Something I noticed about education in the US. I’m not classist nor mean. But this is something I noticed, anyone else?

I graduated in 2012 from a rural high school.

I can admit my own flaws. I was pushed along and passed to 9th grade when I failed Honors Algebra I in 8th grade. I was a kid who frankly needed to repeat and cried before her 8th grade graduation because I knew with my ADHD and late birthday I wasn’t ready. I wish I had been redshirted. My mom’s birthday is September 7, and she started at 4 so she assumed I’d be fine because she was.
My parents were very strict about academics and grades. I had to come home and study. When I failed math they took it even further. I studied math every night with my dad. I wasn’t allowed to have a job in high school. I also wasn’t allowed to drive or have a car until I was 22 because they felt academics are more important. I wasn’t allowed to play sports. My life was nothing but homework and reading sometimes. I was told it was partly because I failed and that isn’t happening again.

I’d say 75% of kids I knew at my school failed a class and their parents let them have jobs, bought them a car, play sports, extracurriculars, even told them grades don’t matter until college. Study halls at my school were kids sitting and talking and you got laughed at if you pulled out homework. My dad told me I needed to do homework at school but I didn’t want to get bullied.

How many parents are this permissive about school? When did it get this way?

Submitted May 1, 2026 at 07:17AM by Ok-Highway-5247 https://ift.tt/ZWYXhwR