The American school system, specifically concerning grades from kindergarten to 12th grade, seems to provide an inadequate education for the population.
Sam Chaltain, a national educator, said, ““At an ideal school, adults understand that their mission is to help children grow not just cognitively, but also socially, emotionally, linguistically, ethically, and physically. We can’t address all those different developmental needs of children until we restore some balance to what we value. And right now, in America, it’s all about cognitive growth (and even a narrow sliver of that).
Katie Piper | Argonaut
The school system should be creating outstanding citizens that can stand for their own beliefs without trying to offend the other side, search for the truth among lies and everything else that can helps cultivate decent human beings. Sometimes, schools fall short.
While much of this might depend on the parents, the school a child attends should take up part of this responsibility. Parents only have about five years before their children participate in a school system that takes eight hours of their life every work day. This doesn’t include the time when a parent is still at work, a child’s extracurricular activities, or anything else that gets in the way of quality mentoring time.
The average school work does not provide basic knowledge about basic skills. Most aren’t taught to vote, how to change a tire, or really able to search different career options.
On top of this, many history books are outdated, English classes ineptly build upon ideas and math doesn’t seem applicable to reality.
History books hardly ever address new facts that have come to light with stronger studies and increased knowledge. English often teaches students how to write the same types of papers, normally in MLA format. Math classes often skip the basics and progress to information much of the population needs to know little about.
These are just some experiences, however, some schools across the United States are making these changes. They are creating democracy-based schools where kids are part of the school board’s decision-making process. Other schools require students discover things they want changed in the world and put those ideas into practice by having them do something about it using business models.
There are so many options for changing the school system and the curriculums utilized. While it might take further funding to put these ideas to the test, it mostly requires extra effort and most definitely a change in mindset.
We cannot keep believing that school systems are adequately preparing young adults for the real world. It’s time to stop making jokes about getting thrown into college and the corporate world, and instead, make school systems a stepping stone into them.
This isn’t just aimed at administrators either. For those looking to make a change, they can at least try to do something about it. Emailing legislatures and calling school district offices are good first steps.
The American school system is not broken. It is doing exactly what it was made to do: put people in positions and mentalities that they can only become what the school makes of them.
If we want to see the change, we must start from the beginning and make progress in the school system.
Katie Piper can be reached at [email protected]