School: something everyone is required to participate in. However, it does much more harm than good. We need to stop treating students like they are all the same, like they all have the same learning styles. No, students are unique and need to be treated as such. The school system is broken with too much testing and not nearly enough learning. We’re forced to memorize things that float out of our heads as soon as we select the answer on the test and then do it all over again. This is not making us smarter. Education needs to be tailored to the learner, not to government testing.
“Oh, but that’s unrealistic. How are we going to tailor learning to each student,” ask the naysayers.
Well, we have currently standardised testing. Instead, it should be a test to see how each student learns in each particular subject. This test should be in middle school so that all the basics are learned there. Then, when they move to high school:
~Freshmen students ought to learn things like how to budget a bank account/check book and by extension, how to budget for bills and necessities (basically money management in general). They should learn basic cooking skills and housekeeping skills. They should learn basic maintenance of a house, how to fix a small electrical problem, small plumbing issues, etc. Health class is really important here: now we should be learning about mental illness and other important things. Extensive reproductive education is also very important. A physical “education” class should also be in place every semester until graduation, except there should be options: yoga, swim, walking, running, weights, zumba. Let the students try everything until something sticks. This is very important for mental health as well as physical.
~Sophomores should now choose a field of study or career path that they are interested in and take classes specifically tailored to that choice. This on top of all the basic knowledge classes so they get lots of practice before actually heading out into the real world. Add a recreational class of their choosing in which they are learning something that they really have an interest in. Expand the mind. A new subject may be selected every semester until graduation.
~Juniors should shadow someone in their career choice (if one is chosen). Also, learning how to write proper resumes should now be introduced as well. Still keeping up with all the learning of how to function as an adult (though this should now be limited to maybe one class a day rather than the whole day as it is in the Freshman model).
~Seniors should start volunteering and becoming aware of social issues that plague their area. Such as homelessness, hunger, environmental, etc. Volunteering will help them become well rounded on an emotional/spiritual level and learn to have empathy for their follow human beings. They should also now have a pretty good idea of adult life and should be looking at apartments if they choose not to go to college (because there is nothing wrong with not going to college if it’s not for you!). If they aren’t actually going to move out right at first, then it’s at least important to know how to go through the application process of apartments. Now is the time to start applying all of that basic knowledge and taking the leap into adulthood. Fly, little birds! Chase your dreams!
Obviously this model needs some work, but it is so much better than testing our youth to death. Seriously, we don’t take that many tests as adults. How many of us actually remember anything we learned from high school? It’s ridiculous. And yes, I hear the naysayers again, “Shouldn’t the parents do all of that?!” Why, yes, yes they should be doing that. However, how many of them actually know how to do all of that safely? How many parents are even home? Today, both parents have to work just to keep a roof over the family’s head and food in the fridge. So let’s teach the kids how to do this stuff in school so that they can properly function as adults.
It takes a village.
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