Aya - 12/10/00 20:56:24 Country: USA Province, State or Region: Texas Type of School: public

Comments: Hi, I'm currently a senior at a public high school, and I think one of the major problems people find with a public (or private) education is that the system is trying to cater to too many interests. First and foremost, you have the student, who I think everyone would agree should be the focus of the system. Some want to learn everything, some want to learn, but not what they're teaching, some already learned it, some just want the grade or the career, and others really couldn't care less what they did. Next you have the parents. Some are obsessed with grades, some are genuinely interested, and some are negligent. Teachers of course should be considered. Some really want to teach but can't express themselves, some can express themselves but can't teach, some are ignorant, and some are so intelligent they can't relate coherent information. Other teachers don't care or their techniques/personalities make it impossible for the students to respect them. Then there is the administration and school board. Perhaps it's because they're overwhelmed with complaints or work (yeah right!), or something else, but all of the administration I've ever met have been...in a word...worthless. They are discrinating and rude in general and know nothing of what goes wrong in the school! An example from my school is when they announced that the new rewards for doing well in our reading program would be 1) you could be late to one period and 2)you didn't have to pay a library fine. So basically, if you were a good student, you would have to break a school rule to take advantage of your reward. My class has since refused to participate (it's AP). The administration is mostly concerned with passing standardized tests and keeping attendence up...as to what happens in the classroom, they seem to care less. Next, we have the state (and US gov't), who is obviously concerned with schools since they're shelling out tax payer money to them and since education is so high on the voter's agenda, and they want to get re-elected, they care about schools. Namely, they care that students do well on standardized tests (so they manipulate the tests for the best scores). Obviously, they question then remains, what system would best help each student achieve his/her goals and yet satisfy all of the afore-mentioned parties? I personally think school should be made more flexible for the individual student, like college. Unfortunately, not all students are mature enough to handle such a system since it would require more responsibility. This year, I would estimate that only one of my seven classes is living up to what I expected. One of them is inherently worthless (I was stuck in it after they couldn't fulfill my original schedule). Two would be worth something if the teacher didn't overwhlem us with petty projects that add nothing to the class. In the others, I'm not sure what's going on, but it seems that we're running in circles. In an hour and a half in physics for example, my teacher goes over maybe four problems. The rest of the time, she fumbles about trying to remember equations or talking to us about some stupid topic she's explained countless times before, and this is on a good day. When we return to class the next time, we have to review three of those problems because they were so poorly explained in the previous day. At least two of my teachers come to class without any apparent lesson plan, and neither is intelligent enough to compose an adequate lesson on a whim. Perhaps the easiest way to change school is to acquire better teachers. Some combination of better training and higher pay would no doubt attract a more worthwhile teachers. With better teachers, those students who don't try can be inspired. No one can change their parents, so I'm afraid that pressure will never change, and administrators and politicians will no doubt stick to their policy of standardized tests unless there is a major revolution. However, better teachers would teach better and kids would learn more so less time would have to be spent preparing them for "regurgitation" for the standarized tests...until the standards were upped. Oh well. As far as students who don't get the most out of their classes, the classes should not necessarily be abolished, because someone might not have learned the information yet. The simple answer is they need more choices, and people need to be aware that the choices exist. At our school for example, we have remedial, academic, and advanced classes, along with an array of electives. Besides these however, they have programs for clinical and other specialization. There is also peer tutoring for kids who want to be teachers, work-release for students holding down jobs, a virtual high school with tons of electives to be completed like correspondence courses, and you may also enroll in a class at the nearby Community College and get off of school early. Choices like these add dimension to a school education, and many students would enjoy the freedom. School mirrors life so of course it's not always fair. People get stuck in bad classes. They have bad teachers. They have bad classmates. Just going to school and interacting is part of the learning, preparing you for society. Understandablely, some are more prepared than others, and without a doubt even though everyone who graduates leaves with the same diploma, they do not leave with the same education. For those who are sick of school and wish it would stress more tolerance to your beliefs ect., you can always approach it politically with a petition, or you can merely gain more tolerance yourself and remember that only rarely in a lifetime may anyone have their cake and eat it too.

temijen - 06/08/00 04:49:52 My Email:tamerlane@21stcomm.com Country: USA Province, State or Region: OK Type of School: Public High School

