School is pointless- not just a rant :D

[livinghippo]

Me and a friend were having a discussion and i thought if anyone else would agree on how school is a waste of time.
School goes right through the teenage years - one of the hardest times for any person in their life, so why make everyone attend this social nightmare filled with so many problems. This site is just one example of how school can have such an impact on teens.

Most people spend 90% of their time (not real stat just exaggerated example :P) learning nothing that will ever be of any real use in their life to them. i think once you get to around 14 years old school should be optional. people should be able to learn what they want to do in the future and go and do it- or research more into school or wait longer to decide what you want to do in further school, plus with so many more people out on the streets doing basic jobs, learning social skills through jobs, experience in the real world it would be a win win situation for nearly everyone. obviously uni and college should still be available for those who are studying for higher degrees and etc.

in school i am stressed about exams, annoyed with others people who to be frank i never would talk to in the open world, i see people bullied and as i said before this site is just an example of the kind of things schools can do.
feel free to argue the point if you so wish :P

[Chadwiick]

About 6 months ago I would've completely agreed with you. School is more of an opportunity than most people see it. You mentioned that when people are teens that's when it's most difficult to go to school. Well the opportunity is to overcome your fears and problems when you are young. It's easier to overcome at a young age than as a 30, 40+ year old adult. It makes us stronger.

However, you forget most of the stuff you learn because you aren't interested in it. With so much boring content gives you the opportunity of being able to make yourself interested in something to get by without agony.

School is like a "basic training" for life. You get to deal with a lot of stress so when the real world hits, you can fall back on your "training", you've been there, you've done that, you have an idea of what to do.

Though, I do believe the schools are messed up to some degree.

[TheBabyEater]

Sadly, 14 year olds are not mature enough to make a decision like whether or not to stay in school, thats why college doesn't start until you're 18 or 19. And most 14 year olds do NOT know what they want to do in the future, and even if they do it usually changes before they even hit college age. Hell, the amount of teenagers who change their major even after they hit college is like... 45% or something. Not to mention, being in college myself, I can tell you that you will use a lot of what you've learned either in every day life or in college. Besides, no one really wants to have a conversation with an idiot. School doesn't just provide learning. It provides very, very important social interactions that make you grow as a person. Why do you think home school children are often involved in other programs?

And truth is, there will always be bullying, and you'll ALWAYS have to deal with people you don't want to, it's called a job.

[livinghippo]

"Well the opportunity is to overcome your fears and problems when you are young."

"Besides, no one really wants to have a conversation with an idiot. School doesn't just provide learning. It provides very, very important social interactions that make you grow as a person."

"14 year olds are not mature enough to make a decision like whether or not to stay in school"

Firstly please dont judge all 14 years olds as not being mature enough as i completely disagree and think it's a large stereotype (or ageism, we :P), while i agree that a fair amount are still deciding, quite a few have already made up their minds.
i did a quick survey with a couple of friends.. partly out of coursework partly out of interest. (i can show you whole thing if you want), i asked 100 people aged 13-15 (years 9/10 in england, dont know american equiv sorry) and 40% said they already knew the rough career path whereas 80% said they were fairly sure they would know within the next 2 years, (quick overview i used partial stratified sampling.. uuh i indentified by gender.. cant remember the right name for it, i did 50 boys, 50 girls).

anyway what i was suggesting was a more flexible school where you officially stop at 14/16 (preff 14) and then you can choose to stay on or go out into the world get jobs/apprenticeships which can be made official to be as good as staying in school etc), if you stay on you get the option again at 16 (as normal) and can choose for 6th form etc.
i think it would open more oppertunities and allow teens to stretch school to fit around what they want it to do. when taking first exams (again i dont know american :/) in england, you generally have to choose 4 subjects to choose, not everyone wants to do 4 subjects and ends up doing some that they would rather not take.

umm i'm pretty sure i forgotten some things, please dont mind my probable lack of punctuation and spelling, there is a reason this is in chit chat
anyway again its just an idea..

[Maloo]

I thought I knew what I wanted to do with my life when i was 14 too. Now I'm 20, and have no idea. Just saying.

[Kate*]

I don't think it's the school as much as the people in the school. If you get a group of teenagers together, especially when they don't all know each other or get together willingly, you're going to have the kinds of things you're talking about here regardless of the environment they're in. I think 14 is too young to know what you want to do for the rest of your life, there are adults who still don't know what they want out of life, but I think education needs to redirect it's focus from testing and subjects you'll spend months or years learning and never encounter in the real world, to subjects and knowledge that can actually be applied outside of a school setting.

[Eldora]

Basically:

The majority of fourteen year olds (even some a bit older) are not fully mature, physically or mentally. That majority isn't in any way ready for life. Though I think that classes should become more engaging and centered around the child's individual interests when they hit high school, I still think that junior high and senior high is necessary.

Besides, in order to "learn what they want to do in the future and go do it," they'd have to have cars. Sorry, but I really would not feel comfortable with a lot of hormonal dwarves skittering back and forth across roads and playing bumper cars on my way to town.

"Ooh, hey! Random person!"

*screech*

*dies*

And that would basically be the end of this idea. Wouldn't even get off the ground.


And besides, do you think school is bad? Kid, just wait until you meet my friend Mister Taxation over here. To quote Robin (from Batman): "HOLY TAXATION!"

[TheBabyEater]

Do the study again in 5 years, and ask the same people if their minds have changed, and how many times.

[Peppermint Tea.♥]

I'm terrified to leave school and go into the world now. Never mind back when I was 14. When I was 14 I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and even now I'm struggling on which path to take.

Also, so many people would end up under qualified if they left. A fourteen year old decides to leave, but what job would take a 14 year old who hasn't even passed their GCSEs?

[Shawn K.]

I posted my opinions on this subject in another thread earlier this evening. I'll only share the following here:

My pops said, and I quote, "Go to school tomorrow, look around and imagine all you little snot nosed brats running around uneducated and trying to fend for yourselves." In my little corner of the planet...that is one scary thought.

[Composure]

Honestly, school is not pointless. Regardless of whether you're learning things you won't ever learn again, it is not the content that's important, it's the lessons themselves. Classes in math and science teach you to problem solve; classes in English teach you to read and write; classes in history and humanities teach you to understand and comprehend. All of these are important skills, which are not developed overnight.

That being said, if you can teach yourself these skills by yourself, at home, go for it. But you might aswell just go to school.

[minniemouseprincess]

That would mean my little sister would be done with school and loose in the world if we all ended at 14. That I can't see lol. She isn't mature enough. I would def. be out in the world by now and thats scary to me, even right now. I think as someone else said, it has more to do with the people in the schools and not the school itself when it comes to bullying and stuff. I do agree though about the pointless lessons.