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Americans are slowly, but surely, gravitating to the "school is completely pointless" mindset (I really think the baby boomers will be the last generation to actually "appreciate" school learning.)

WHY?

1. No Child Left Behind is the anti-help. It's like telling a kid, "Oh, you're doing poorly in school, so I won't give you lunch money." What does the kid do? Steals to get lunch!

2. The headline of our local newspaper once read: "Increased Infant Mortality Rate Due to Vocabulary." The article preceded to explain that parents did not understand the child seat instructions not because they make little to no sense, but because they didn't have a high enough reading level to understand some of the vocabulary. crying

3. According to the same article above, it tossed of a statistic that 50% of the population could not read above the 8-th grade level; 60% could not read above the 9-th grade level. Does that make anyone else's brain convulse?

4. A coworker I had (in foodservice for a first job) didn't understand what "satisfy" meant. Another coworker and I spent twenty minutes explaining synonyms until she understood "happy" (she was a senior in High School.)

5. Just what makes a good education, anyway? Because what people seem to be learning is not what I picture.

Can someone explain this?

I can't really explain that myself, but I will try.

1.) I do not support NCLB, even though my high school got the highest award (Blue Ribbon) under it. I had to restrain myself from spitting on the paper. It doesn't cover flaws that the school systems have well enough, nor does it deal with its intended target well enough: students.

2.) Our parents and grandparents not having a true education is understandable; they didn't have much choice, at least in the lower social classes, because it was either work and survive or go to school and sacrifice something in their families. My father worked in the fields for a bit, but was lucky enough to complete high school. My grandmother never got past 6th grade.

But as for teen parents...-sighs- I won't say anything. But it angers me how they let go of their education so easily and just turn to welfare.

3.) I wonder how those stats happened. That makes my brain convulse horribly...it does.

4.) I can relate to that. My cousin who is college bound had no idea what 'arrogant' meant, and she was valedictorian of her class!

5.) What makes a good education, to me, is an education that helps you learn something you're willing to learn. It will help you succeed and those around you succeed. Also, it will bring positive changes to your life. A good education is something you will not want to throw away, but keep as your best possession, even if you happen to not graduate with the grades you want. That's what I believe.

EDIT: For those who aren't familiar with NCLB, basically what it does is mandates standardized testing. If your school does not score high enough, then you will lose funding, and theoretically is supposed to motivate students to do better. The flaw, however, is that children are forced to study just for the test, the bare basics, and thus arts and other actually useful things are pushed to the side. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

... crying

1. NCLB? Blargh. I haven't paid attention to new laws/politics/the president since Bill Clinton almost got impeached, so no comment.

2. Did you know that nearly one third (33.3%) of America is so unable to read that they cannot make out the instructions on a medicine bottle, let alone the headlines of a newspaper? I heard that a few years back. That is just pathetic. Stay in school, kids!

3. Yep. See the above paragraph. I know some high school students who can't spell the word "sense," and several who don't know the meaning of the word "delectable." It's sad, really.

4. Well, this killed my day. You know, I ended up drawing up a diagram in my freshman year to explain to high school sophomores the difference between good and well?

5. A good education...I'm not so sure. You're right; it's not what's going on right now. Maybe a good education is learning enough to function well in society. Maybe it's learning both what one wants to learn and needs to learn. Perhaps it's just acquiring all the knowledge that one is capable of acquiring. Whatever it is, more people need it.

There's my two cents.

I have said this once before, but I think it is not just a part of the school system, but in this society in general. It is the general promotion of mediocrity. The more or less idea of who cares.

I agree completely with all of this. I absolutely do not support NCLB or Accelerated Reader. The problem with those two 'programs' that the state cam up with it, as Dameon_Patron_of_Healing- sama said, 'If a school does not score high enough, then they get funding taken away. If your school does not score high enough, then you will lose funding, and theoretically is supposed to motivate students to do better. The flaw, however, is that children are forced to study just for the test, the bare basics, and thus arts and other actually useful things are pushed to the side.' It's the same thing with ACCR-
Students are encouraged to read, yes, but only on a certain level. If a student was on a, say, 5th grade reading level, and wanted to try to read a book on a 6th or 7th grade level, instead of letting the student try to improve, the librarian would say-- No, no, try something on your reading level.
Thus hindering progress, and usually stopping it all together. This is not promoting reading amongst students and encouraging improvement, it is hindering the process and is totally contradictory to the point of the program, like communism. ((I kinda, in a way, protested against that by not doing AR for the whole of fifth and sixth grade, and I plan to get more people to join this year in high school.))
The headline of the newspaper that read "Increased Infant Mortality Rate Due to Vocabulary" and the whole explanation of that made me cry. Because of a poor education, children aren't being given a chance at life.
A good education is working with the individual student, helping them the best you can and letting them learn at their own rate. A teaching method Hitler banned in Nazi Germany during WWII.