Comments: I rather enjoyed high school...but I graduated in 1987, from a small school in a small Oklahoma town. Almost all of the teachers believed that their task was to teach students to learn, not (to quote my high school physics teacher) "...to force-feed you ata for regurgitation on demand." Like most of my school-mates, I didn't particularly relish the idea of going to school everyday...and I must admit that I did not. High school (THAT high school) prepared my well for life, not to mention college. There were no "C's or better" programs. There were no programs to pump kids full of Ritalin and hypnotize them to recount the alphabet and "2+2=4, if that's okay with you..." Students simply were not pushed through school if they did not achieve th grades. Flash forward...thirteen years. I am back in a small Oklahoma town. Exactly 42 miles from the small Oklahoma town where I graduated. My step-son decides that doing absolutely no work in class or at home for the last nine-week period of the school-year would be a good idea! Not s re where he got the idea, but there it was. So his teacher, having only about five percent of sum of his work, instead of flunking his butt as she should have, totals and averages the five percent she DOES have and puts THAT down as his final grade... Seems to me something has changed...

temijen - 06/08/00 04:48:16 My Email:tamerlane@21stcomm.com Country: USA Province, State or Region: OK Type of School: Public High School

Comments: I rather enjoyed high school...but I graduated in 1987, from a small school in a small Oklahoma town. Almost all of the teachers believed that their task was to teach students to learn, not (to quote my high school physics teacher) "...to force-feed you ata for regurgitation on demand." Like most of my school-mates, I didn't particularly relish the idea of going to school everyday...and I must admit that I did not. High school (THAT high school) prepared my well for life, not to mention college. There were no "C's or better" programs. There were no programs to pump kids full of Ritalin and hypnotize them to recount the alphabet and "2+2=4, if that's okay with you..." Students simply were not pushed through school if they did not achieve th grades. Flash forward...thirteen years. After many years, I am back in a small Oklahoma town. Exactly 42 miles from the small Oklahoma town where I graduated. My step-son decides that doing absolutely no work in class or at home for the last nine-week period of the school-year would be a good idea! Not sure where he got the idea, but there it was. So his teacher, having only about five percent of sum of his work, instead of flunking his butt as she should have, totals and averages the five percent she DOES have and puts THAT

ohbloodyhell - 05/24/00 08:10:31 My Email:oh_bloody_hell@bla-bla.com Country: usa Province, State or Region: washington Type of School: fucking scarry

Comments: so heres a good example of how fucked the school system is--im a tenth grader at a small private "independent study" school. the idea behind independent study is that you go to school and meet with your teacher one on one and then you go home and do your omework. there are also group classes offered at my school. i go 2 times a week and spend the normal school hours there and take both group and individual classes--this all sounds like a great plan doesn't it? sounds like i should be getting the very most out of my scholling doesn't it? the idea is after all that the teachers and the ciriculum (i haven't even learned how to fucking spell) are supposed to cater to each student's individual needs and learning styles. well guess what--im not learning one fuc ing thing that is ever going to help me in real life. i spend 7.5 hours at school on the 2 days im there and on the busier day im only in class for 4 hours and 45 min. and i shouldn't even count my physycs class because that is 1.5 hours of boring mindles lifeless explanationless inexcapable torment that might as well be an hour and a half of sitting in silence (i gaurentee you i would learn a whole fucking lot more from that than i do from the teacher). and then on the other less busy day i spend a grand total of 3 hours and 45 min. in classes. im not saying that id rather be in one of my shitty classes than doing nothing but i think that its a big fucking waste of time to sit around for that other part of 7.5 hours doing nearly nothing. thats not even my point though. what i meant to write about is the fact that im not learning one fucking useful thing and also that the school is getting scarrier and scarrier. the walls are closing in. there is one big room where we all hang out on our i sanely long breaks. they now have a desk set up in the corner of the room for some staff member to sit at and pretent to work. our conversations are fucking monitered! its like a god damn monarchy! they are the kings and queens and we are the peasants. if we say anything that is out of line or is questioning their system they imediately stop us. this doesn't even have to be something we say straight them(and usually isn't). they always feel free to listen to our conversations and jump right in whenever the feel the need and tell us that we "don't have the right to say those things". when you ask why they tell you that you are "becoming a dicipline problem" or "this is an inapropriate conversation" or my personal favorite "it doesen't matter why, and i thin i deserve more respect than showing me right now." the scarriest thing is that they are almost spying on us. its not like we have these "questionable" conversations right in front of them so that they can hear, its like they seem to come out of nowhere s me times. im getting a little bit to dramatic so i think i'll stop here. the only other thing i want to say is that i think that my school is even worse than public school (if that is possible) because it hides under this veil of alternativeness when it i just as opressive a system as public school is. at least the public school system doesn't pretend to be something wonderful when it isn't. and in conclusion here is another fun fact about my school--we are all basically buying our grades. you have troub e in a subject, you pay to do it individually, you make friends with your teacher, and you get an A (A+ if you're really nice). the only useful thing im learning how to do in high school is slack off. thanks for reading this whole damn thing.

