Enough is Enough

[NowhereWoman]

Sir, congratulations.
You've found a way to live with something many people have found difficult; school.
There are many ways people try to get through the hardships of school.
Yours is to accept it.
That's fine, okay? Ignore the flaming, your opinion is worth listening to.
Thank you for being so polite and smart about it in your first post and not just being 'AI GO 2 SKOOL I GET EDUCATEON, etc'.
Just know that there are some people, myself included, who disagree, and that's okay too.
Please accept our opinions and beliefs about school, and we(well, those of us who can talk about opposing viewpoints without screaming at people) we will accept yours.

I just want to address a few things that you mentioned. Note: I'm just stating my opinions.

Quote:I presented the shrink with an eloquent, well-researched argument about how school fails to equip our children for the future, how true learning can only result from dedicated autodidactism, how the emphasis on testing detracts from our innate love of learning for its own merit… She diagnosed me with depression and wanted to put me on TCAs. I declined.

“You can’t change the school system,” she told me.

This is getting into youth rights, in my opinion.
Would an adult who didn't like his job or was extremely stressed about it be diagnosed with depression and asked to take medication?
No, they'd be told to weigh the pros and cons of their job, and then decide whether to stay or quit.
Why should it be any different with children and school? After all, I've been told many times 'while you're a child, SCHOOL is your JOB.'
And there was always a voice in my head saying: then why aren't I getting paid?
If i told them this, they'd say, 'You're getting an education!'
Yeah, I don't think so. The only thing I get from school is stress. Stress from trying to get good grades, worrying about bad grades, stupid kids, stupid teachers, this, that, not having enough time, that lab I forgot at home, if my shoes are okay for dress code, la dee da.
Even when I get good grades, I freak out if I get a C on a test.
Nothing I do in school can lower the stress. Nothing I've tried makes me want to get up at 5 in the morning and go someplace I dislike to be told to do this or that by adults who don't know me. It's like having a job you hate and not being able to quit.

Quote:I had deluded myself into thinking that I was being psychologically molested every day because I was simply too lazy to do my schoolwork and I was looking for an excuse, an easy way out.

We ARE looking for a way out. But not out of work, out of the constant stress school puts us through.
And why are we lazy for not wanting to do work we didn't choose to do?
I mean, think of the saying 'if you don't vote, you can't complain.'
If you chose not to vote for the candidate you wanted, you can't complain if he doesn't win. You didn't work to help him, so you don't have the right to bitch.
But wait a minute...we didn't sign up for 12 years of our life in school. In other words, we didn't even have a CHANCE to vote. (which we don't, actually) So how dare they tell us not to complain, to do the work they tell us to without even fully explaining things to us or letting us have a choice?
This arguement seems trivial, I know, to someone who doesn't have our opinions, but I'm trying to get you to understand our point of view here.

Quote:all in all school's primary aim is to help you.

Well, we didn't ask for their help, and we mourn for the years wasted in a system we didn't understand, don't respect(after all, they don't show any respect for us, even when we give them chances), and only causes us confusion, stress, and pain.


I

Quote:In hindsight, school wasn't bad after all. I wouldn't be who I am today without the memories, the friendships, and most importantly the things I learned along the way. The idea that the average person is not only capable but motivated enough to pursue education of its own merit is romantic but honestly false. Homeschooling/Unschooling inevitably causes more problems than it solves, and I'm glad that my parents continued my public education.

Oh my god, really? I can't learn nothin on my own?
(throws guitar out window, burns books, runs back to school)
"TEACH ME OH GODS OF KNOWLEDGE!!!"
^sarcasm.
The idea that the average person is not only capable but motivated enough to pursue education of its own merit is romantic, plausible, and VERY possible but unlikely in a world where supposedly learning of any sort ends at 18 or 22.
I've learned my most valuable lessons outside of school, from playing guitar, reading, trips with my family, learning how to argue without flaming on the internet, etc.
Not saying school is completely useless, I mean, i make my friends there(only because school iss the only place other than home I go every day)
If you are right, than Abraham Lincoln was an imbecile, Bill Gates is a retard, and Albert Einstein was a worthless lazy drop out. You know how Albert Einstein got into the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology? He dropped out of high school and STUDIED OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL.
Note: not ALONE, not WITH NO HELP, but OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL.
We can all learn from others who have experience, but wouldn't a physicist be able to teach use more than a physics teacher? I mean, has a physics TEACHER actually worked on physics experiments outside of the classroom? Is it his living? Does he love the subject? Is it his passion?
Maybe. Maybe not.
Both possibilities are plausible, I'm just saying that I can't learn from people who hate their job, and I can't do my 'job' well if I hate it myself.


Thanks for your thought-out post, it's good for us to have an opposing viewpoint, it makes us more humble and makes us reexamine our beliefs.
Mine have stayed the same, but thanks for not being a flamer.






EDIT!
The above was writtern BEFORE reading your second post, Killjoy. It's sad to me that, for having such a well written first post, your second was extremely immature and basically consisted of insulting our intelligence while pushing your beliefs on us. I am keeping my post above on this thread simply because it's good for someone to have feedback that isn't completely fueled by anger.
But I don't appreciate your comments to the other members of the board, and I AM angry about that, but I'd like to further an intelligent peaceful conversation, if you would stop acting like we need to be saved and that you and school are the only way anyone can ever have a happy life.
AND STOP INSULTING PEOPLE.