Education in America Page 2

Started by Livewire September 23rd, 2010 1:22 PM
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What do you think?

Livewire

Male
Sunnyshore City
Seen December 3rd, 2022
Posted August 2nd, 2019
14,091 posts
13.8 Years
Our education system isn't going to change. The fact is no one really wants change in that manner in this country. The US's population is all about "I don't want to pay more, but I want more free sh*t." That's why I can't live here anymore. Many of my friends are in upper class families and I live just inside middle class becuase i was raised by a single mom. They got good educations by going to private schools and I was lucky I got a good one from going to a well funded school district. It makes me sad that people are so selfish and it's hurting our country.

The Tax issue is a big part of it too! Every country that has high taxes (even approaching over 50%) has the wierd factor of most people paying them keep at least 30% of their income after basic living expenses. In the US, after taxes and basic living expenses, youre lucky to keep 5% of your income. Those high taxes fund programs that we pay for out of pocket at triple sometime QUADRUPLE the rates that a government funded program would. Why don't we have those programs? Because socialism leads to communism according to republicans (most republicans, at least) and ignorants who don't know the difference. Our struggle today is the result of the cold war and it's bullsh*t. That's why im moving to British Columbia out of college.
That's what happens when Capitalism is left to it's own devices. Greed, Individualism, and Selfishness get to fester and ruin our country. 8 Years of Republican 'Big Business' policy and corrupt Wall Street dealings have really screwed us over.

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I think Oprah did a show about this. Yes, I saw an episode of Oprah. She talked about this movie about the current situation of our school systems. The movie is called "Waiting for Superman": After hearing what's going on these days, I'm really sure this country's headed down the toilet. We are capable of changing, but we're too lazy or too shallow to act.
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Roxichu

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That's what happens when Capitalism is left to it's own devices. Greed, Individualism, and Selfishness get to fester and ruin our country. 8 Years of Republican 'Big Business' policy and corrupt Wall Street dealings have really screwed us over.
Wait, what's wrong with Greed, Individualism and Selfishness? Those are just human nature (except for Individualism, being that humans are a herd species).

Everyone is greedy and selfish at their core. Very few will ever admit to it. ;)

Livewire

Male
Sunnyshore City
Seen December 3rd, 2022
Posted August 2nd, 2019
14,091 posts
13.8 Years
Wait, what's wrong with Greed, Individualism and Selfishness? Those are just human nature (except for Individualism, being that humans are a herd species).

Everyone is greedy and selfish at their core. Very few will ever admit to it. ;)
It may be human nature, but that doesn't mean we have to make it so. We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard than that.
Male
Fighting off Nemo
Seen July 28th, 2016
Posted February 23rd, 2013
86 posts
13.2 Years
I don't know if someone already spoke of this in a way i can't comprehend, or if this is intelligent...but here's my take!

As you've already we are failing at educating our student body, but as a whole things are looking slightly up. We still have schools, but as you said many aren't using them and are dropping out of high-school. In my opinion, the problem is not only the $, the teachings, or dropout rates, it's the students!

Many simply don't want to learn. Many children who act out too much or simple won't do the work end up in "Special ED" along with the children who actually have problems.

I think that America's education has gone down the drain because the students don't want to learn! Some students cut class and then become "cooler" in their tiny little social groups. When the students stop trying they fail and get ever angrier at the learning system. Most teachers don't know what to do with these children who interrupt their classes. they have them sent to the office or ignore them or send them to Special Education. This growing number of lazy students act out and annoy the rest of the class. Also, we are at a disadvantage with most schools learning only 1 language until about 6th grade they might have a small class. What i had said many times in this are WE THE STUDENTS ARE LAZY. WE THE STUDENTS DON'T CARE. WE THE STUDENTS NEED TO BE SHOWN WHAT HAPPENS TO DROP-OUTS! I think that classes with "bad" students should be made to go (the school will pay for it and make it mandatory) to the closest large city and see, no count the beggars! They should be shown what they will become! That is my take on America's Education. I'm Sorry if i made a fool of myself or ignored the main issue.
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Livewire

Male
Sunnyshore City
Seen December 3rd, 2022
Posted August 2nd, 2019
14,091 posts
13.8 Years
thank you...um.im gonna sound like an idiot now, but what does apathy mean... thanks for the kind words or my argument...
Apathy basically means not caring about something, or being indifferent. So, in the context of the thread, apathy would be not trying our hardest in our studies, and settling for less, when we could obviously do much, much better if we tried.