Milkweed - 12/30/99 14:14:34 My Email:milkweeds@hotmail.com Country: USA Province, State or Region: Maryland Type of School: Public High School

Comments: well I'm a senior who just got accepted to my top choice college so I pretty much don't care aobut my school's stupidity anymore, but this year it has gotten worse than it's ever been before. Instead of "standard" classes the lowest level classes are now alled "academic" to make kids feel better or something and we have about twenty new slogans to go along with our school's new renovation, such as "c or better for all students" which is enforced in the form of detention-esque remedial classes for kids who get lower than that, "tradition of excellence" and "21st century school" etc.. Amid all this they somehow forgot to get any new books or even slightly reevlauate the curriculum or how to teach it!! Our school's now covered with coca-cola machines (and the money we got from coca-cola inc. is only used to pay for "teacher helpers" ie guys who stand around while we eat lunch so the teachers don't have to, and notihng else) and the agenda book that each student is forced to have is plastered with toyota and in ernet start-up commercials from front to back! These wonderfully helpful books include calendars where indpendence day is labeled to occur on july 3 and maps where our country is labeled "untied states of america!" A worthy title for a nation that encoura es its public schools to seel out their education for a couple bucks from private corporations! And to top it off the fancy new computers and TVs all teachers now have in their classrooms are only used to put up drills on the TVs that are exactly the sam as the ones they could've jsut written on chalkboards, and the glare from the windows is so great on the monitors tha we can't even read them! Oh yeah, there's one more ingenious innovation our 21st century school now offers: televised morning announceme ts, made by a bunch of geniuses who we can always have a good laugh at as their cameras blink off, their anouncers flub their lines, their mics stop working, and their underclassmen recruits give pitifully petrified looks of helpless humiliation as they w tch all of this happen around them! With all these screw-ups announcements which used to take 5 minutes have been extended to at least 15! Well, if that's what it takes to bring our school into the new millennium I'm all for it! Hopefully they'll begin te evising the whole school day so no one has to come into school except the students, and with all the screw ups we won't have a no teacher will be able to even get a chance to try and shove some random useless facts down our throats! This would all be a lo more annoying if I wasn't a senior, but since I am it's all become perversely amusing. I just feel sorry for those poor underclassmen; another year of this stuff at such an impressionable age and I'd definitely crack... now I understand why Ritalin is so popular.

dustin - 12/17/99 16:58:34 My URL:/dowotjon/Radical.html My Email:dowotjon@yahoo.com Country: US Province, State or Region: TX Type of School: high school

Comments: Hey Cob, I've seen you somewhere on the net. Where? Please post your opinions on any issue on my message board. www.geocities.com/dowotjon/Radical.htmldustin

matt salleo - 11/22/99 16:20:54 Country: australia Province, State or Region: wa Type of School: goverment (public)

Comments: my school is terrible sure it has many programs for the talented and many for the troublesome but nothing for the middle of the road students...we leave school with nothing and you wait in 5 yrs time theres gonna be some fucking angry young muthafuckers o t there! watch your back

Dustin - 11/10/99 21:03:44 Country: US-a Province, State or Region: Texas Type of School: private

Comments: Every once in a while, teachers allowed us the privledge of listening to music...too bad it was always the same type of music, rap. Not the good rap either, the Master P crack-making-bitch-fucking shit. I understand this is a democracy, so the majority ules, but what about mionority rights? If I was permitted to listen to music I enjoyed, I had to sit right by the speakers because everyone complained about it and I couldn't hear. Music is my life, and I'm very intolerant to Master P/Puff Daddy nonsens that anyone could do. I thought about bringing my own CD player so I could listen to my music quietly without disturbing anyone, but CD players are banned and the administration is usually quicker to crack down on an explosion of CD players than heroin. No one has ever showed people the beauty of tolerance. Tolerance cannot be taught, it must be learned from an example, and teachers are intolerant themselves most of the time. Who will be the example? I had a liberal teacher named Mrs. T. who was very good at being a friend as well as good example. But most of the students preferred the teachers they related to, in other words, the ones who got "wasted" and cursed and let students curse. We haven't taught our students how to choose good examples eithe . Although I do remember a particular Theology class when everyone cited their dad or mom their example, so that is a good sign. My friend Alex is still struggling with the ugly face of the system for a diploma, while half the graduates in Texas can't r ad. No exaggeration. You only have to be enrolled for 12 yrs. to get a diploma. Don't even have to show up. Our principal Mr. Danesi made students come back to earn their diploma when he realized most of them didn't. There are some good leaders in th education system there to change them, but they are outnumbered. I wrote more a couple of entries down, it's a little long though.

