Why do so many kids hate going to school?

[alaskaguy]

Two University of Texas at Arlington sociologists, Ben Agger and Beth Anne Shelton claim that the majority of kids hate school by the time they reach junior high. They also claim that schools verge on penal colonies, where teachers are wardens and children are inmates.

Are the aforementioned views unwarranted and extreme or do they represent reality?

Link:
Why kids hate school: sociologists explore issue in new book

 

[CYVADER]

i think they represent reality. anymore, school is just cheap daycare. most of the k-12 schools aren't really teaching a lot of kids what they need to learn to make it. i was lucky enough to get good grades without trying, but there were several kids in my school and others that never really learned 3rd grade fundamentals but were allowed to graduate anyway. just look the other way, and push them through. there isn't much effort from many teachers, and therefore when kids grow up there isn't much effort in them to do their own jobs either. every generation says the same thing: kids today are lazy. i think that statement is more true now then ever, and i consider myself a kid still at 28. most kids my age and younger are lazy-if it isn't easy, they don't want to work for it.

 

[CycloneErik]

i think they represent reality. anymore, school is just cheap daycare. most of the k-12 schools aren't really teaching a lot of kids what they need to learn to make it. i was lucky enough to get good grades without trying, but there were several kids in my school and others that never really learned 3rd grade fundamentals but were allowed to graduate anyway. just look the other way, and push them through. there isn't much effort from many teachers, and therefore when kids grow up there isn't much effort in them to do their own jobs either. every generation says the same thing: kids today are lazy. i think that statement is more true now then ever, and i consider myself a kid still at 28. most kids my age and younger are lazy-if it isn't easy, they don't want to work for it.

I work with people that would have an incredibly easy job if they just put together a couple of good habits. Those habits don't even take any work, but these folks still won't put in that level of effort. It's sad. More than likely, this same ethic spills on into life past work.:no:

 

[jbhtexas]

Hmmm...less math...so when I'm at the fast food joint and I hand the teenager running the register $6.01 for my $5.51 bill, instead of just turning white with panic over that extra penny, he'll now go into full-blown convulsions...

I agree with ISU BET, for many parents, school is cheap daycare.

 

[Cyclone62]

A lot of those ideas (portfolios, journaling, essaying, etc.) are becoming very popular in LA/English classrooms now. Not sure about other subjects though.

 

[Psyclone]

I work with people that would have an incredibly easy job if they just put together a couple of good habits. Those habits don't even take any work, but these folks still won't put in that level of effort. It's sad. More than likely, this same ethic spills on into life past work.:no:

I'm so glad I stuck with it through high school and college. I have an enjoyable job and like I have said for years "It beats working for a living". Sometimes I'm amazed that I get paid to do my job. My younger brother did not do well in high school, didn't go to college and he has had a much rougher life making ends meet. In his case I don't think it was really work ethic as much as it was he didn't believe in himself. Sometimes you want to step in and help, but any help doesn't really fix the fundamental issue.

 

[CrossCyed]

Well, hey, I'm working to become a teacher.

A good teacher makes so much of a difference.

 

[dinger]

i am friends with quite a few young teachers. it seems that young teachers are what we need. they are energetic and excited to teach. its not just a job to them. there just seem to be too many that are teaching because its a job.

 

[CrossCyed]

i am friends with quite a few young teachers. it seems that young teachers are what we need. they are energetic and excited to teach. its not just a job to them. there just seem to be too many that are teaching because its a job.

As opposed to the ones doing it forever, recycling the old yellowing overheads they've used since that first year....

 

[Cyclone62]

Well, hey, I'm working to become a teacher.

A good teacher makes so much of a difference.

What field are you getting into Cross? When I was student teaching, it was a pain because of the travel, but I loved going to class every day, and I missed the kids I was working with just a few days after I was done.

 

[LindenCy]

I think better teachers will help, but a lot of this starts at home. I would never send my kids to public school in Chicago.

 

[Cyclone62]

i am friends with quite a few young teachers. it seems that young teachers are what we need. they are energetic and excited to teach. its not just a job to them. there just seem to be too many that are teaching because its a job.

That's because they have tenure and they don't have to really see it in any other way. There are still quite a few teachers with tenure that still have that enthusiasm, but the ones that go through the motions should be fired IMO.

 

[rahtotheames]

I hate school because it is boring. I never learn anything new because I am held to the standards of the dumbest kid at the school. We need a high school system similar to the college system. I go to a smaller school, so I really don't have any choice for my classes. Oh and English nowadays is the most pointless waste of 45 minutes ever.

 

[Angie]

Please make sure to not make this a debate about the perceived ineptitude of teachers vs. their value, or we'll have to move it to the politics forum.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Please make sure to not make this a debate about the perceived ineptitude of teachers vs. their value, or we'll have to move it to the politics forum.

May I make an argument as to the perceived value of teachers vs. their ineptitude?:cute:

 

[Cyclone62]

I hate school because it is boring. I never learn anything new because I am held to the standards of the dumbest kid at the school. We need a high school system similar to the college system. I go to a smaller school, so I really don't have any choice for my classes. Oh and English nowadays is the most pointless waste of 45 minutes ever.

Thank god for NCLB!

 

[Cyclone62]

May I make an argument as to the perceived value of teachers vs. their ineptitude?:cute:

Could that be because of the ever increasing regulation of schools? It seems like the schools started to decline around the birth of the National Board of Education. Just something I've noticed.

 

[CrossCyed]

What field are you getting into Cross? When I was student teaching, it was a pain because of the travel, but I loved going to class every day, and I missed the kids I was working with just a few days after I was done.

Social Studies.

Some of the most insightful things I've done so far are the site visits. Just sitting back and watching some teachers work their students and then some students work their teachers.

 

[Cyclonepride]

They see a need to start over, building from the ground up. In their ideal school, grading and testing would be minimized and teachers would not be cops or dictators. Schools would have fewer desks and more open space. Each day would start with an hour of exercise, not the dreaded rope climbing but sport as play, which would include teachers. Homework would be minimized, as real teaching and dialogue fill the day

I can see the exercise to begin the day, just to wake the kids up, but other than that, I disagree. I just don't buy into the no test, no grade line of thought. School is not designed to make kids feel good about themselves. That is what parents are for.

 

[Cyclone62]

Social Studies.

Some of the most insightful things I've done so far are the site visits. Just sitting back and watching some teachers work their students and then some students work their teachers.

That program just restarted last year didn't it?