Many problems exist with the current school system, in that they remove basic human rights that we have as citizens of America, this oh so great country which has its own parade of problems but back to the topic of schools, we also have a pathetic standard of education. Perhaps it is viewed as perfectly fine by many, considering the USA remains a world power, however we are not getting the education available to us, knowledge which should be standardized is instead left for the few with enough initiative to seek it out. Though many will disagree as to whether or not school 365 days a year would be a good thing, it would help teachers better cover the subjects, for many of them are unable to properly cover the material, only giving brief overviews instead of the in-depth explanations necessary, simply so that they can meet all the standards imposed by the state. Now one of the biggest problems, in my opinion, is that once you step onto the schools grounds, you are no longer in a democracy. Many of the laws and human rights given to us as citizens of the United States of America, are removed simply by stepping into an institute of education, ironically enough, the law also demands that we go to a place where we be stripped of our basic human rights. Freedom of expression is one of the rights that are removed on school grounds, as well as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of petition.
Some may argue that these freedoms have not been removed so much as diminished, however it is my opinion that restrictions and qualifications upon these rights is no longer freedom. Freedom of expression is restricted in schools in a variety of ways, dependant on the state, district, or individual school. One of the myriad of ways it is restricted is to set clothing regulations; lengths of skirts, width of shirt straps, etc. These are mainly aimed at the females because they could prove to be a "distraction." Schools go one step further however, turning from more viable reasoning such as the distractions, to simply foolish, in their regulation of the displayed graphics and text upon clothing, such as t-shirts. They disallow any clothing to be worn that contains graphic images found to be distasteful, such as guns, violence in general, swears, and drugs or drug references; now this may sound like a perfectly fine list, but it removes a lot of freedom, especially when you consider how vague some of the stipulations are. One student was forced to change his shirt, which displayed a picture of Bob Marley's face, in the Ethiopian colors of green, yellow, and red, for drug references. Bob Marley may have done drugs, however in the image there was no drugs evident, simply his face, and they made him change his shirt.
One major dispute as far as freedom of expression is concerned, is the pledge of allegiance. Many people have issues with this, either the "under God" which tramples upon freedom of religion, or with the fact that the pledge of allegiance is in fact, mandatory. Refusing to stand and pledge will result in punishment. Perhaps this is not universal, but speaking from my own experience, there are severe repercussions for not pledging. In a few areas, the pledge has been outright banned, however I feel this is not an appropriate solution either, I think it should be optional, instead of required one way or the other, so as to allow true freedom of ones expression.
11 comments:
Hi! At the first point that you made i disagree. I think that we should not be in school for 365 days of the year. Although it would help some students to understand things better and teachers an easier and less stressful time to teach students. Students and teachers have families. You cannot be in one place for 8 hours every single day of the year. Adults want to see their kids, kids want to see their friends and be able to do things. Also, you are in a technical high school. You chose to be here and other high school have a whole year to learn the material, we have half that time.
I do agree that we do have our freedom of speech, freedom of expression and so forth are taken away from us when we are on school grounds. I also agree that we should be able to wear what we want, except, some people will take advantage of that. So that is what I think the administrative think about. Girls will take advantage of wearing REALLY short skirts and no one wants to see up a skirt. I wouldnt and there would also be so much more drama.
bye! : )
While i agree with you that it would be stressful and difficult to have school year round, my point was simply as to provide a better education, looking only at that one aspect of it. Also, being in a technical high school is a choice, however that has little to do with it, no matter what high school, there is not enough time to cover the information in the curriculum. If the years were longer, we would be able to learn more, creating a better educated workforce to support the future of this country and the economy.
Hehe... I have that same exact Bob Marley shirt...
To be on topic, I must say, or agree, that our school system is lacking the educational beef that we will need to live in a world where countries such as China are pumping out PhD students by the millions. Most Asian as well as many European countries have a much more rigid, intense program of study in public schools. The Japanese have that extra beefy, triple stacker education, but it also has ill effects on those students. As those delicious triple stacker burgers can give you a heart attack after years of consuming them, the extraordinary education system in Japan has led to some obscenely high suicide rates for students. I believe the United states of America should drop the "No Child Left Behind" junk and move on to "No child left behind or held back." The school systems in Massachusetts pride themselves in producing some of the best test takers in The U.S., but much of the time that is all that is taught. It starts with the big bad MCAS. Every teacher, every student, every parent wants high scores. These students, teachers, and parents have become so absorbed it getting those statistics that they have effectively blocked out the actual learning part of school. We are no longer "getting learned", we are being exposed. Sure, exposure has produced the passing rates, but many of us, the students, have accumulated what I like to call "a head full of useless knowledge." Many of the things students are exposed to go in one ear and out the other. The answer to the exposure method is quite possible longer school days or longer school years. Of course the social constraints this would put on the many socialites in every school would be opposed with the "I have a life" response. But because those students wish to keep their "life" the many other students who wish to make their life are held back. Sadly, at our school, students cannot take that seventh class, that higher math class, even if it does not require extra staff. I believe, that if there is a student who wishes to challenge themselves beyond the reasonable sanity of a standard day, they should not be held back.