Cobwebb - 11/09/99 00:04:54 My Email:cob_webb@yahoo.com Country: USA Province, State or Region: Colorado Springs Type of School: High School

Comments: School could be great, it would be absolutely lovely if I would learn anything. Truth be told I love to learn, but in school I am perpetually bored. Since I have entered high school I can think of only one or two things I have actually learned in the clas room. In class it seems that the other students are extremely slow, or I am very intelligent. But to me it seems you should not spend two months on Puritan beliefs, it's pointless not to mention boring. I've also found that many teachers believe that vide s are the supreme form of education. Somehow I don't feel my mind expanded from watching the Last of the Mochicians, or the Lion King II. Why is it in math we're still covering the equation of a line, when at home I'm reading up on the theories of higher athmatics? How is it in english we're studying vocabulary as simple as 'hypocondriac' when I've finished the complete works of Shakespear and am starting on The Divine Comedy? Not to say I'm much of an intellectual, at least I don't view myself that way. 'm much more artsy and am disappointed with the lack of art, drama, and music programs offered in the school. I beilieve it's unfair to strip me of my right to learn in school, where I am required to spend eight hours out of my day. I hope perhaps that ac ions will be taken by adults to inmprove schooling, as it seems teenagers aren't given much validation for their thoughts and opinions.

Katstar - 10/19/99 15:19:37 My Email:angel_fairybug@hotmail.com

Comments: If we are all gonna die anyway, whats the point? We go through life learning what needs to be done, what we should do, how to do it, to make our lives "better". Why? You work hard, you get where other people want you to get so they can be proud, then you ie. What the hell is the point? Society is built on keeping our species alive, and our brains are built on keeping ourselves and our genes alive. In trying to stop the destruction of humanity, we become so greedy that we aid it. We are built on an entire ociety of moral codes, rules, and certain "acceptable" behaviors. We complain about people being executed. WE are the executioners. That is what we should have learned in high school.

Dustin - 10/15/99 21:14:54 Country: USA Province, State or Region: Texas Type of School: private

Comments: High school....incessant noise in my ear rattling off mind garbage to be disposed of at the next nearest chance. I was told my sophomore year, after refusing to dress up for an award ceremony, that I as an American student had no Constitutional Rights. hy do I learn about them then? Junior/Senior year, Communist counsler Mrs. Musick engaged in a great effort to have me placed in an institution because she could'nt unstand my poetry. My every act was a result of the oppressive atmosphere created by the morally-ingrained Republican student body who ran the school. I was actually told no one wanted to hear my opinions anymore because they were "radical", despite the fact I supported my opinions with quotes from the likes of Jefferson, Orwell, Doestovesky and other fine thinkers, whereas their opinions came primarily from Cliff Notes from books they never read. A debate I started with a friend was called pointless by the rest of the class (who had yet to read the book)when I felt I had learned much from i (eventually this friend and I refused to debate, and the class was given worksheets instead. they decided they would rather hear our debates). This was in an Advanced Placement class. I learned very little in school; I learned more from discussions wit my peers and outside research I chose to do on my own. Texas "education" is nothing but preparation for the state's TAAS test at the early stages of schooling, and nothing but a tool to keep youngsters off the streets after that. I plan on writnig and articipating in activist campaigns in the future, and I wish I could have done some public speaking in school. But that was left to the elitist positions of valedictorian and club leaders. I was denied my right to start a literature club, which I felt c uld naturally increase critical thinking and interest in reading and learning in general. School kills those desires by requiring a set list of books to be read, and the use of textbooks(filtered versions of Truth)further decreases the fun in learning. idn't the Supreme Court rule that a school newspaper is not a public forum, and can therefore be censored? This is yet another reason why kids would rather vandalize than express an opinion or learn. My ability to stand against a large crowd and totali arian administrators almost died in high school because of the foolish acts and words of others. We are taught at an early age to be careful of our opinions, they are dangerous. Could this be why so many people try to ban books? I got what I consider t my education from my idols, Alexander the Great, Jello Biafra, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and any person who is not afraid to believe what they believe and express their opinions no matter how controversial they may be. I want others to be aware that thi is also possible for them, but most people are lazy and must have things handed to them(a product, also, of school). I want people to be more independent. But with a system breathing down their backs as they sweat over meaningless busywork, this is imp ssible. And how mant lies are we taught in History. Davy Crocket didn't die at the Alamo. He died dressed as a Mexican soldier, trying to escape fighting for the cause. He was shot by the Mexicans when they discovered who he was. Washington died of an STD transmitted by a prostitute he found at a whorehouse, not of a cold. Patrick Henry owned 65 slaves when he gave his famous "Give me liberity or give me death" speech. Is anyone aware that we have been under a state of national emergency since 1933? Thi means the president has all the powers of the govt. He can take our property if he wishes. Are we informed that a flag desicration bill is in the making, and has quite a chance of being passed? Look this up on the ACLU's homepage. I would like to see kids kept informed of these matters and not treated like ignorant brats with the sole concern of being accepted by their peers (this can be a true stereotype, but couldnt it be the pressures of school and the side effects it creates causing this problem?) Contact me at dowotjon@yahoo.com

