Making High School Harder
Hmmm. What do you make of this article?
I'm not sure what to think of this article. I'm not going to lie: I breezed through high school. I also paid for it with a GPA that could have been a lot higher. If I remember correctly, I graduated with about a 3.17 or so. I had some activities, and I feel like I got a lot out of high school, but I wasn't as committed to my academic exploits as I could have been, and my grades reflected that. They got me where I wanted to go, and while my end result of high school wasn't as spectacular as some of my peers (my graduating class had a U.S. Naval Academy appointment and a girl who scored a 1600 on her SAT; both of them were conceited jerks, though they got better), they got me where I wanted to go: [Generic University], a state school, and admission into the Naval ROTC program.
On the other hand, as I noted a couple of weeks ago, I'm already on a better footing than some of the folks I went to high school with, including some of the people who did better than I did in school. I knew guys whose best option after high school was to join the Marine Corps as combat engineers; I'm not knocking the Marines, or the combat engineers, but digging latrines and working military construction is a far cry from my five years of college.
And what about college? Well, I've just graduated, and after I get my incompletes cleared up, I'll have earned nearly a 3.2 grade point average. It's not spectacular, but it's a good showing. In fact, there are people who did better than I did in high school (for example, the guy I mentioned in the link above) whose college experiences were an absolute disaster (for example, the guy I mentioned in the link above). So not only do people have the opportunity under the current system to shine in high school, but they have the opportunity to then shine in college, even if it entails community college and then a transfer to a four year school. Again, I wasn't spectacular, but I worked hard and was well above average through hard work and determination.
What's the point of my rant? My point is that making high school harder isn't going to change much. Don't believe me? Look at France, or Germany, or Egypt, or Japan. In any of those countries, if I didn't have a parent who owned a business, I'd basically be relegated to a job with little or no hope of promotion or advancement based on how I did in high school. You can ask Sarah Canuck, who lived in Paris for the better part of a year, and became intimately familiar with their educational system. You don't do well in high school in France? You have a cold during final examinations your senior year? That's it mate. No redemption for you, and very little chance of making up for it after the fact. Is that a system you want to be a part of?
The current American educational system, though flawed (two words: teachers' union), gives opportunities for everyone. For those who have too little discipline to accomplish anything at all in high school, there are menial jobs like pumping petrol, or serving me fries at McDonalds, or bagging my groceries at the supermarket. And do you know what? There are people like that. I'll give you two examples.
There was one guy who was in my grade in high school. He was pretty slow, though it's a bit hard to explain exactly how it manifested itself. Something wasn't quite right with him, but he probably worked harder than anyone else in our graduating class, and this guy who was slower than everyone else went on to become our class salutatorian, and then went to the same state college as the Lobster. That's a success story from a kid who most academics probably would have written off early on; and I guarantee you that in twenty years, he'll still be in a helluva lot better shape than the aforementioned buddy from the link.
The second guy was a few years ahead of me, and like the salutatorian guy, he was a hard worker and a great kid who just wasn't quite right. He now works at the local supermarket, where he'll probably work for the rest of his life, and he'll thrive there. Whenever I see him there, I make a point of saying "Hello" to him, and encouraging him, because even though I couldn't have a lengthy discussion about politics and international affairs with him, he's a hard worker, and a good guy, and I appreciate that more than a genius who's a lazy prick. And you know what? That's great too. There are people who are just plain not college material like this kid, and there are jobs waiting for those people... The same jobs that are waiting for lazy people, or people who don't have the discipline to make something more of themselves. *
As far as I'm concerned, the way our school system currently works, there are ample opportunities for bright, motivated people (or, in many cases, parentally-pressured people) to exceed the accomplishments of their peers and demonstrate themselves to be "competitive". There are also ample opportunities for people like me to demonstrate capacity for success. And, in both school and society, there are opportunities for lazy wankers, poor college students, and hard-working non-college types to serve me a delicious piece of prime rib, or fill my fuel tank, or deliver newspapers to my office.
I'm not against raising standards in our schools; I just don't think that it would accomplish that much. I think a more important goal is establishing accountability, and that's the beauty of the No Child Left Behind Act. Of course, you've got the money shot...
That's exactly what I want, is advice on how to improve the education system from a sixteen year old. As for internships, I don't think that internships even accomplish things for most college students, let alone high school students.
And opportunities to take college-level courses for free? That's just the liberal indoctrination talking. When I got to college, I had twelve college credits that I received after taking two year-long advanced placement courses and paying eighty dollars to take the matching exams, which I passed. I can't tell you how tired I got while I was at university of snot-nosed little freshmen telling me during their second term, "Well, it's only my second term, but I'm a sophomore by credits." No, you're not, poindexter. You're a freshman who doesn't know jack, and if you don't take at least three and a half years to graduate, you're cheating yourself.
Bottom line, I'm twenty-three and right, these sixteen year olds that were surveyed are sixteen and clueless.
Thus saith the Fly.
* It should be noted that if anything, lumping the two together is an insult to the hard working folks who just aren't cut out for anything beyond high school. I'm absolutely proud of that slow kid who was a couple of years behind me in school, and I'm proud of anyone who has a limited capacity for learning and makes the most of their situation.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The campaign to make high school more demanding seems to be picking up support from the people who have the biggest stake in the matter: the students themselves.
Almost nine in 10 students say they would work harder if their high school expected more of them, a survey finds. Less than one-third of students say their school sets high academic expectations, and most students favor ideas that might add some hassle to their life, such as more rigorous graduation standards and additional high-stakes testing.
"The good old times in high schools are being replaced by good old hard work," said Peter Hart, whose Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc., conducted the survey for the "State of Our Nation's Youth Report," released Tuesday. "There's a recognition among students that they have to be more ready to compete."