From Wikipedia-

Apathy (also called impassivity or perfunctoriness) is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation and passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, or physical life. He or she may exhibit an insensibility or sluggishness, also. The opposite of apathy is flow.[1] In positive psychology, apathy is described as a response to an easy challenge for which the subject has matched skills.
Often, apathy has been felt after witnessing horrific acts, such as the killing or maiming of people during a war. It is also known to be associated with many conditions, some of which are: depression; Alzheimer's disease; Chagas' disease; Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; dementia; Korsakoff's Syndrome; excessive vitamin D; Hypothyroidism; general fatigue; Huntington's disease; Pick's disease; progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP); schizophrenia; Schizoid Personality Disorder; Bipolar Disorder, and others. Some medications and the heavy use of drugs such as heroin may bring apathy as a side effect

Livewire

Male
Sunnyshore City
Seen December 3rd, 2022
Posted August 2nd, 2019
14,091 posts
13.8 Years
oh okay....i feel like an idiot (oh well always good to be humbled) now what you said makes perfect sense thanks...building on my argument, what do teacher/staff do at your schools when kids don't want to learn?
They're often limited by the schools themselves. The kids that don't want to learn fail, and only propagate the issue further. There needs to be a way to save the failing kid's futures, and to help keep the passing kids on the right path.
Seen January 4th, 2013
Posted October 21st, 2011
1,804 posts
13.8 Years
oh okay....i feel like an idiot (oh well always good to be humbled) now what you said makes perfect sense thanks...building on my argument, what do teacher/staff do at your schools when kids don't want to learn?
apathy comes from the teachers too. some teachers don't even attempt to draw student interest- they don't explain the importance of learning something valuable and instead just hand out work to keep the student busy rather than in a comprehensive state, they don't make their students feel comfortable with expressing themselves in the classroom so the student is repelled from getting involved. there are a lot of emotions that steer motivation that teachers fail to recognize and reach, and that contributes to the lack of enthusiasm for learning students show.

Livewire

Male
Sunnyshore City
Seen December 3rd, 2022
Posted August 2nd, 2019
14,091 posts
13.8 Years
hmm....... though it sounds cruel and expensive, has anyone tried mass hypnosis on those children? when hypnotized they may end up forced to learn? (this isn't a joke this could work!)
Well, Ill give an A for effort. xD But that's the problem. We'd need to find a way to reach out to parents/kids like that, to find a solution and to change the current culture.


apathy comes from the teachers too. some teachers don't even attempt to draw student interest- they don't explain the importance of learning something valuable and instead just hand out work to keep the student busy rather than in a comprehensive state, they don't make their students feel comfortable with expressing themselves in the classroom so the student is repelled from getting involved. there are a lot of emotions that steer motivation that teachers fail to recognize and reach, and that contributes to the lack of enthusiasm for learning students show.
See the whole system is to blame. We'd have to make the US school system do a total 180.
Male
Fighting off Nemo
Seen July 28th, 2016
Posted February 23rd, 2013
86 posts
13.2 Years
still........i wonder what would happen if every person on this site instead of going online right now and started studying?

Somehow teachers need to encourage children at a young age that doing good in school is good...hmm.......bribed by treats? it works for my dog! :P
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Livewire

Male
Sunnyshore City
Seen December 3rd, 2022
Posted August 2nd, 2019
14,091 posts
13.8 Years
apathy comes from the teachers too. some teachers don't even attempt to draw student interest- they don't explain the importance of learning something valuable and instead just hand out work to keep the student busy rather than in a comprehensive state, they don't make their students feel comfortable with expressing themselves in the classroom so the student is repelled from getting involved. there are a lot of emotions that steer motivation that teachers fail to recognize and reach, and that contributes to the lack of enthusiasm for learning students show.
I also think that the bad teachers are bad because they're bound to a bad curriculum and a bad school. There's no doubt there are bad teachers out there, but they're only as good as the school/curriculum behind them.
Seen January 4th, 2013
Posted October 21st, 2011
1,804 posts
13.8 Years


I also think that the bad teachers are bad because they're bound to a bad curriculum and a bad school. There's no doubt there are bad teachers out there, but they're only as good as the school/curriculum behind them.
i agree that's often times part of it. though some teachers take the crappy curriculum they're assigned to and are able to add to it or make it their own- that's actually something i do with the kids at my job- we're given seemingly limited lesson plans, but i manage to keep the kids absorbed by expanding on the lesson plans and sort of twisting them so that i'm still following procedure but the kids actually get more out of it. i think with enough knowledge on the subject being taught and enough care for the students, teachers can manage success- but i certainly agree that poor curriculum and a corrupt environment can be very discouraging for them. and sometimes i think teachers are given too many students to deal with, with around 30 kids filling up the classroom there's no room for one-on-one guidance and no time to balance out individual pace.

Melody

Banned

Female
Cuddling those close to me
Seen March 4th, 2018
Posted March 2nd, 2018
6,459 posts
18.6 Years
I actually have a professor now that knows exactly why the teachers fail to engage the students, thus promoting apathy.