- 10/15/99 21:12:54

Comments: High school....incessant noise in my ear rattling off mind garbage to be disposed of at the next nearest chance. I was told my sophomore year, after refusing to dress up for an award ceremony, that I as an American student had no Constitutional Rights. hy do I learn about them then? Junior/Senior year, Communist counsler Mrs. Musick engaged in a great effort to have me placed in an institution because she could'nt unstand my poetry. My every act was a result of the oppressive atmosphere created by the morally-ingrained Republican student body who ran the school. I was actually told no one wanted to hear my opinions anymore because they were "radical", despite the fact I supported my opinions with quotes from the likes of Jefferson, Orwell, Doestovesky and other fine thinkers, whereas their opinions came primarily from Cliff Notes from books they never read. A debate I started with a friend was called pointless by the rest of the class (who had yet to read the book)when I felt I had learned much from i (eventually this friend and I refused to debate, and the class was given worksheets instead. they decided they would rather hear our debates). This was in an Advanced Placement class. I learned very little in school; I learned more from discussions wit my peers and outside research I chose to do on my own. Texas "education" is nothing but preparation for the state's TAAS test at the early stages of schooling, and nothing but a tool to keep youngsters off the streets after that. I plan on writnig and articipating in activist campaigns in the future, and I wish I could have done some public speaking in school. But that was left to the elitist positions of valedictorian and club leaders. I was denied my right to start a literature club, which I felt c uld naturally increase critical thinking and interest in reading and learning in general. School kills those desires by requiring a set list of books to be read, and the use of textbooks(filtered versions of Truth)further decreases the fun in learning. idn't the Supreme Court rule that a school newspaper is not a public forum, and can therefore be censored? This is yet another reason why kids would rather vandalize than express an opinion or learn. My ability to stand against a large crowd and totali arian administrators almost died in high school because of the foolish acts and words of others. We are taught at an early age to be careful of our opinions, they are dangerous. Could this be why so many people try to ban books? I got what I consider t my education from my idols, Alexander the Great, Jello Biafra, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and any person who is not afraid to believe what they believe and express their opinions no matter how controversial they may be. I want others to be aware that thi is also possible for them, but most people are lazy and must have things handed to them(a product, also, of school). I want people to be more independent. But with a system breathing down their backs as they sweat over meaningless busywork, this is imp ssible. And how mant lies are we taught in History. Davy Crocket didn't die at the Alamo. He died dressed as a Mexican soldier, trying to escape fighting for the cause. He was shot by the Mexicans when they discovered who he was. Washington died of an STD transmitted by a prostitute he found at a whorehouse, not of a cold. Patrick Henry owned 65 slaves when he gave his famous "Give me liberity or give me death" speech. Is anyone aware that we have been under a state of national emergency since 1933? Thi means the president has all the powers of the govt. He can take our property if he wishes. Are we informed that a flag desicration bill is in the making, and has quite a chance of being passed? Look this up on the ACLU's homepage. I would like to see kids kept informed of these matters and not treated like ignorant brats with the sole concern of being accepted by their peers (this can be a true stereotype, but couldnt it be the pressures of school and the side effects it creates causing this problem?) Contact me at dowotjon@yahoo.com

aaaaaa0909 - 07/30/99 12:34:43 My Email:aaaaaa0909@aol.com Country: US Province, State or Region: WV Type of School: public

Comments: Where to begin....Our guidance councellor told us our only future was in the military or on welfare. I thought that was lame. My political science/history teacher was a 700 Club fiend. We had to watch Pat Robertson babble on TV frequently. And, if tha weren't awful enough, we had to watch a series of Newt Gingrich films (I think that there were 12 in all) and write a paper on it. No matter what you said to him, he would not change. We were forced to watch a tape on history that said (in school, reme ber) society accepting homosexuals is a sign of the end of the world. It said George Washington kicked two men out of his army for sodomy. He basically said that all liberals were commie homosexuals and all this other shit. I countered him with some co mon sense and he honestly had to watch his tapes to rebuke. I made him look like an ass. He is a teacher. School conditions kids to hate reading. Sort of like Brave New World when Epsilons were conditioned the same way to keep them ignorant. In schoo your supposed to read dumb books like the Scarlet Letter. Kids are taught that that is what reading is. Why not Demian by Hermen Hesse? I could rant on about how school fails to develop actual thinking skills, but that's too obvious. Have a neat day.

