Albert Einstein once said "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."
For hundreds of years, schools have been teaching the same but with little improvements. Innovations and technology are changing every day, but the standard classroom appears the exact same as it did when school was first introduced. Along with that, standardized tests are a barbaric way to grade a students intelligence. Treating children like machinery that should all work the same is inhumane. School oppresses student's creativity and makes others feel unintelligent because they cannot learn like everybody else. It is a known fact that no two brains are the same.
So, why are students forced to learn the same? Students are not the only ones treated poorly. The teachers are not supported well or treated the way they should. There are many problems with the school system that need to be attended to, such as upgrading to current technology, accommodating to children who needs individual attention and provide more compensation for the teachers.
According to Wonderopolis, a website created to inspire curiosity and imagination, "Horace Mann created the modern-day school system in 1837," but there have been little improvements since. That is one hundred and eight one years of using the same system. The entire system was originally based on a factory model. Anne Shaw, Founder and Director of 21st Century Schools and its new subsidiary, Paradigm Shift Edu explains that "Everyone is expected to memorize exactly the same facts and acquire exactly the same basic level skills in exactly the same way, at exactly the same time." Assembly lines treat humans as machines and schools do the same. Sarah Mahoney from Parent Magazines informs the readers that, "When kids get the sleep they need, they may have a lower risk of becoming overweight and developing diabetes as well as fewer learning problems and attention issues. Sleep is as important as nutrition and exercise." If sleep is so important, why are the kids forced to wake up earlier than the sun rises with essentially one organized break to eat? Nothing has changed since Horace Mann's original vision of this system.
No two people are the exact same, but schools and educators try to teach an entire class the same way. There are many learning disabilities and, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, "1 in 5 children in the U.S. have learning and attention issues such as dyslexia and ADHD." How do schools expect to teach everyone the same when they do not even learn the same? It is mentally draining to go to school for eight hours, not understand the material, and then teach it to yourself that night. It is unjust to the children and that should not be the case. Evan, a 12-year-old boy who suffers from dyslexia describes his experience. He says that,
No kid should feel stupid and schools should do more to accommodate to these children. These kids have different strengths, needs, and are forced to learn to the set pace provided by the school.
There are expectations about how a school should be, and most people are blinded to the imperfections. Terry Heick applauds the school system on their inclusivity when she states, "School is available to all American "school-age" citizens. It's not like that everywhere else in the world." Whether or not compulsory formal education works is another matter, I think we can all agree that our hearts are in the right place. Yes, it is available to all students but just because it is available does not mean it helps kids succeed. They throw a diverse group of kids into one room and tells them all the same thing but there are no repercussions when the kids are confused.
Yes, money is important. Heick makes that clear when she wrote, "This is America, and if there's one thing Americans can do it's spending money. We fund education annually to the tune of a projected $821 billion."
Money is not everything though. Schools have been too focused on getting kids to pass instead of getting the kids to actually learn the material. They are too preoccupied with the grade of their school than the minds of their students. Money can provide for the school, but is that worth anything if the schools are setting the students up for failure? Schools should be concentrated on the kids obtaining the information and not on if the kids can pass a test and forget what the learned the next day.
This system is not only inequitable to students but to teachers. They are asked to do one of the hardest jobs there is- mold the minds of kids and turn them into acquired adults. They are creating the future but for some reason they are underpaid. How do people expect teachers to be motivated to do what they do when they are shortchanged every day? A teacher is just as important as a doctor or engineer. Written by Express News Service, they suggest that, "behind every successful engineer or doctor there is a teacher.
A teacher is a person who molds them into engineers or doctors." The teachers reach the minds of these kids and provide them with a future. They often get blamed for the imperfection of the school system, but they are not the problem. The curriculum is not created by them, but by people who have probably never taught a class. It is outlandish to think that these modern-day heroes are subjected to these unacceptable conditions.
There are many problems with the school system. There have been little upgrades in years. Students are forced to subject themselves to unfair conditions and barbaric techniques to pass their class. It is impossible to teach a classroom full of different individuals and expect them all to understand everything. It is especially hard when kids have learning disabilities.
They make it even harder to retain the information that is already difficult enough to understand. People can think of many "good" things but none of them matter when we have kids torturing themselves to live up to the expectations and strive for success.
They are being taught how to get an A, but the information is not sticking in their brains. The teachers are blamed for that usually, but it is far from their fault. This system sets them up for failure as well. They are underpaid and not motivated.
These kids may seem like a small portion of the world, but they are 100% of our future. Many kids are smart, but their grades do not reflect that. Something needs to change.
