The Rant Thread/My Life Sucks Topic [Don't be pricks]

[Dudeman]

that counters your own argument though- producing better grades isn't the goal.  In real life, you don't get fridays off to reduce stress and you often have work to bring home.

This is also true. If the point of school is to prepare you for the real world, then it shouldn't be giving you comforts that the real world doesn't give you (at least, not during the last two, three, or possibly four years of high school education, when it really starts to get important).

[Trainer Ave]

I fail to see how this counters my argument. While producing grades may not be the goal, it is currently the only way schools can measure whether a not a student is ready. Having no homework or a reduced amount leads to lower stress levels and students will make better grades. source Just because grades is not the goal does not mean anything. The goal of abolishing homework is to reduce stress. Stress is one of the key factors in reducing one's desire to learn. A


Friday's off does happen in several schools and it has been shown that students are not as stressed. I am attending a college right now where there are no Friday classes and I can tell not only from my own experience and from what I've been told by other students that it does indeed lower stress levels. Meanwhile I have talked to many people that say college life is stressful and it comes as no surprise to me that they have mountains of homework and have classes every day.

While it is true that employees do not get Fridays off (in most cases) I fail to see any evidence that supports that they often have work to bring home. More often then not what I see is people choosing to do extra work at home because they love what they do. If your job is something that you love to do, then there is no reason why it should be stressful.

[mikey]

source-my mom

[Altissimo]

[snip]

[Zunawe]

A large majority of people are in debt

Okay, that's something that can be improved.

have no idea how to vote or what their voting on

How to vote is a 10-minute discussion with anybody who's ever voted. There are plenty of ways to understand legislature and policy. The most important part of that understanding comes from knowledge of the three branches and their powers, which is probably the single most important aspect of the already mandatory government classes.

have no idea how to look after their health or how to recognize severe mental disorders

I know for sure that health classes are required, and I'm absolutely sure mental health is covered during that.

how to budget and manage money

I would say that this comes with basic math and logic skills. What you're talking about is probably advice on how to do so effectively, which is subjective and not something that can or should necessarily be taught in schools.

how to properly analyze the news

This is a skill learned through the study of history and literature. Literally, that's the point.

how to communicate respectfully and effectively

Many schools require a public speaking class, and those that don't typically strongly recommend it. While an ethics class might also help in this department, I would say it's less valuable to learn about in a classroom than any other mandatory course.

how to pay tax

Agreed, not enough is done to explain this. It should be somehow implemented into econ/math curriculum or advising periods.

how to get a job

Many of my writing classes have had sections on creating resumes and doing interviews. That's about as far as a classroom can take that topic.

or how to parent

This isn't something schools should touch unless they want to get angry calls from everybody. Health classes do talk about the needs of a child, but I suppose it could be improved a bit.

Here's an idea for you.
Academics are taught up until 8th grade. (remedial academics courses are taken further as needed)
Subjects that apply to the real world such as how to get a job, money management, and how to parent are taught in 9-11.
Meanwhile electives in 9-11 are courses that are taken based on a student's choice and interests.
NO FRIDAYS.
Studies have shown that when students are given Fridays off, it reduces their stress levels and allows the to produce better grades.
NO HOMEWORK
Same as above.
Senior year is for exploring different career fields to see what they may or may not be interested in. Each student will take different courses based on what they believe they might be interested in and will be exploring multiple career fields throughout their entire senior year.
College
College will remain the same as it currently is. Students will take courses that are applicable to their chosen career field.

Whoa, no. This is a hard step in the wrong direction. Sure students get stressed. You know what's stressful? Life. Forget the Friday thing that cuts out 20% of the time students have to learn. Homework accounts for basically all learning. Hearing somebody talk at you does very little for understanding how to do something. People need practice and examples. If it's too stressful, that's the fault of the student and/or teacher. Homework also teaches time management. Getting rid of homework cripples education.

And if we did this and kept college the same, students would be so behind it would take a good 6 or 7 years to get a degree.

[mikey]

full disclosure, I never actually did any of my homework because it wasn't important enough to me

[FireArrow]

Some countries have banned homework (Norway) and have only benefited from it. Making students manage their own studying as well as allowing them to budget time to pursue hobbies, spend time with friends and family, get a job, and recreation is both healthier and better teaches self discipline.

[Zunawe]

As an engineering student, my GPA would be over a full point lower if I didn't have homework. Banning homework for a math/physics/programming class means the student either doesn't get any practice, doesn't learn as much material, or learns at a pace too difficult to reasonably keep up.

Of course this is my opinion based on my experience, but removing homework isn't all good.

[E. Gadd Industries]

Some countries have banned homework (Norway) and have only benefited from it. Making students manage their own studying as well as allowing them to budget time to pursue hobbies, spend time with friends and family, get a job, and recreation is both healthier and better teaches self discipline.

WE NEED THIS IN THE USA

[mikey]

maybe getting rid of homework is a great idea for making school more effective, but his original argument is that school should be more like life after school

[E. Gadd Industries]

Oh. XD I didn't read much into the argument at hand. On another note, ugh... life at this house was bad enough, but lately I've found myself becoming asexual, and how do I go about that while living with a xenophobic dad who expects everyone to be straight and get married/have kids? You won't believe how many times lately I've heard "I'm/We're just wanting to show you how to raise your kids in the future" or something to that extent, and I'll reply with "but what if I don't want to get married/have kids?", only to be scoffed at.

[mikey]

being asexual doesn't really have much to do with marriage, but you're only 16 and you've got plenty of time to worry about that stuff later.  It's still a good idea to pay attention to what your parents are saying because at the worst they've at least raised more kids than you have and it seems like their kids are turning out alright.

[Nebbles]

Oh. XD I didn't read much into the argument at hand. On another note, ugh... life at this house was bad enough, but lately I've found myself becoming asexual, and how do I go about that while living with a xenophobic dad who expects everyone to be straight and get married/have kids? You won't believe how many times lately I've heard "I'm/We're just wanting to show you how to raise your kids in the future" or something to that extent, and I'll reply with "but what if I don't want to get married/have kids?", only to be scoffed at.

Hey if you need someone to talk to about asexuality I'm here for ya. As someone's who also ace, I understand what you're going through.

[E. Gadd Industries]

When most conditioning happens, at the earliest ages of a child's life, I was raised by my grandparents. My family has a very... um... twisted history, and that's why. I know that I have a bit to figure it all out, but it just irks me how he just assumes I'm going to get married when I don't have any interest in it at this point. The same with having kids. And how he doesn't take me seriously when I mention that. (And thanks for the compliment. )

Ninja'd by Nebbles (and I may do that if things escalate)

[mikey]

if you ever want to talk about family issues in general we're skype friends and I'm a Bubbles Certified Pro Listener (tm)