10.22.03 - 2:16 pm
We've got problems in this country. And one of our major problems is denial. Or even worse, recognition.
Let me put it this way, we the people, often times are smart enough to recognize our problems, but too lazy to do anything about it. We truly ARE a lazy people. How are we even to begin coping with what problems exist in our lives, with at least 65% obese, getting up in the morning is a pain in the butt. But it's happening, and will happen. These problems. They're not going away.
Today I'm addressing our public school systems. The American public school system. And it's called that, because it is a system. First of all:
It teaches within a system. "public school system" or "private school system" or "system of system systems". Did you find the word that didn't fit within those phrases? The problem with a system is that it is oblivious to people. It works by means of paper work and transfer of numbers. It doesn't care who and what you are, it just cares what and if you do it. Thus, taking away a crucial factor in raising youth: the ability to treat them, and not their demographics.
Conformity. While this may be a simple solution for control, it doesn't allow the ability for minor expression. It allows only the black and the white to seep through the skin of our schools, thus either performing through utter silence or school massacres. And when I speak of conformity, I don't entirely mean the students ability to express her or his-self. Most of the time, the students are forced to constrain themselves at school. You can imagine, because most of you all experienced this, the after effects of such. There is even conformity in the methods of hiring teachers to perform a duty for our children.
Teaching material. Yeah, I know history is required, but why isn't "Humanity and Compassion" and "Social Injustices" or "Racial and Sexual Equality". There are so many issues that a child should begin to understand at a very young age. Yes, they're dealt with and thought upon much later in life, making them appear to be adult issues, but that's only because we're too absorbed in our own system to institute them earlier on, thus making them a national issue, one in which our kids are able to begin working with. In fact, most of the time the information we receive in-text, at certain years in our school "careers" are repeated in-text later on, just with larger words. I understand the idea that we must reteach old subjects, in order to better understand them as our mind progresses in life, but the emptiness of these subjects only contributes to the emptiness of life. All of this seems like a pipe dream, but that's only because we're too lazy to reform the system entirely, which is ultimately what needs to happen for the survival of our people. After all, you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and that phrase in our country is quite possibly the bloodiest of all.
Reforming the way our system teaches is a must. We are only challenged scholastically in school. Which is funny that is that I say that, because scholastically doesn't mean squat in the real world. Ultimately, we must challenge our children as people. We must support the idea that during these years, children are developing Morales and values, and we must support their individualism, as well as preserving everyone's right of individualism. If we can't modify the constitution, we can modify the way it�s taught. Which unfortunately, is taught word for word. Just a minor example of how a 200 year old document is still used to represent a new generation of people. I'm sure the documents, laying plans for our academic system is just as old. After all, it wasn't until 40 years ago did we allow the desegregation of ethnics into our school system. The system is so negative, no wonder kids kill each other. And we're left in the dark asking mind numbing questions about the children who commit these crimes, or ourselves.
Our system teaches hate, vanity, jealousy, and Calculus. It teaches us to be stupid, conforming to a system that is so overpowering, and so draining, that half the kids don't even make it through, and are considered "failures".
Who truly fails, the system or the student? People are so concerned with what is on paper anymore, that the fact that these are real people we are teaching doesn't even matter. Sure, there are after school programs to provide entertainment for those who wish to pursue something tangible in their delirious school system, or a way for someone to place more text in the bodies of their college entrance essay. But the fact that these exist only prove that the average student isn't absorbing enough from the system to truly form as a person in our society.
We need a system that is diverse; one that is not so much STRONG, as it is versitle. We need to reform what we teach our children, and open their eyes to real problems our world is facing. If we are to turn our children away from fear and from violence, we must do so by intelligent means, not by patching each and every situation to quickly resolve further conflict. We must treat the students, not the actions thereof.
I could write for hours about how much the system really does (for lack of a better word) suck. I blame a lot of problems in our society on the way we are taught as children. I see it only fit that we do something about it, and do something now. And I don't mean re-installing new halogens in the gym, I mean a complete reform of the infrastructure of our school systems.
