Why the Public Education System Is Failing

Everyone knows that kids do not like learning in school, but it is required. As a 19 year old who lives in Georgia, I had to attend school until I was 16, until I had the option to drop out; however, I chose not to because I knew I needed to stay in school and get a college degree in order to be successful. It is required by law that you attend school in some way; however, the people making and supporting this law are not the one's going to school. Adults look at schools and remember when they attended because it all looks familiar. Have you ever noticed a teacher in your high school that you find out attended the same school when he was in high school? So why does that teacher recognize the school, notice nothing has changed, eat the same meals as they did before, and use the same teaching methods as they were taught? Adults always say how much the world has changed and how different the technology is from when they were growing up. They remember sitting in rows of desks at their public school and learning about chemistry and taking exams on who the 23rd president was and what bills they passed. If you ask that same adult today, in 2019, I promise they will pull out their phone and search for it. Rows of desks were originally organized to get children in the mindset of having everything even, and the feel for lines for the assembly lines in the early 20th century. A lot of teachers today will tell students to think outside of their comfort zone and reach out to new ideas, but the desks are still the original idea and the same style from when school started in 1821 in Boston. The public education system forces kids to take classes they will never use and then shame them for not doing well in it. You teach a mathematician world history and they struggle with it. You tell them they are not smart enough, "Look at the person next to you who did really well," or, "You just aren't good enough." So why discourage people into thinking they are not intelligent enough for the world if they do not need that information to be successful? If that person was discouraged and started to believe that they are not good enough for the world, then they will never try to achieve their goals. Those goals could have saved lives of many or solved a cure for something fatal, but that one teacher told them they would never be successful since they couldn't learn something as fast as someone else. When an adult has a question about their job, or has a question about something they are going to, they ask someone or search for an answer on the internet, but phones and talking are not allowed during an exam. A standardized test was created by Alfred Binet to test knowledge on a certain subject matter. In the real world of 2019, tests are not taken, quizzes are not handed out, and if they are, you can use your resources. Almost every kid in high school in the United States has a device they can access the internet with, but are not allowed to use it when they have a question. They are forced to take classes which will not affect them in the future, and read books that are 2,000 pages long and filled with information that can only help them for the test they will take.

Textbooks?

Public schools use textbooks in order to teach information about different topics. The textbooks used are typically outdated, incorrect, and completely pointless to the students. Textbooks are filled with information that students are forced to read and have been proven many times to discourage kids from reading. As the saying goes, "You can bring a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink," but Prince EA says, "You can put salt in the horse's hay to make it thirsty," which is exactly what public schools are doing. When you force someone to do something, they do not enjoy it as much as they would if they chose to do it. Information is being changed every day, technology is being improved exponentially, and schools are at a stand still. When an 18 year old gets out of high school but has a full time job, why have they been learning for 13 years, but still do not have the knowledge on how to file taxes, what stocks are and how they work, or how to manage their money? The curriculum in public education today is the same as the teachers learned 30 years ago.

Time Is Being Wasted

Almost every adult you speak to will say they wish they were kids again. If people want to be kids again, then why do they force kids to go to school and learn useless information? It is hard to wrap my mind around the fact that past generations learn about technology from the younger generations, but they are forced to waste their time being young to learn information in, which has zero impact on their day-to-day lives. Being in college, I understand the purpose of an education, and I understand the purpose of college, because you choose what you are interested in and choose what classes you take. If high school prepares you for college, then why isn't there a choice of what classes you would like to take, or the ability to use your resources during class? I had a professor last semester who told us we were allowed to use any notes, any device, and chat amongst one another to figure out the answers to questions on exams. Even though many sounds like this is easy or see no point in taking the exam, think about life. When you deal with scenarios you have questions for, but cannot find the answer online or in your notebook, you need to talk to someone and use what you have to figure out the solution. Time as a kid is being wasted on a standard curriculum, and the time allowed for kids to enjoy life, grow into adults, and figure out a plan for their future is being spent in these public school systems becoming frustrated, depressed, and unmotivated