Most of you on this forums are Americans, but I do know that an handful of you are not American so this post does not apply to your schools but you may be able to relate to this thread.
I hear on the news how our schools in this country are becoming so bad. Drop out rates of high school students keeps going up around the country. I read articles a lot on why this is happening, most blame it on lack of funding. Some claim it's the teachers unions. Some claim it is the rising rate of learning disabilities etc. I think it's a little bit of everything.
Inequality:
I feel what I experience in school is what a lot more students are experiencing today. I think the core of the problem is inequality. I feel like I have learned a lot more in the last 5 years out of high school than I did in high school (yes it took me an extra year).
For one thing, I learned that when other people are in charge of things for you, you tend to be complacent about it. It's not that you don't appreciate it or care, it's just certain parts of the brain don't become engaged until you are responsible for things. People like to shame you for taking things for granted. But I have learned I like being in charge of things because it makes me feel in control. School teaches you this attitude I think that you are not good enough for things you don't know, but now I like to know as much as I can. For example, I didn't care about money because my mom was always in charge of it. I just thought of it as this infinite fund (subconsciously) that was always there every time I need it. When I became in charge of my own money it became apparent why it is important to learn credit terms, taxes, history of our economic system, because the more you know the more money you can make.
Early Bird Attitudes:
Another issue I had was this attitude schools have that you're a piece of shit if you don't wake up at 5am everyday. I was never a morning person, I always had a hard time getting up and I like to stay up late. That has never changed and it never will. Almost every time I try to go to bed at 10pm I am restless and can't fall asleep until 1-3am.
Socializing:
I spent a lot of time in school in counselor's offices discussing various things from my attendance, academic deficiencies, to just being socially inept. They treated me like a dog about the issue though, they would give me free line passes for lunch for attending school on time and getting homework done on time, but I hated to go to lunch early because I hated sitting in the lunch rooms and I liked standing in line as long as possible so I spent less time sitting. It was just one thing after another in the lunch room. I had an identity crisis trying to figure out where to sit and where ever I sat it seemed like someone always had to give me a hard time. I think reasons like this is why kids are dropping out of schools more than anything. I think kids get fed up with feeling alone in school and leave because they just can't stand it.
Lazy Teachers:
Although I agree teachers should get paid better, I do think there are far too many lazy teachers out htere that just get away with doing as little as possible. I think the standards for the profession are pretty high though, so I am always baffled when I see how terrible some of the teachers that get let into the system are. My Mom is a teacher and has moved around to many different schools in her district so I have some insight into what's like. If the profession did get higher paying it would attract better people too.
Old fashioned homework:
The days of assigning assignments in class and expecting them done the next day is boring and obsolete in this day and age. I never liked classes assigning things in class that should be done tomorrow. Teachers always like to do that but I find that having them start assignments in class and finish it out is a lot more effective than having that part of class completely separate from what is done in class. Homework should be something that is introduced in the classroom as well as outside. Schools should be fully engaged with the internet, posting assignments due and should be done completely electronically, we shouldn't have paper involved in anything anymore. The internet has become completely superior to paper based information.
Private schools suck even more than public:
I went to a private school for one year and I found it even worse than public schools. I found that private schools play a lot of favoritism and don't really care if you show up as long as you pay your tuition. They're not concerned about you education and just want your money to make themselves look good so they can appeal to richer people to give them more money. At least in public schools I felt more of a sense of accountability for everyone.
That's all I have for now, I will add more later.