Does school honestly prepare/help young kids for life???

KitKatMatt said:

Could you imagine if kids were left to themselves to learn on the internet?

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English lessons: urbandictionary
Social studies: quickmeme
Religious studies: /r/atheism
Science: /r/askscience

I do wish there was more of a 'personal finance' class that explained loans and mortgages and compound interest and investing and retirement...
I think there was something like that at my high school, but if you were on the college-bound track, you didn't take it. Just because you're in calculus doesn't mean you automatically understand ARMs and IRAs.

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Ditto.

many high schools DO offer training in those types of things.

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School taught me that I can learn what I put my mind to. If I hadn't been required to learn things I didn't like, I would have assumed they were "for other people."

Our current district does offer those topics, but I wish they spent more time on them.
When I was in school, we sewed and cooked to prepare us for life.

I think Mark Twain wrote once, don't let school interfere with your education.

I grew up in Germany. I found school utterly boring. Did it prepare me for life? No/Yes/Maybe I did learn stuff though, like reading and joint hand writing and that 2 + 2 = a lot. I mean wow

Do schools prepare (my) kids to be successful in life? No. They school them essential knowledge. Anything more, well, it has to come from the parents or a mentor.

ForJesusChrist said:

What bothers me most is when people begin to use your grades and the classes you take to determine what type of person you are or will become. Just because someone is not good in school does not make them a bad person, nor do grades say anything about us. They are simply letters.

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Well, they are not 'simply letters.' They are an assessment of your learning progress, which may or may not matter to potential employers. But I agree that they often do not give a good gauge of one's abilities, aptitudes, or work ethic.

And I agree with those who make the point that it's important to know how to think, evaluate claims, do research, and know about the world in which we live. If that is given up totally, we'll be living in a society in which the workforce may be good but our society will not be.

ForJesusChrist said:

What bothers me most is when people begin to use your grades and the classes you take to determine what type of person you are or will become. Just because someone is not good in school does not make them a bad person, nor do grades say anything about us. They are simply letters.

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So you would be fine using a bridge designed by a student who failed his engineering classes and you plan to have your taxes done by a bookkeeper who failed everything after accounting 1.

Or perhaps Grades are more than just a letter.

The letters might not tell how well you can use your knowledge, plus the person may mature in ways, after getting grades, that grades can not tell.

All the people in this thread saying "grades are just letters" got horrible marks in school.

You lost me with the very useful
H^2 = A^2 + B^2

Yes, grade school prepares you to a certain extent. Unfortunately, the bulk of the American population fails to realize that learning will not continue to be spoon fed. It is a personal endeavor that lasts a lifetime.

While grade school education has constant room for improvement, I am taken aback by the targeting of the very most basic mathematic skills.

Problem with U.S. public schools, in my opinion, is: They concentrate too much on rote memorization to get kids to be able to pass standardized tests. Instead, they should focus on teaching kids how to think critically. Critical thought is much more important "out in the real world" than having a bunch of crap memorized.

There are trade schools that prepare high school students for, surprising enough, jobs in trades.

com7fy8 said:

The letters might not tell how well you can use your knowledge, plus the person may mature in ways, after getting grades, that grades can not tell.

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Certainly. But the grades have a value, even if the person later matures, develops, or whatever. And they only record what was the case at the time they were issued. They don't, in other words, intend to say that this student cannot improve, will not backslide, or anything of the sort.

com7fy8 said:

The letters might not tell how well you can use your knowledge, plus the person may mature in ways, after getting grades, that grades can not tell.

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IMO, the grades tell you how well someone can absorb knowledge and then recall that knowledge on demand.

For technical fields, grades can be a better indicator in regards to someone's ability to perform the technical tasks. In less technical, more people driven fields, grades can be a false indicator of one's ability, IMO.

I have an undergrad degree in business and a graduate degree in a science related field. My grades were not that good in undergraduate (because I had other priorities), but my graduate degree grades were exceptional (because I was motivated).

I have met many a person who are brilliant in medical related field and were like a walking talking text book. The problem with many of those types though, is many struggle to work with people and I have found are poor managers of people and or leaders. There are exceptions of course.

ForJesusChrist said:

Be honest here, does school really help prepare kids for what they will face in the future?

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In many ways, yes.

There is little to no education based on things such as filing taxes, preparing for a job interview, stuff of that nature.

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Nor should there be. There's plenty of time for that later (when you actually need it) and other things to learn first. There's SO much more to life (and knowledge for that matter) than a job/the business world.

For some reason we are taught the Pythagorean theorem or whatever it is.