Nic - 07/27/99 20:12:51 My Email:nskirkwo@cc.owu.edu Country: USA Province, State or Region: OH Type of School: high school

Comments: Why I hated high school...absolute and complete hypocricy. You wondered why kids are so jaded? Okay, a lot of it has to do with parents but take a quick look at high school to. My civics teacher, in trying to incorporate critical thinking into the clas (which he did miserably) used to always preach about the importance of free speech and separation of church and state. Surprise, surprise he was also the teacher in charge of graduation and approved a highly offensive Christian prayer for our public sch ol graduation. When just two of us tried to take a stand, he chastized us for trying to cause trouble. And what is it with teachers who feel the need to "bond" with our generation by laughing with and encouraging those students who drink themselves into a stupor every weekend. Yeah, then go preach to us at the school Prom Promise assembly about the hazards of drinking and driving: that will be highly effective. What we need is some critical thinking for both students AND teachers.

fucker - 06/24/99 21:24:50 My URL:http://www.hustler.com My Email:fucker@intheass.cum Country: Amerika Province, State or Region: Pinko Type of School: old SkewL

Comments: meta-cognition, not metaphysics my bad

fucker - 06/24/99 21:05:52 My Email:fucker@yourmoms.org Country: AmeriKa Province, State or Region: Pinko Type of School: old Skewl

Comments: Schools need to teach kids how to think. How to think logically, and to do so often. Fuck memorizing the Preamble of the constitution, what good does it do you if you can't even evaluate it? Metaphysics is the science of "thinking about thinking" Kids ( nd adults) need to be able to evaluate how sane their thinking is. This would help to put an end to all the "fast food" style of moral and intellectual instruction. Right now "education" has been reduced to memorization of buzzwords and phrases like "ju t say no" and "Abe Lincoln didn't lie" Its a damn joke. That's not learning. That's memorizing, something you can train a dog to do. Sit Booboo, sit. Good dog. SCHOOLS NEED TO TEACH TOLERANCE. TOLERANCE IS THE ONLY WAY WE CAN BE FREE. TOLERANCE, LO IC, AND HUMOR. THAT IS THE TRUE HOLY TRINITY NOT YOUR DUMBASS GOD, HOLY SPIRIT AND JESUS. But it'll never happen, because then millions of people might come to different conclusions than the powers that be, and maybe a few of em could even see the world or what it really is Then brothers and sisters??????????????

stu007ef - 06/16/99 04:28:10 My Email:stud07ef@yahoo.com Country: USA Province, State or Region: Oregon Type of School: Piece of shit public high

Comments: The current grading system is a joke.People in this world try to determine your self worth by the letter they put down on your "report card."The letter on the piece of paper they send home to doesn't matter to me.That is the problem, that a student don't are as much if they put down the the wrong numbers on their math essay.To the student he/she has not done anything wrong and is being screwed because they did not understand and/or where not properly taught to do the work. Goodbye and I hope I have been a le to help you in making students want to learn instead of just getting a good letter on the report card.

NoseCandy - 05/30/99 05:48:31 My Email:Nosecandy@n2mischief.com Country: m'sia Province, State or Region: penang` Type of School: international one

Comments: i thnk schools are institutes designed to keep us from the truth and socialise us into accepting wot eva rot they want us too.. plus it is true they do not answer quetions.. nose..

NoseCandy - 05/30/99 05:47:27 My Email:Nosecandy@n2mischief.com Country: m'sia Province, State or Region: penang` Type of School: international one

Comments: i thnk schools are institutes designed to keep us from the truth and socialise us into accepting wot eva rot they want us too.. plus it is true they do not answer quetions.. nose..

Kabunkus - 04/12/99 08:49:45 My URL:http://members.tripod.com/WABAHOO/main.html My Email:kabunkus@aol.com Country: USofA Province, State or Region: NY Type of School: FredoniaHighSchool(Alum)

Comments: (Sorry about the last incomplete entry...hit the wrong button) My comment is this. Anyone can be a teacher, but few are 'TEACHERS'. Those who can really teach, don't need and rarely use teacher's editions to make their lessons. I refer specifically, but n t exclusively, to MATH TEACHERS, who when asked, "Why do we do this thing this way?", invariably answer, "Because that's the way it's done." What a $%^&* cop out. Better to be honest and admit you don't know why! I would have had a lot more respect for th t honesty than the BS you gave me Mr. Math Teacher!! I could have been a math whiz...a have found in later years that numbers are fasinating. I give NO CREDIT AT ALL to any math teacher I ever met. Amen...thanks for the soapbox.

Kabunkus - 04/12/99 08:44:01 My URL:http://members.tripod.com/WABAHOO/main.html My Email:kabunkus@aol.com Country: USofA

Comments:

Ev - 03/28/99 00:33:44 My Email:joyfulspirit@goplay.com Country: Canada Province, State or Region: BC Type of School: Public

Comments: I think that schools need to spend more time with students individually nurturing individual talents instead of trying to form everyone the same way.

