General

@UltaMareep: Why of course

There are a lot of problems with the school system in the United States (unions mostly) but culturally many American kids aren't raised properly by their parents, and the parents just use tv and movies to 'babysit' their kids, and they pick up the 'gangsta thug' culture from what they see/hear in the media. There's a culture of delinquency among many youth, it's pathetic.

[quote=Demonlord]Correct me if I'm wrong but I blame how spoiled most children are these days, basically anyone right now that isn't 21+ (I'll admit I'm quite spoiled but I still have decency, unlike other children).
-Giving children freedom before the age of 21
-Giving them what they want, a two year old with an Ipad
-Giving them the wrong idea
Really, what the hell are some of these parents thinking. I don't now if they're bad parents, stupid, but probably both. Letting your 13 year old hang out at the mall with his/her friends is honestly a bad idea. There is socialization and all, but not when you let them think they're "independent" now because you're letting them go into public by themselves. There's giving your child a gift or present, but not when it's something when they completely, absolutely, indefinitely do not need. Like why does a 13 year old need a cell phone? They absolutely don't, they shouldn't even be that far away from their home or parents to even need one. Because of this much freedom and such, they develop smug attitudes because of this. Thinking they're already grown up, mature, or independent because of their high tech gadgets and supposedly "freedom" that allows them to wander in public alone. Rebellious teenage stage? That's only because of how parents spoil their brats.
I'm all for enjoying your childhood and taking it easy but that's a whole other thing compared to pretending to be an adult because your parents allow you to.

Now my rant about kids in the U.S. could be wrong, but then I'll just apply it to children all over the world because I'm sure these kinds exist everywhere. Now how this relates to the school thing, because of these smug attitudes they develop they think they're too good for school. They think they already have everything they need without realizing that the stuff they have are all being provided by their mommy and daddy. Now even when they realize this, they don't give much thought to it because they think mommy and daddy are going to be there forever to spoil them. Now because they have everything handed to them, or spoon fed, they don't try or do anything themselves. So when that one kid comes along and does something they can't or don't want to, they look down on them to preserve their own ego. Although for looking down on others for prioritizing school, I haven't seen that in my school honestly. I don't see much of those old T.V. cliche bullies, nerds, etc anywhere really. Just stupid and spoiled ass children.

Too long and decided not to read? Basically children are spoiled as hell these days, causing them to look down on others who actually do things they can't or don't want to.

Note: If this doesn't apply to you then you shouldn't be troubled by this. If it does trouble you in a way you wanna prove me wrong or insult me, then that means what I just said applies to you, so you decide to defend yourself because you feel insulted.[/quote]
You have a terrible outlook on this... I've noticed younger generations seem to be more and more spoiled, but honestly, I'm 20 and I feel like most people my age that I know didn't get spoiled like that. For the most part, the people who underachieved and did little were the ones with the least stable financial and household backgrounds. The amount of stuff people had rarely seemed to corrupt them. Pretty much everyone I went to high school with bought everything themselves.

American kids are fat.
Most of them

Honestly, education in America varies from place to place. From my public high school, we had a quality education, sending handfuls of kids to ivy schools and probably as many as up to 350 out of 800 some students to universities that placed in the top 50 rankings.
There are good schools and there are bad schools that have kids who are even lucky to graduate.

The whole problem right now is the government's failure to fund and improve schools and that many American kids don't want to learn. It is the parents' problems. If they had their children focus more on education instead of watching sports on tv, then they would actually have a decent education.

It's because America caters to the needs of the lowest level people (for example, No Child Left Behind).

[quote=ProBlades]Well personally I think America wastes money trying to teach the types of kids who just don't want to or will not learn.
School shouldn't be mandatory since not all kids are cut out for school, and have plenty of other areas where they can excel and be no different than a schooled kid. You don't need to be schooled to learn a skill, and you only need a skill to work a job properly. At the very least high school should be optional.[/quote]

I thought people often dropped out of high school?

It's because education is not stressed as much in America as it is in Asia. That's all.

[quote=sl3athOwl]The main problem I find with the American education system, is that there is no differentiation, in curricula, from the smartest kids who could go to elite universities, and the ones who won't go to community college. I've had peers in my 5th grade classes, that are years behind me by 9th grade (my freshman year ended this June), and I'm curious how much further I'd be ahead by now if I was appropriately taught.

I also find what we learn to be highly inapplicable to actual useful things further on in life (My high school offers every mathematics class from Algebra to Advanced College Calculus, but the closest thing they have to a business class is a semester long course in economics, that can only be taken as a senior). They also seem to be disincentivizing useful attributes, like reading a nonfiction informative work. Our English I Acc. class had a semester long assignment to read 900 pages of classic fiction novels, and after having read over 5,000 pages of nonfiction books (the most anyone else in his four English classes had read was like 1,400), I ended up with a C- or something on the assignment.

It just seems like we could advance so much quicker as a country if we had the brightest minds cultivated, and let the ones who won't go anywhere just get by.[/quote]
Buy an economics textbook, read through it, do the questions. If you want to get ahead there are plenty of ways to do it, but the school system can't afford to add such specific interest classes like that. It's the same way where I live in Canada. I took all regular math and science courses, some random ones I needed to graduate, and a design course as the only non-math and science. You could pretty much take every math, and 2 semesters of biology, 2 semesters of physics and 2 semesters of chem, and fit all the random provincial requisites to graduate. For me it worked out all right, because I went into Engineering, so my first year was pretty much all high-school.

