazise the basics, whcih are math, readying, writing, and yes in my view history and physics.

And it is time to kick religion out of the schools

I do expect plenty of a hew and cry over this, especially in the bibble belt, oh well

[wildeyed]

54. I agree with what you are saying.

I also think that the Left plays a roll in the problem. At some point, we decided that everyone was the same, that if all people had the same opportunities and experiences, they could all achieve at the same rate. This is not true. We acknowledge athletic talent and the role that genetics plays in that. Hard work and persistence also play a big part, but most of realize that we won't be playing for the NFL no matter how hard we work. Most of learn to live with it. But say that some kids might be smarter than others and might need a more challenging and quickly paced curriculum to fulfill their potential and people get really offended.

Let me be clear, tracking kids based on race or economic level is never OK. That is what has happened in the past and must be avoided at all cost. We do need to institute some form of flexible ability grouping that allows kids to learn at their own natural rate. So many bright minds are being wasted because we will not allow them to move forward at a reasonable rate.

[nichomachus]

55. USA: We have low taxes -- and the schools to prove it. n/t

[noiretextatique]

58. you've hit the nail on the head

i work with adults who cannot speak standard english...and they are raising children! how on earth can you expect your child to learn when you as a parent only did the bare minimum to get your high school diploma or ged? you are so right about our dummied down culture, hence all the snarky posts. this is a truth that many clearly don't want to face.

[Fireweed247]

59. Maybe it is the adults that are morans and need to start listening to the children

letters from my local paper...

Class booted off campus: I'd say I'm a normal 17-year-old trying to get through high school. I get very stressed because of the mass amounts of homework and tests. I already look to my future of graduating and leaving home for change, but before I leave there's one thing I'd like to see change. During my first period I have to walk down to the Soil and Water Conservation District Office to attend my Natural Resources Technology class.

This is a very impressive class that I started taking last year when it was allowed on campus. It's given me opportunities to become experienced in public speaking, become part of a national organization called FFA and a state officer in FFA, travel around Alaska and the United States, compete in the National FFA Environmental Science competition, which my team placed second in and will travel to Washington D.C. for the Washington Leadership Conference. It's easy to see why I'm frustrated that students are being forced to walk off campus for a scheduled high school class and possibly a cancellation next year. Why do we do this?

The teacher's union has challenged our class. They say that a class not taught by a certified teacher cannot be on campus during the normal school day. Rather than canceling the whole program, it is allowed to continue for the remainder of the year off campus.

But a new problem has arisen. Former teacher, Al Poindexter, is trying to retire. Passing the torch doesn't appear acceptable to the administration at Homer High School, and talk of canceling the program for next year is buzzing again. Where is education going these days if all the school can think about is teachers and out-dated rules, not the students receiving the education?

Time To Reevaluate Archaic Teaching Techniques: Riding the Educational Techno-Wave It's long been time to reevaluate the archaic teaching techniques embedded within our public school systems, but as the technology wave took the world by storm this became increasingly evident. Public education was left bobbing in puddles, barely skimming the surface of the resources we'd acquired.

In today's school system, computers rarely surpass the status of glorified typewriters. But with such an incredible wealth of knowledge literally at our fingertips, just how much rote memorization do children need to study in school? Memorization is being made obsolete by search engines like Google and Yahoo. The world is thoroughly connected and informed by the internet; all you have to do is plug in.

It's time for new methods of teaching that cater to the modern adolescent. This is a fact that needs to be recognized, most importantly, by teachers. Training and techniques have changed little since the appearance in the late 1800's of the "Little Red Schoolhouse" preaching the three R's: reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic. The transportation systems of two centuries ago aren't functional today - why should educational systems be?

By substituting more critical analysis and practical application in place of lengthy homework assignments, the focus of school will move away from simple facts and toward genuine reasoning. When schools promote logic and critical thinking through open seminars and more fluent student interactions, society can begin to make way for the techno-geek generation of tomorrow.

Rigid and archaic school codes in the form of standardized testing and required curriculum prevent progressive change from happening. It's time for educators everywhere to open their minds to radically different ideas of schooling. It's time to cut restrictions and requirements. It's time to gain the freedom to splash our way out of the puddles and into the ocean of knowledge.

More healthy lunches wanted: Those buying lunch at Homer High do not always look forward to the daily cuisine. School lunches consist of a variety of fried food, in a pallet of orange and brown, thrown upon a flimsy Styrofoam tray, with dividers to separate curly fries from cheese sticks, and cheese sticks from hot dogs. Fresh foods, such as chef salad, are only occasionally offered, and more often avoided, due to lumps of unidentifiable toppings. The alternative is French fries, which, along with ketchup, are considered vegetables to meet the requirements of how many must be offered with each meal.

Even further proof of the poor nutritional value of the school lunch is that almost all of the food sold is not cooked at the school. Instead, the school offers prepackaged food, pulled out of the industrial-sized freezer, and promptly microwaved for convenience.

With almost nothing fresh and a considerable amount of food that is fried, it is almost impossible to eat a healthy balanced diet if you are buying lunch from the school. While some students choose to bring a lunch from home, a large number of students do not have such an option and are left to eat what the cafeteria provides.

Studies tell us that eating a healthy balanced diet is key to concentrating and retaining information. So why is our school subjecting students to a poor diet, while teachers continue to teach us in health class not to eat exactly the food offered in the lunch line? Funding, of course, is one reason, but plenty of schools around the country participate in an all-fresh food program, prepared at the school. In a community where eating healthy organic food is so widely promoted, why isn't the school establishing this same goal for its students?

Saanti Steyer

Homer High School student

[threadkillaz]

63. They don't teach you how to start a business.

They teach you how to become a worker slave.

[Echo In Light]

64. Agreed, although I'd suggest corporate culture has led to a deep sense of anti intellectualism....

...even more so than organized religion. Besides, the true religions of America are greed and sports.

[nadinbrzezinski]

67. This goes to the early republic, well before corporations

sadly

It is deeply rooted in the culture

[Geek_Girl]

66. I agree mostly

There is a solution and I strongly believe it's Montessori.

My child is a Montessori student she is in Kindergarten. She reads, does addition and multiplication as well as cursive hand writing. She knows some Spanish as well. All this she has learned through Montessori schooling. The most impressive thing is she loves school. She's not special or gifted she's just an average child. But I believe any child can learn and any child can love to learn.

Our current education system was designed by industrialist during the turn of the century to train the masses into being worker bees to work the factories. We need a new method for educating our children and I strongly believe the Montessori method holds the key.

[Mike 03]

68. Yup. You are right, IMO. And as usual, I see a lot of negative responses from people who refuse

to take responsibility for anything.

Thanks, as usual, for your injection of reality.

This place needs you now more than ever.

[Mike 03]

69. Let's just refuse to accept responsibility for our lives, behaviors and everything

altogether.

Maybe that would please most everyone.

It's so much easier if we dump all of our responsibilities in the laps of teachers, politicians, new presidents, treasury secretaries, federal reserve chairmen.


Thank god for you nadinbrzezinski, to recognize someone around here has a brain.