Leela - 03/11/99 03:38:10 My Email:lnourse@yahoo.com Country: Can. Province, State or Region: B.C. Type of School: university

Comments: Upon entering, I had no idea of what would be beneficial to me. I had few and fleeting thoughts of the concept "future". I had equally vague thoughts on practicality. As a result, the basis on which I chose my courses was that of sheer interest. In short, I had no plan beyond the type of degree I wanted. I did seek counselling, but in a university with some 10,000 students enrolled throughout the year, and an archaic administrative system to boot, trying to find a professional to talk to about my future BE ORE selecting my courses was like a mouse in a maze trying to find the cheese. FRUSTRATING. I was a single parent, and I shed a bucket or two of tears out of frustration over this and similar incidents on campus. Right up to the end when they refused to g ve me a certificate for a course I took in the Faculty of Education, because they said I had not been in the right faculty to take that course in the first place. Yet my course advisor had approved my course selection. Too bad so sad. They weren't even go ng to give me the 6 credits I worked my buns off for, and paid dearly for. But I fought for them and at least got the crdeits in the end. But not the cert.

Leela - 03/11/99 02:25:12 My Email:lnourse@yahoo.com Country: Canada Province, State or Region: Alberta Type of School: High School

Comments: I really wanted to learn drama and music, and we had neither program available. In retrospect, as well, I recall thinking I might like to study about politics. But the political science course was axed the year I got into the school.

Robert Stair - 03/07/99 05:48:14 My Email:robbob@webtv.net Country: USA Province, State or Region: Michigan Type of School: public

Comments: When I was going to school the one thing that separated the good students from the bad ones was motivation. Many of the students did not know why they were there and couldn't imagine a future for themselves that had anything to do with what they were lea ning. I think volunteer motivational speakers on a weekly or monthly basis would improve performance. The speakers should attempt to give the students some sense of perspective so they know why they're in school. These could be professional motivators, alumni, parents, or even other teachers. They should come from all walks of life. A few things that were not stressed in school that should have been, are the following: 1.Typing - Learning to type should be mandatory. In the computer age, it's almost as important as learning to write. Also, it is a marketable skill, and a requirement for several introductory positions. 2. Money Management - Courses on investment and planning for retirement should be mandatory. Everyone should have this basic information that allows them to take care of themselves and not to become wards of the state. Because so few people understand ompound interest and the potential value of money, politicians are able to manipulate and frighten people into voting away more and more control of their lives. 3. Logic and Critical Thinking - Our children need to learn to judge arguments objectively and not to be swayed by whoever talks the loudest or has the most attractive persona. 4. Public Speaking - Too often students are told to be quiet. In the real world, if you're silent, your ideas will go unheard. I'd like to see all elementary students trained as much as possible in effective public speaking. At the very least there sh uld be more oral presentations in front of the class.

Eric S. - 03/05/99 22:54:25 Country: Canada Province, State or Region: Now BC, then Quebec Type of School: Private

Comments: I attended College de Montreal, a private boy's high school. It was mostly unpleasant, but I guess it forced me to become more self-disciplined, to defer the pleasure principle in many ways. I guess that's the paradox about high school: it's often a har h experience, but you're trained in the presumed virtues that will make you (it is hoped) a good citizen: punctuality, obedience to authority, conformity, responsibility, ability to put off fun and ability to complete work on time. As for teachers, I had some fine ones and some poor ones. For me, the fine ones were the organized ones, who planned out what they would do in class ahead of time. The poor ones were the ones who would just come in and ramble on aimlessly for an hour or two. I would say that my most useless class was Latin. It kept some of the older teachers employed. I hope they don't teach that anymore. As for the rest, I can't really complain. I loathed high school at the time, but in retrospect, I realize that the people there were ju t normal individuals who were doing what they could with generally positive intentions.

weatherman - 03/04/99 07:08:47 My Email:jimg@citnet.com Country: usa Province, State or Region: nj

Comments: i dont know what i wanted to learn...i was just a kidd...most of the things that were of no use ..i did enjoy...history...relion...math was of use...the only thing i can say is that i wanted to learn something but as a kidd was looking for guidess on what to learn..i was very interen in politics at the time

Marco Antonio Palomino - 03/02/99 19:05:05 My Email:palomino_zuniga@hotmail.com Country: Mexico Province, State or Region: Mexico City Type of School: Private Catholic High School