Anyways, kinda rambling, but the point is, I still couldn't take actual thing specific to what I was going to be learning later. Anything you take in university pretty much goes from the start, besides like things it requires from high-school classes, but usually that's just very underlying knowledge. If you want to learn about it before then, pretty much any textbook on the subject from a good publisher would probably teach you a subject very well. I find myself learning entire courses from textbooks lately.

Some countries are extremely focused on their education, some are not focused such intently.

In my opinion, the problem is that kids are taking school too lightly. There was someone in my class who wanted to drop out of high school "just because their mom did". Now don't get me wrong, the kid could probably grow up to be a successful billionaire or something. Also, schools aren't giving fair punishments. There was this girl who got bullied / cyber bullied to the point she didn't want to go to school anymore and reported it to the principal; the kids who did it got a warning.

Also, in middle school, my math teacher taught us how to do two step equations and finding the area of a circle. My language arts teacher also taught us how to find the main idea in a paragraph, and only assigned a few writing projects. I thought we learned this in elementary school....

Idk I really don't think American public school education is that bad anymore compared to the two other high schools I went to in the Middle East and in Europe, which were private schools

They whine too much about homework. And I'm serious.

The main problem I find with the American education system, is that there is no differentiation, in curricula, from the smartest kids who could go to elite universities, and the ones who won't go to community college. I've had peers in my 5th grade classes, that are years behind me by 9th grade (my freshman year ended this June), and I'm curious how much further I'd be ahead by now if I was appropriately taught.

I also find what we learn to be highly inapplicable to actual useful things further on in life (My high school offers every mathematics class from Algebra to Advanced College Calculus, but the closest thing they have to a business class is a semester long course in economics, that can only be taken as a senior). They also seem to be disincentivizing useful attributes, like reading a nonfiction informative work. Our English I Acc. class had a semester long assignment to read 900 pages of classic fiction novels, and after having read over 5,000 pages of nonfiction books (the most anyone else in his four English classes had read was like 1,400), I ended up with a C- or something on the assignment.

It just seems like we could advance so much quicker as a country if we had the brightest minds cultivated, and let the ones who won't go anywhere just get by.

[quote=Phong128992]I believe that this country should make school not mandatory. People do not realize how important education is in America any more. If we weed out all the bad kids they will eventually realize the importance of an education after dropping out long enough. If they don't then at least we won't be wasting our resources on people who don't care.[/quote]

But it's the nation's job to guide them. They're minorities. Believe it or not, teenagers [b]do not[/b] know absolutely [i]everything.[/i]

being in a nice suburban area leaves many children with a lack of desire to "get out". however, in other countries where there are crowded and cramped urban conditions, the urge to leave for a better future is stronger.

The USA spends way too much money for students who dont care for school.

The annual expenditure for each student raises about $1000 per year and in 20xx (i think 2010 or 2008) the US was already spending like 10K~15k on a student.

If students wanna drop out they should be allowed to; the US can finally stop wasting money.

I grew up in thailand and the smartest person in class was looked up upon. If you had a bad grade, everyone would make fun of you

@HumanoidX: I'm not saying I support not getting an education. But I am saying not everyone is good in schooling and testing, and many of those who aren't can still work jobs without an education.
I'm being contradictory, aren't I...

[quote=screwriod]Its different some schools in america is free some r not[/quote]

Indeed. We call those private schools. But right now we are talking about public schools, you see.

@TeenageCrime: I can't believe how much this made me laugh.

American kids are fatter, slower, and dumber than the rest.

Well personally I think America wastes money trying to teach the types of kids who just don't want to or will not learn.
School shouldn't be mandatory since not all kids are cut out for school, and have plenty of other areas where they can excel and be no different than a schooled kid. You don't need to be schooled to learn a skill, and you only need a skill to work a job properly. At the very least high school should be optional.

Its different some schools in america is free some r not

It's just a cultural difference. Walking through three different European countries, even the bros and tough guys were dressed nicely.

[quote=Spatchka]Well if they already aren't trying now with free school how are they gonna get into college? They already have a pretty good reason to try.[/quote]

I believe that this country should make school not mandatory. People do not realize how important education is in America any more. If we weed out all the bad kids they will eventually realize the importance of an education after dropping out long enough. If they don't then at least we won't be wasting our resources on people who don't care.

[quote=AoiHorizon]But imagine if their families had to work for them to get into school and stuff. Wouldnt it give them a better reason to try?[/quote]

Well if they already aren't trying now with free school how are they gonna get into college? They already have a pretty good reason to try.

[quote=Spatchka]If school wasn't free then those bums you're talking about would probably just drop out.[/quote]

But imagine if their families had to work for them to get into school and stuff. Wouldnt it give them a better reason to try?

other kids are better, always

Welcome everyone to the American Exhibit, where we point out all the flaws and stereotypes that plague our great nation!

what?

If school wasn't free then those bums you're talking about would probably just drop out.

Same applies to people who live off welfare and won't get jobs.