On the topic of basic rights, yes we do have a severe reduction of rights in school. I have, at many times, felt outraged by my, or other students loss of rights. But I must accept that all of these restrictions are in good intent.I think that the real violation of rights here is that we cannot direct our own education in the way which we want to go. When being told "No, you must take biology" or "No, you will have to ruin your summer taking classes if you want to take a better math class." (that one is a little exaggerated but the point is there), I feel as though I am being robbed of something with a nameless value. I don't need biology, I need something which I feel will benefit my life as a worker and a person.
Ending this ramble, rant, whatever you wish to call it, I must say that it is not just personal, it is all the people of our country who are being robbed of their future as a world power. Oh by the way, I like you title and name.
Hey, your blog was interesting. On your first point, i see what you're trying to say. However, i can imagine if the United States all of a sudden changed it to going all year round there would be a huge controversy. People are so used to going 180 days that changing it now would be pointless, even though it would only be benefiting students and teachers for a better education. And, i also agree that once you step foot on school grounds, just about all of your rights are taken away. In a way, its right because if the classroom was a democracy nothing would get accomplished. That being said, i don't think we should be denied of of our rights if America is supposed to be a "free country". But yeah, that's just how i see it.
Hey I agree with you almost 100%. Schools do strip us of our rights, but I wonder, is it the schools fault or the students for allowing it to happen? Unfortunatly our generation can be lazy, and the majority of us don't even attempt to make a change. When i was in 7th grade I wrote a petition about our math teacher, he barely understood the material, and threw pens, pencils, books etc. when he got upset. He also had a tendancy to cry in class. I was cirulating the petition at luch and the principal saw it, i took full responsibility. He threw it out, and said "Petitions had to be approved before they were sent around the school." Last time I checked a petition was something you wrote when you wanted a change and for some reason your requests were being ignored. I would have never gotten that petition approved, however it was the only one ever cirulated in the Maynard middle school that had to do with eduaction. I liked your point about an extended school year. Most organizations stay open all year round, I don't understand why teachers and students can't. It makes sense and I do agree that some children are deprived of a decent education compared to the rest of the world. MCAS seems to be our main focus not weather students are learning the material.
I agree with you completely on the fact that our freedom is completely taken away as soon as we get into school. I mean, kids are punished if they don't even stand up for the pledge, and a lot of times the kids are not standing- not out of laziness, but because they don't believe in it. And why is it that we are instantly lowered under the adults in the school? I believe in respect for elders, but honestly- respect is earned, not just given. I could go on, and on, but I won't.
The suggestion you made to the schooling system is that students should have school 365 days a year. This is a idea that I am crossed on. I support it for the fact that students would have a much more superior education than they do now but I dislike and protest the idea for the fact that it would be year round, no 'summer vacation' that many parents use to go on family trips or to visit relatives, and that time of year is very much looked forward to by children and teenagers alike. taking away that valuable travel-time, people would most certainly turn down with tremendous force a vote for school year round simply because of the inconvenience to them.
Wow! You guys are pretty passionate! I think DL's comment is almost as long as Mr. T's blog!
Well, I would agree that summer vacation results in stupider (yes--look at the research, kiddos) students who need more review. Summer reading helps keep that brain in shape...a little. The issue has been debated for years. The biggest fighters? Parents who plan family vacations and kids who have summer jobs. I wonder how we could have complete education and still have those things. Any ideas?
I think, overall, that the blog needed a little more focus. I wasn't sure if I bought the argument about freedoms and rights being destroyed by schools. Maybe more specific information would help there. Any one else have comments about teh structure of teh argument rather than just its content?
Mrs. S
Hey I at frist diagree with going to school 365 days year. Not all of us love school that much. I did like reading about how when we come to school we loose all rights and thats so true.
Hi Peter! Whre is your book review?
I agree with the people who do not want to be in school 365 days a year. One thing many people dont realize is that students have lives after school. Adults dont usually realize that our lives can be stressing too and loading us with work just makes it worse and harder for us to learn.
Now on to the rights. I know that many people think its stupid to have regulations regarding clothing, but some people, specially girls take advantage of their freedom when its granted. Girls show too much, and I hate it when guys wear their pants almost around their knees. It is disturbing and both cases can cause distractions and disagreements. Because of that the school already makes all those rules because it would be impossible to go around punishing individuals. Sometimes kids dont realize how hard it is to control so many people at once, and that is the reason why they make such vast restrictions.
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