Comments: First of all, I would like to tell you that regarding to teaching systems, the first idea that comes to my mind is that one related to the great memories I‘ve got from most of my teachers. Anyway, English language courses were some of my worst educational experiences. In most of the Mexican private high schools, English is supposed to be studied as a second language. Every single student has to take between 3 and 5 five hours of English cla ses per week. But ask me how much I learned after all the high school. The answer is easy and can be abridged in just one word: NOTHING. The worst thing is that I know that I am not a special case. When I had the chance of going to study English in Canada, I was told that Mexicans usually don’t reach the advanced courses. First, I felt kind of handicap, because I am Mexican. Then I thought about how bad Mexican educational system was at this respect In most of the cases, Mexican students in Canada are guys who have studied English for at least three years. Nevertheless, Mexicans usually start from the beginning, because their English skills are not good enough. I was really lucky because I was able to continue studying English after the high school. Mexicans that are nowadays studying in Canada and other countries are even luckier, but what about the rest? Even though English skills are considered indispensable o get a good job in Mexico, our system is not giving an answer to that requirement. So, if you want to learn how to speak English, you have to pay for a good language school. It means that you have to pay extra money (because your parents had already paid the high school), and you have to spend extra time (because you wasted your time in the high school).

Peter Clayton - 02/27/99 05:44:49 My Email:peterclayton@hotmail.com Country: Canada Province, State or Region: B.C. Type of School: All Boys English Grammar School

Comments: D.H. Lawrence wrote that many a potentially brilliant career had been ruined by a university education. He was right. The system here in Canada is geared largely toward consumer citizenship training and away from critical thinking.

angela w - 02/26/99 17:42:08 My Email:on this page Country: canada Province, State or Region: vancouver, bc Type of School: elementary, high school

Comments: Boredom: I knew how to read when I entered grade 1, so I sat there bored watching the other kids slowly learn to read. As far as I can figure, the teachers were not concerned that I had nothing to learn. I'd done my work, so I was allowed to sit and draw ictures all day, which I enjoyed. Unfortunately, this inhibited my social development, as I was considered a "brain" and a "freak". Hey, I wasn't part of the group AT ALL. So much for school helping to bring me out of my shell, which was my mum's concern, after she cleverly taught me how to read at home. Later, topics I wanted to learn which were never addressed were: 1-how the economy works 2-how the money and banking system works 3-environmental issues (ignored to mainstream people in the 70s, though I as a teenager was reading up on my own 4-how land management issues are decided (much more interesting political question than "what was the war of 1812 about...snore....) 5-what the hell happened to Native people and why weren't we more ashamed of and responsible about what we obviously did to them as colonists (hey, cancer forms colonies too) 6-how to make career decisions (nto that important for females in those days, I can only infer.) 7-how come everyone doesn't have French immersion? 8-how come catechism class didn't explain the history of the church? 9-why don't they teach us how to research things? not even in our library period. 10-can't we have some self-directed projects? How come there isn't at least a section of the class based on things we might choose to study? 11-high school is a lot like Lord of the Flies. 12-why the hell did they make teenagers read books like The Vicar of Wakefield and Thomas Hardy's Mayor of Casterbridge... yawn. How about Hardy's Jude the Obscure, something a teenager could relate to, at least. 13/There's probably more. On the plus side: separate school system (Catholic) in Alberta is of high quality and we had French immersion option, one of the few useful and challenging things I learned in public school.

angela w - 02/26/99 17:39:50 My Email:on this page Country: canada Province, State or Region: vancouver, bc Type of School: elementary, high school

Comments: Boredom: I knew how to read when I entered grade 1, so I sat there bored watching the other kids slowly learn to read. As far as I can figure, the teachers were not concerned that I had nothing to learn. I'd done my work, so I was allowed to sit and draw ictures all day, which I enjoyed. Unfortunately, this inhibited my social development, as I was considered a "brain" and a "freak". Hey, I wasn't part of the group AT ALL. So much for school helping to bring me out of my shell, which was my mum's concern, after she cleverly taught me how to read at home. Later, topics I wanted to learn which were never addressed were: 1-how the economy works 2-how the money and banking system works 3-environmental issues (ignored to mainstream people in the 70s, though I as a teenager was reading up on my own 4-how land management issues are decided (much more interesting political question than "what was the war of 1812 about...snore....) 5-what the hell happened to Native people and why weren't we more ashamed of and responsible about what we obviously did to them as colonists (hey, cancer forms colonies too) 6-how to make career decisions (nto that important for females in those days, I can only infer.) 7-how come everyone doesn't have French immersion? 8-how come catechism class didn't explain the history of the church? 9-why don't they teach us how to research things? not even in our library period. 10-can't we have some self-directed projects? How come there isn't at least a section of the class based on things we might choose to study? 11-high school is a lot like Lord of the Flies. 12-why the hell did they make teenagers read books like The Vicar of Wakefield and Thomas Hardy's Mayor of Casterbridge... yawn. How about Hardy's Jude the Obscure, something a teenager could relate to, at least. 13/There's probably more. On the plus side: separate school system (Catholic) in Alberta is of high quality and we had French immersion option, one of the few useful and challenging things I learned in public school.