school is a waste of time

School is such a waste of time
I'm not against school you have to learn but they make you learn things that are totally useless things you will never need for the rest of your live
like when you have somekind of test you learn everything and 2weeks later you forgotten everything you learned why cause you aren't interested I don't get the point of learning and forgetting it again.Ok you will remember some parts after 2weeks but this is just to prove my point
why can't they make school usefull ?
General knowledge yeah right I don't believe learning about how the inside of the earth could help me develop in my further live, let the people who have an interest in those things learn that if they are interested they might do something with that knowledge later
good I'm pist at the way schools work here in my country

I thought the same thing when I was younger. You will come to realize that general knowledge is one of the strongest tools you will need in your life (for making money and friends). Everything you can absorb and pick up makes you more fluent in almost any conversation. This helps tremendously when your boss asks of your opinion lets say on the stock market (ecomics class). Instead of being absolutely clueless on what dividends, EBITDA's, PB Ratio, PC ratio, etc. etc. is..you might be able to give your boss helpful advice or at least have an intellectual conversation on the topic. There are endless reasons why general knowledge helps. The reason people get interested in Social Studies, Math, Science, Business, Shop, etc. etc. is most likely related to there school years.

It is predicted that out of a given topic a student will pertain 10% of what the course taught; within four years of taking the course. After four years (if no outside influence has acted upon that certain topic) it is believed that you pertain less than 5%. All this is taking into consideration the average student who gets within the B range. Although schools like to stress that a C is average....it isn't.
Regards.

-andy

To add onto my last post..none of what I said above matters if you don't care (or will never care). If wealth isn't a priority of yours, then school is a complete waist of time, in fact, it is the biggest waist of time in your life (12-16+ years). This also relates to the topic of values and if you believe in them or not. If not, then you are 100% correct.

But if you want wealth, you will have a better chance with an education (at least highschool).

That's nonsense! First of all, you're immensely rich you are ABLE to go to school. There are many people who'd want to go to school but can't afford it or there simply isn't any school around. In general this is only the case in the poorer countries but my point is you should be HAPPY you're able to go to school to 'work on your future' and you're not some childsoldier, uneducated mineworker or simply a beggar somewhere (no offense meant ofcourse ). But I'm sure you won't argue this since you complained more about the stuff they teach then the fact they teach at all

Of course I can understand there are times you see no point in the stuff you learn but then you learn something else: the things you don't like and which you don't want to do later on in your life. If you get some basics about how the earth works and you don't give a damn, well, I'd know what not to study later on. Same goes for languages, mathematics, economics, physics etc.. These broad basics you get may be forgotten mostly if I may believe andy's numbers but some may linger in your head and you get a reference to this for later use.
Besides giving you some basic knowledge about the world school also teaches you how to interact with other people, make friends and meet people you wouldn't meet otherwise.

To come back to the wealth-part (), I enjoyed my time at school and are eager to learn as much as possible from all aspects of life I find interesting (which is a lot). I don't care much about financial wealth, but I do care about a more broad definition of wealth which isn't economic but has to do with happiness (being able to life the live you want) and understand as much as possible of what goes on around me... for me that knowledge is invaluable and I know even enjoy the french classes I had to take in the past, while I didn't feel that way back then (hmm, maybe I'm overexaggerating now... )

Enough said for now I think (I mixed everything up I think but I don't feel like changing it again at 1AM ).
Summary:
1) school is great
2) the stuff they learn may differ from place to place, but some broad knowledge is a good help to decide how your life/future will develop (if you have that luxury), to be able to handle things later on (e.g. boss story of andy) and (IMO) understanding the world around you...

And like Andy said, if you don't care... well then indeed it's a waste of time.. but most often you don't care at a young age but you wish you had paid some more attention later on in your life when you have a use for that knowledge...

*yawn* (not from my post ofcourse....)
Nighty night to those in the neighbourhood and a nice day to the rest

When did I mention wealth? To 'Work for my future'? What if he doesn't care for his future? Not everyone has the same values (if any values for that matter). I take back what I said about "If wealth isn't a priority of yours, then school is a complete waist of time." If you love learning then its fine as well whether you plan to do anything with that knowledge. On a side note, I am paying my way through college, by no meens am I rich.

-andy

(allright, one more before I go to sleep )

The piece you quoted is more about the greatness of school (as far as people are able to see it) and wasn't 'aimed' at you or the wealth-thingy or at Jonas' post since he was complaining about the stuff they teach... so in essence it has nothing to do with the discussion so far just wanted it to be said I guess..

Keeping the blessing of a school in mind I tried to explain the use of some broad knowledge, besides the point you (being Andy this time, I think I mixed the you's a bit as well) already made about the working future.Same here... in an economical way that is

The world can always use another ditch digger

Stick with it, I made the same complaints during my seemingly endless education. Besides, school is better than work.

I'm going to try and stay on subject and not go into a rant about poitics and how guns and bombs are more important in America than education... oops.

Anyway..

I don't think school is a TOTAL waste of time. I personally freakin' hate it. But still, there are many people who prefer to learn in that type of environment, and for them, school is a great place to go. I am not one of those people, you probably aren't either. But there are a lot of people like that. I learned pretty much everything I know about programming and whatnot on my own over the last year and 1||2 months. I've learned few things I thought were valuable in school. I've had a few teachers that I thought were good and made me feel as though my time with them was well spent. However, these are, unfortunately, the exception.

As for useless knowledge - yes, the trivia that they give you is largely useless. However, you learn a lot of valuable things in the process of temporarily memorizing the worthless factoids:

1. Reading and Comprehension skills - two absolutely vital skills for everyday life - are improved by almost all forms of reading, whether it be science, english, or whatever.