I'm not sure what to think of this article. I'm not going to lie: I breezed through high school. I also paid for it with a GPA that could have been a lot higher. If I remember correctly, I graduated with about a 3.17 or so. I had some activities, and I feel like I got a lot out of high school, but I wasn't as committed to my academic exploits as I could have been, and my grades reflected that. They got me where I wanted to go, and while my end result of high school wasn't as spectacular as some of my peers (my graduating class had a U.S. Naval Academy appointment and a girl who scored a 1600 on her SAT; both of them were conceited jerks, though they got better), they got me where I wanted to go: [Generic University], a state school, and admission into the Naval ROTC program.
On the other hand, as I noted a couple of weeks ago, I'm already on a better footing than some of the folks I went to high school with, including some of the people who did better than I did in school. I knew guys whose best option after high school was to join the Marine Corps as combat engineers; I'm not knocking the Marines, or the combat engineers, but digging latrines and working military construction is a far cry from my five years of college.
And what about college? Well, I've just graduated, and after I get my incompletes cleared up, I'll have earned nearly a 3.2 grade point average. It's not spectacular, but it's a good showing. In fact, there are people who did better than I did in high school (for example, the guy I mentioned in the link above) whose college experiences were an absolute disaster (for example, the guy I mentioned in the link above). So not only do people have the opportunity under the current system to shine in high school, but they have the opportunity to then shine in college, even if it entails community college and then a transfer to a four year school. Again, I wasn't spectacular, but I worked hard and was well above average through hard work and determination.
What's the point of my rant? My point is that making high school harder isn't going to change much. Don't believe me? Look at France, or Germany, or Egypt, or Japan. In any of those countries, if I didn't have a parent who owned a business, I'd basically be relegated to a job with little or no hope of promotion or advancement based on how I did in high school. You can ask Sarah Canuck, who lived in Paris for the better part of a year, and became intimately familiar with their educational system. You don't do well in high school in France? You have a cold during final examinations your senior year? That's it mate. No redemption for you, and very little chance of making up for it after the fact. Is that a system you want to be a part of?
The current American educational system, though flawed (two words: teachers' union), gives opportunities for everyone. For those who have too little discipline to accomplish anything at all in high school, there are menial jobs like pumping petrol, or serving me fries at McDonalds, or bagging my groceries at the supermarket. And do you know what? There are people like that. I'll give you two examples.
There was one guy who was in my grade in high school. He was pretty slow, though it's a bit hard to explain exactly how it manifested itself. Something wasn't quite right with him, but he probably worked harder than anyone else in our graduating class, and this guy who was slower than everyone else went on to become our class salutatorian, and then went to the same state college as the Lobster. That's a success story from a kid who most academics probably would have written off early on; and I guarantee you that in twenty years, he'll still be in a helluva lot better shape than the aforementioned buddy from the link.
The second guy was a few years ahead of me, and like the salutatorian guy, he was a hard worker and a great kid who just wasn't quite right. He now works at the local supermarket, where he'll probably work for the rest of his life, and he'll thrive there. Whenever I see him there, I make a point of saying "Hello" to him, and encouraging him, because even though I couldn't have a lengthy discussion about politics and international affairs with him, he's a hard worker, and a good guy, and I appreciate that more than a genius who's a lazy prick. And you know what? That's great too. There are people who are just plain not college material like this kid, and there are jobs waiting for those people... The same jobs that are waiting for lazy people, or people who don't have the discipline to make something more of themselves. *
As far as I'm concerned, the way our school system currently works, there are ample opportunities for bright, motivated people (or, in many cases, parentally-pressured people) to exceed the accomplishments of their peers and demonstrate themselves to be "competitive". There are also ample opportunities for people like me to demonstrate capacity for success. And, in both school and society, there are opportunities for lazy wankers, poor college students, and hard-working non-college types to serve me a delicious piece of prime rib, or fill my fuel tank, or deliver newspapers to my office.
I'm not against raising standards in our schools; I just don't think that it would accomplish that much. I think a more important goal is establishing accountability, and that's the beauty of the No Child Left Behind Act. Of course, you've got the money shot...
Julie Hetcko, 16, of Lincoln, Nebraska, who will be a senior in the fall, has taken three Advanced Placement courses and is looking for other ways to prepare for college. High schools that don't offer some type of advanced coursework, she said, are holding students back.
"Times are changing," she said. "I don't think people realize how much students are trying to excel, trying to get into college. It's important that adults and parents know that it's not just a walk in the park. We want to work for our grades."
When given options for improving high schools, 95 percent of students agreed that more real-world opportunities, such as internships, would help at least somewhat. More than 90 percent also favored two other ideas: earlier counseling in high school about how to prepare for college, and more opportunities to take college-level courses for free.
That's exactly what I want, is advice on how to improve the education system from a sixteen year old. As for internships, I don't think that internships even accomplish things for most college students, let alone high school students.
And opportunities to take college-level courses for free? That's just the liberal indoctrination talking. When I got to college, I had twelve college credits that I received after taking two year-long advanced placement courses and paying eighty dollars to take the matching exams, which I passed. I can't tell you how tired I got while I was at university of snot-nosed little freshmen telling me during their second term, "Well, it's only my second term, but I'm a sophomore by credits." No, you're not, poindexter. You're a freshman who doesn't know jack, and if you don't take at least three and a half years to graduate, you're cheating yourself.
Bottom line, I'm twenty-three and right, these sixteen year olds that were surveyed are sixteen and clueless.
Thus saith the Fly.
* It should be noted that if anything, lumping the two together is an insult to the hard working folks who just aren't cut out for anything beyond high school. I'm absolutely proud of that slow kid who was a couple of years behind me in school, and I'm proud of anyone who has a limited capacity for learning and makes the most of their situation.
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