She says essentially:
More often than not, teachers fail to take into account the basic individual needs of the students. They stick to ages old curriculum and teaching methods that pay no attention to things like how each student learns the fastest, meaning that the ones who don't learn in exactly the way the curriculum teaches the subject get left behind. This itself is a travesty. If more teachers actually bothered to try to engage their students who learn differently, by teaching them in the way they're more likely to learn, there would be far less failure, fewer drop-outs and generally better grades.

Of course the reason for all of this happening has already been mentioned in this thread. Americans are so afraid of taxes. It's so bad that Obama has got a bad reputation for just fixing the economy, because it just so happens that taxes will have to go up eventually, to pay for that epic bail-out, and he's only doing the best he can to fix the mess that the Republicans left. We're all gonna have to accept that taxes must rise, because the cost of operating has gone up drastically due to the corrupt workings of the Republican party.

When the teachers get new curriculum to teach their students and training on the latest education theories, that's when grades will improve!

Americans are definitely not "Lazy" by any reasonable standard, we're just so different in culture than the rest of the world. Rather than doing things, we like to delegate work to others, which creates jobs for more people, and essentially fuels the economy. When managed properly...America is capable of doing amazing things, your proof is right in the history books! (WWII)

We don't stop for tea...or to take a leisurely afternoon nap...hell we're lucky to get 15 minutes to slam a drink, maybe smoke a cigarette (if that's what you want to do) and catch your breath. The only major break is the lunch hour, and that's because it's unavoidable.

Livewire

Male
Sunnyshore City
Seen December 3rd, 2022
Posted August 2nd, 2019
14,091 posts
13.8 Years


Americans are definitely not "Lazy" by any reasonable standard, we're just so different in culture than the rest of the world. Rather than doing things, we like to delegate work to others, which creates jobs for more people, and essentially fuels the economy. When managed properly...America is capable of doing amazing things, your proof is right in the history books! (WWII)

We don't stop for tea...or to take a leisurely afternoon nap...hell we're lucky to get 15 minutes to slam a drink, maybe smoke a cigarette (if that's what you want to do) and catch your breath. The only major break is the lunch hour, and that's because it's unavoidable.
I agree with the above, except this. There is plenty of laziness to go around. I have seen it with my own eyes. Within my own family. I have relatives who are red-blooded Republicans, who would be the first people in line to judge other people on government assiatance, yet they themselves have been refusing to look for jobs, while they abuse the unemployment benefits given to them by President Obama. And they tear into Obama for it. And one of them is a teacher. Notice how I don't like them.

It truly varies. Some people literally have no time to rest or do anything like you said, but remember there are plenty of capable people who do literally nothing. Plenty of them.

Livewire

Male
Sunnyshore City
Seen December 3rd, 2022
Posted August 2nd, 2019
14,091 posts
13.8 Years
I think our education is bad I think we should get it fixed.
Bu that's the problem. How exactly do we fix it, without totally compromising our current educational system. Legislators need to find some common ground between keeping schools open and afloat financially, and making sure the students learn important things, not just basic, pre-requisite material like Algebra.

Livewire

Male
Sunnyshore City
Seen December 3rd, 2022
Posted August 2nd, 2019
14,091 posts
13.8 Years
the educcational system is slowly declining since more students are getting "dumber"
Well the students themselves aren't 'dumber', per say, it's more that the system around them has failed. If anything students these days are smarter, if they can still succeed despite the mostly horrible schools.
Age 28
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Oregon
Seen September 24th, 2018
Posted July 3rd, 2018
17,520 posts
13.1 Years
I think there are too many distractions in our schools, I Pods, mp3, ect. In the past these things weren't as common as they are now...I think that's why it seems like it's declining...
We also need more teaching methods everyone learns differently, I think we should study our own students learning behavior and put them into classes with teachers who specialize in that teaching method or are at least close to.
Education is very important for me as I want to be a teacher (despite being a Republican)
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Livewire

Male
Sunnyshore City
Seen December 3rd, 2022
Posted August 2nd, 2019
14,091 posts
13.8 Years
I think there are too many distractions in our schools, I Pods, mp3, ect. In the past these things weren't as common as they are now...I think that's why it seems like it's declining...
We also need more teaching methods everyone learns differently, I think we should study our own students learning behavior and put them into classes with teachers who specialize in that teaching method or are at least close to.
Education is very important for me as I want to be a teacher (despite being a Republican)
You can be a great teacher and still be a republican, MRAS. :)

Distractions certainly play a part in it, but I don't think we should be placing blame on the Phone or the I-Pod. They don't use themselves. xD And removing them won't solve much, kids would find another way to goof off. Responsibility must be pinned on the individual.