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a-squared times b-squared = c-squared. A very fundamental part of math (geometry to be more precise).

And you have probably heard when you were in school (or you said it yourself), "why are we learning this", or "how will this help us in life".

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Yep - then I grew up and was able to answer those questions.

Many people say things they learned in high school never benefit them in the real world.

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Some things, probably. All things? Not even close.

School is attempting to simulate the real world,

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? Not really. At least not for the most part. Nor should it. In fact, for kids, that IS their "real world."

when in reality the best way to prepare would be to go out and experience it and make mistakes and learn from them.

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Sorry but that's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. No offense but you sound very young (nothing wrong w/that - I should be so lucky), as your post sounds like something a kid would think and say.

I know this will get mixed responses as some feel school is very important and others could care less about it, but I just wanted to get a general idea. Personally, I think that once you get to middle school, or about halfway through it, the rest is just pointless busy work.

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So you're in middle school then?

That's true if your career aspirations are something like school janitor or Asst Mgr at the mini-mart. Not otherwise.

Inkachu said:

School isn't just about preparing you for a particular job or lifestyle. It's about creating a well-rounded person with a wide variety of knowledge and skills.

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Exactly. I for one am very glad for the "useless" information I was taught and exposed to. Much of it I would not have heard or learned of given a choice (cuz, yknow, I had better things to do, like chill with my buds...duuuude...), and am now so glad I did. It'd be like choosing to live in a world that only had black and white when an entire palette of glorious colors and shades and combinations (etc etc) were there for the taking...but I passed because it would take work to get them and not "fun."

Norah63 said:

It's all on the web. Schools are a waste of money. Public babysitting for working parents.
Any parent that takes the time with their children on the computer can learn, and teach.
Brick and morter is old fashioned.

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What a sad and scary post.

Norah63 said:

Computer knowledge comes from 'real people'.
Time for parents to take responsibility of their children once again.
The system is broken. Government schools have not done their jobs, because they are not parents.
Violence, bully's, compitition, peer pressure, it needs replacement.
We are living in the age of information, get it or lose out.

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And again. What web site did you parrot this back from?

keith99 said:

Sure until you upset HAL and keep getting:

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

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No problem, you just google "how to deal with HAL" on the internet. duh!

The school system is for the purpose of training students in:

1. one track, orthodox group-think,
2. obedience to hierarchy & authority figures,
3. robotic regurgitation of "facts",
4. experience with the 9-5 workday,
etc.

You nailed it netzarim.
And many that have gone thru all the years of it may never step outside the
classroom, to have their own responsibility in life.

One hundred years ago, schools taught arts, humanities, classical languages like Greek and Latin and essentially prepared graduates to be critical thinkers.

Fifty years ago after dumbing down standards, schools prepared us for factory jobs in manufacturing.

Now the schools are essentially teaching us to be fast food workers.

bill5 said:

Nor should there be. There's plenty of time for that later (when you actually need it) and other things to learn first. There's SO much more to life (and knowledge for that matter) than a job/the business world.

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Uh, unless you have so much money that you can pay other people to do your taxes for you, it's VERY important.

I barely skated by filing my taxes for the first time last year because I got a tax advisor to give me free advice (I didn't even ask for its to be free, I'm really thankful for that). Turns out, it can cost upwards of $100 or more to get your taxes filed by the people at Wal-Mart and other places. I had no idea, and I had no idea how to fill out my return on my own (because of the confusing language on my bank tax statement), so someone had to sit down and show me.

This year will be much easier for that lesson. Something I never learned in school, and something that could have gotten me audited by the government for doing wrong.

There is so much to life... but I am willing to bet most people don't get to enjoy it. I work 48 hours a week, and any time I'm not at work, I am at home recovering and getting ready to go to work again. My job rules my life, and I think it would be beneficial for schools to get us prepared for certain aspects of having an income, like paying taxes, ESPECIALLY when so many new employees are living paycheck to paycheck, can't afford to pay someone to do their taxes, and definitely can't afford for the government to come after them for either skipping out or filing them wrong.

He is Risen 72 said:

One hundred years ago, schools taught arts, humanities, classical languages like Greek and Latin and essentially prepared graduates to be critical thinkers.

Fifty years ago after dumbing down standards, schools prepared us for factory jobs in manufacturing.

Now the schools are essentially teaching us to be fast food workers.

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A hundred years ago a very small minority of people went to college, and even high school was only for those who showed unusal levels of inteligence. When you make these levels of education availible to the masses, the dumbing down of standards is inevitable. High school, in many cases even college, becomes just an extension of elementary school.