I, like someone else on this board, agree that school should stop focusing on the dumb students and allow students to risk going into more advance classes. Also, schools need to stop looking down on students as if we are all care-free, education-hating, pop-culture-loving cogs. I cannot stress enough how contradictory teachers and guidance counselors are when they talk about bettering yourself but do not allow you to take any risk. As if they know you better than you do.
School STILL makes it out that points are more important than knowledge. That you are only intelligent if you are in AP or honors classes and get straight A's or A's & B's. This is all false and harmful. They do not challenge kids enough and the only thing I see it encouraging is stupidity and conformity. Intelligent students are a few (the majority of the students in AP and honors classes are GPA whores who care more about remembering information to excel on test and throwing the knowledge out later. A lot of them are actually pretty simple-minded and dumb.) Standardize testing is also another harm. It is dehumanizing and makes students feel they are not intelligent if they fail. There is way too much focus on these test, the test should be used less often.
Propaganda spouting is yet another serious problem in school. A lot of teachers haven't gotten passed the mindset that just because the government says whatever that it is true. I hate sitting in class hearing rumors about drugs in health class, I hate hearing about the evils of communism and socialism in history when discussing the Soviet Union, as if they were truly following those ideologies. There simply is not enough analysis and exploring the other side. There seems always implications from teachers that "hey, we know you won't research this, you are too dumb and will always be that way."
School STILL makes it out that points are more important than knowledge. That you are only intelligent if you are in AP or honors classes and get straight A's or A's & B's. This is all false and harmful. They do not challenge kids enough and the only thing I see it encouraging is stupidity and conformity. Intelligent students are a few (the majority of the students in AP and honors classes are GPA whores who care more about remembering information to excel on test and throwing the knowledge out later. A lot of them are actually pretty simple-minded and dumb.) Standardize testing is also another harm. It is dehumanizing and makes students feel they are not intelligent if they fail. There is way too much focus on these test, the test should be used less often.
Propaganda spouting is yet another serious problem in school. A lot of teachers haven't gotten passed the mindset that just because the government says whatever that it is true. I hate sitting in class hearing rumors about drugs in health class, I hate hearing about the evils of communism and socialism in history when discussing the Soviet Union, as if they were truly following those ideologies. There simply is not enough analysis and exploring the other side. There seems always implications from teachers that "hey, we know you won't research this, you are too dumb and will always be that way."