2. Critical Thinking skills. You can beef these up by reading and analyzing what other people say. A lot of people with few critical thinking skills will believe pretty much anythng anyone tells them (especially if that person holds some sort of authority).

3. Socialization. Admittedly, this can be bad or good. Unfortunately, testing and grading (why grade the STUDENTS? If they don't learn the material, who's to blame for not doing their job?) tend to marginalize unfairly. I failed a ****load of stuff in school. However, if I just pay attention in class now, I can get A's no problem. I don't study, I don't take notes, and I usually don't do the assignments if I don't have to. So, why fail? Wasn't interested. Is it fair to flunk a student because they have no interest in the subject at hand? I don't know. That's best left for a different discussion. But, in the meantime, it taught me that I was at the mercy of superiors, which I was and am. I have no input, and I learned that through school. That's a BAD lesson though, unlike the other two. You can get good socialization out of it, but generally only if you "fit in" somewhere on the spectrum.

4. Logic Skills. This is a big one that can develop from a lot of places: art, music, math, debate. Without these skills, you will get nowhere everywhere very quickly.

and finally:

5. Communication Skills. THE single most important one, I believe. What good does it do you to have picked up the other 4 if you can't effectively communicate with other people? School gives you a chance to build this up.

All that said, I am vehemently opposed to the current incarnation of the public school system in America. I feel that it needs to be torn down and rebuilt with the proper attention and care. The lessons being taught at a lot of schools (when anything is being taught) are not positive or useful. Frankly, all of this shows when you compare the general performance of the U.S. to other countries. They're starting to whip us good. But hey... guns and bombs are important. More important than making an intelligent populace I suppose...

Of course.. I have to admit that I don't know anything about the current state of education in Belgium....

That is a good point. You can have 100% genuiuses in a country, but that doesn't make them powerful. IMHO, power is nearly everything. It is the way are ancestors where, it is how we attempt to be now.

-andy

I was being sarcastic - I find it absolutely ridiculous the way we spend such massive amounts of cash on weapons and ignore education in this country. It goes something like this:

1. War threatens (or, lately, we threaten war) - massive arms buildup to replace old, dilapidated weapons.
2. War - arms continue to build up and be replaced.
3. War ends, weapons production drops, but not below what they were before step 1.
4. War memory fades, arms funding cut drastically, weapons buildup nearly stops. Existing arms can not be maintained. Weapons fall apart and become dilapidated. Existing state of the military becomes pathetic.
5. See step 1.

Dolts. In the meantime, we have people that can't spell three letter words, write complete sentences, or accurately describe their thoughts graduating high school. We have people that can't make change for a dollar on a 0.60 purchase. We have people who watch Jerry Springer and Survivor....

Being like your ancestors isn't necessarily a good thing, anyway. Our ancestors also burned witches, lynched people, held slaves, beat women, continue ad nauseam. Doesn't mean we should emulate THAT behavior.

Although my feelings have already been addressed by others, I'de like to reiterate them.

Those subjects you don't like serve a valuable purpose. They teach you that you don't like that subject. How many times have we heard how someone found they didn't like their job after spending 7+ years in college. If you don't like learning about the center of the earth then don't persue a carreer where that type of knowledge would be useful and be thankful you found out before spending x number of dollars on years of useless training.

And then, sometimes we find that when introduced to subjects we never would have picked ourselves we actually like them. I was never a fan of math in grade school. But in junior high I excelled in algebra. I just got it. By the time I graduated from highschool I had completed both Calculas I and II with the local community college (Not pre-calc, I took that my junior year). I never would have guessed.

As it turns out, my dislike of math in grade school was attributed to my difficulty with basis arithmetic. (I still get confused, 2+3=6 and 2*3=5 right?? err, is it the other way around?). Fortunetly, I was given a calculator in junior high . Now math involves manipulating equations and letting an electrical device do the calculations. No problem. Although I don't use any of that calculus today (logic was covered in basic algebra) the equations/alogarisms I use today are easy in comparison.

As a bonus, calculus gave me a challenge, compared with all the seeminly trivial and boring stuff I did the rest of the day. I should note that I comunicated that as my only reason for taking the class to my teacher, who then had much more respect for me and was more forgiving when I failed to grasp something.

I would also like to echo the many other reasons listed. Although the subject matter itself may be of questionable usefullness, the basic skills we learn are more valuable than any facts. Sure, alot of time is wasted because of poorly managed school systems, but don't add to the waste. Make as much as possible out of what is there and it will feel like, and be, less of a waste.

Just my 2cents.

ctb,

While I agree with your assessment of the US education system, money isn't the answer. All those countries that are outscoring US students on those standardized tests spend less $ per student than the US.

There are many problems-- schools that feel like prisons, indifferent and/or irresponsible parents, teaching to the lowest level, etc.

Another problem is that many feel that education is an entitlement (god I hate that word). It isn't. Our society decided that the country as a whole would be better off with an educated populous. Once we realize that not everyone is entitled to an education, we can learn to deal with problems created by those that have no wish to be educated and cause problems that make it more difficult to educate the vast majority.

Very good point Rod...but while foreigners are outgrading the US on standardized tests, the ratio is lower. There are more educated american children than arab children. To break it down, the foreigners produce a higher majority of better test takers considering they're ratio, but the numbers don't compare to America. I am of course talking about many individual countries, not the rest of the world.

I also agree with Rod's idea of removing children from education who show no interest at the time. If they decide later that they would like to educate themselves, that is fine. They will most likely be behind (compared to the average) for there age, but that is there choice. IMHO no one should goto High School who doesn't want to. We don't have as many rights as one may think. Yes, we do have the most rights in comparison to the rest of the world, but stupid little rights as being forced to sit in a classroom for 7 hours out of your day is one you shouldn't have to deal with.

-andy