As a High School Senior About to Graduate, I Want to Say Some Things

As a senior in high school about to graduate from a public school in Texas, the whole public education system is so far in the toilet that I don’t think there is hope. Nothing has changed for a very long time from when schools were designed to condition people for factory work and keep them out of trouble. There are so many issues stemming from home upbringing as well. Many parents see school as a place where their children’s teachers are babysitters, and that same attitude carries into high school. Some children, including my peers, constantly harass teachers who are trying to do their best, but cannot due to the heinous entourage of adolescent indecency in the classroom, making it a miserable experience for people there who want to learn. There are charter and private schools, however, many people can’t afford to send their children to them. Also, they are so geared in the complete opposite direction when it comes to stress levels and workload. With standardized testing (state specific, Collegeboard, ACT, etc), I feel as if it does not benefit students in the slightest, and promotes mental illness, rather than learning. People who don’t do well on these tests for whatever reason are deemed unintelligent and worth less than their peers who pass, starting in elementary school in some cases. There’s no middle ground of orderliness, affordability, discipline, mental stability, and specialized education in any type of school. I understand that there are different elements that play into this, such as immigration, drug use, teen pregnancy, push for college education, etc. It’s terribly sad. Parents, you can tell me that I’m lying, but as an 18-year-old, I’m telling you my perspective.

Is there anything that educators can see on the horizon that are major changes addressing anything I brought up? I copied the above text from a comment I left on someone complaining about the STAAR tests on r/texas. I look forward to your replies, and I thank you in advance for being civil and productive in the discussion from this post.

Submitted April 26, 2021 at 04:29PM by espressochocolato https://ift.tt/3sXfeXY