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I have a lot I could say on this whole subject, but I'm going to restrain myself and just remark on the above point. On school days I would leave the house when it was dark and get home when it was dark in the winter. My brother, who's still at school, also has this problem despite his school being nearer than mine was, so technically with less travelling time. It is very depressing to spend all your daylight hours in school. You can't do anything once you get home except your homework or watch TV because it's too dark to go outside. It also makes it dangerous for students who live near the schools to walk home, and ones who live far away from the school to go to after-school clubs if they have to get public transport home.

What you say about a student's day being filled with unnecessary and useless courses is interesting, to me. I've complained about how much I dislike math since I began my formative schooling career, but despite that, I understand its necessity in the corporate world. I know students who hate English courses, yet those students would go nowhere if they were unable to effectively communicate, whether the communication be written or verbal. When I don't like a class, I don't go through it thinking about how much I hate the class, but considering how it could possibly benefit me in the future. I think that, oftentimes, students become jaded and narrow-minded due to how much they dislike a course; it precludes them from realizing that they would be wise to expend some effort in learning the material, because more often than not, whether they enjoy it or not, it will be necessary.

My opinion could be considered as somewhat biased, seeing as I've had an easy time in school. I attend one of the top 2000 schools in the U.S., and the student newspaper that I work on is the most acclaimed scholastic paper in the country, as judged by the NSPA. I'm good at memorizing facts, I pick up new concepts far more quickly than many of peers, and I genuinely like to learn. I participate every day, I actively seek out help for what I don't understand rather than allowing it to snowball, and I've worked hard to get to where I am at the top 3% of my class. What I think the American school system fails to offer are opportunities for brighter, more motivated students to take advantage of their academic prowess; for so much of my school career, average and remedial students have been relentlessly pushed to try harder, and while this is an inarguably beneficial occurrence, gifted children are left to be largely self-motivated.

I personally know the teacher who heads up the English department of the entire school system, and she once told me that I'm lucky to have gotten to where I am academically, because most teachers just assume that smarter kids will want to go far in school. From having spent my entire life in the "gifted" program, I know that this isn't true. I want to go far in school because I'm an ambitious person, not because the school ever instilled it within me. Most people that I know despise going to school and perceive it as a prison- I'm not sure how the system would go about changing this, but it needs to change. Maybe if kids didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn and had a bit more freedom to choose what they want to take (I think schools that allow you to choose a "track" geared toward your interests are genius), they would be a bit more enthused about going and therefore more successful.

For me a pointless class would cover Sport, Religious Studies and the health/social class my school had, but they are all government requirements in England. I don't really see the point in compulsory sport in school; it does not help to keep people fit and I often found it humiliating despite not being overweight nor particularly bad at some sports. I also don't see the point in compulsory religion classes past a certain age. There's only so much that people need to know and nobody will remember most of it, or need to. As for the health/social/general class, that is a complete waste of time beyond a certain point too. There's only so much sex education you can be given, and in fact my school resorted to using that class to teach us how to paint our nails and give facials when they ran out of alcohol, drug and sex related issues to teach us about.

Cutting these classes from schedules past the age of 14 would be the only thing I would drastically change about my school system. I would agree with Rabid that, academically, I had an easy time in school and my school was also one of the top schools in the country; you had to pass an exam to be admitted there. My school achieved results academically, which was the main draw I suppose, but there was a lot of pressure. A lot of people I know hated their time there and my school had a reputation in my area for having problem students; I can't even being to count the number of students who were sent to psychiatrists (by the school!)/attempted suicide/had eating disorders etc. and I can't help but feel the pressure of the school had a lot to do with that. A 'B' grade or below was considered a failure; this wasn't exactly a spoken thing that the teachers told us, but it was just the general consensus amongst the students. I think the teachers were also too disinterested in the school and were just as bad as the students. Teachers would talk about their personal lives in classes instead of teaching and students knew they could get away with a lot. I once "drew" an essay for a teacher because I didn't see the point in writing it due to the fact they never marked them, and all she said was "Excellent, very inventive, I like it." Basically the whole place lacked the right kind of discipline. They obsessed over our uniform and whether we were sneaking off campus, but they didn't care if you didn't do any work or ran wild the rest of the time, nor if you were finding the pressure too much. A girl in my English class cut her wrists right there in the middle of the classroom in front of the teacher, then ran out sobbing with blood dripping from her and the teacher did nothing except ask another girl to check on her. They should have let us know that it was unacceptable to behave the way we did, especially concerning work, but instead they tried to instill discipline by making ridiculous rules like you could only walk on the left and couldn't wear low socks or colourful hair slides.

My school was a good school, and I enjoyed my time there. The classes were split up evenly with people of with the same academic grade as you so you were all working together and not having to stop to explain something to someone that was far behind. However, if someone was struggling the teacher would help the student and make sure they understood the material before they left the class. The only problem I had was when classes were merged with lower grade people, their teacher knew that they didn’t really have to try with them, as they didn’t do the work given to them and didn’t care either way. That put a halt on my education, by having to deal with them. Some of the people that were in these lower classes was from better families and thought that they could get away with it with their parents pay check.

We had good materials, they were old but they still did the trick, things like book and booklet had to be handed back in and if you did take them home you had to sign them out and in. We had lots of extracurricular activities that we could do from a variety of sports to science/library/religious groups.

Most of the teachers were good at their job, but if they knew a student wasn’t pulling their own weight then they had no time for them until they started working again and proved that they wanted to learn.

I can't answer your poll because schools in Australia are all different. I went to three different high schools and two were good but one was bad (due to some bad teachers and lack of facilities and resources). Individual schools also change over time as the teachers and the culture change.



Looks similar to some of my schedules, except we didn't have religion. To me it looks like the only subjects there that may not be of any use in future are chemistry, physics and religion. What I don't like about that schedule is how short the lessons are. I prefer longer classes where you can learn about something in more depth.

Homework here varies on your school and your age. I think some homework is good but I think it should be self-directed projects that encourage you to learn to learn rather than never ending repetitive exercises. And I don't think students should have homework every night.

I can't really answer the poll because schooling for me has gone uphill as I have gone along, but it hasn't always been wonderful.

Elementary school was terribly boring and very stifling. Most of what I learned during those years of my life, I learned from talking to my parents, rather than from school. My school was very much directed at the lowest common denominator, and while we had a pull-out TAG (talented and gifted) class, it only went a little bit beyond what we learned in class and mainly acted as a supplement to science and English. There were no after school programs, and we didn't have choir in sixth grade because the music teacher didn't want to teach it. We weren't allowed to talk during class, even when we weren't being lectured to, and we couldn't even talk at lunch without the administrators making the whole class write sentences. I think that this really stifled me socially for many years because I was always very good and did what I was told, so I had very little social interaction with my classmates.

Middle school wasn't very challenging, either. I was in an actual TAG program, meaning that I was taking the higher level classes, but they were mostly very boring. We were required to take some classes that I won't ever use again, including foreign language, which, in this case, meant Spanish or French. I might have had some use for Spanish, but my second year Spanish teacher was totally incompetent and turned me off of the language. Most of the work I did in middle school was busy work. I was often bogged down by hours of work, but it wasn't really helping me learn anything.

High school was better. I tested into a science and tech program, so I was able to focus mainly on taking science classes. I found that I developed a sort of family from my elective classes, though. I had a stable base of friends between my Russian and choir classes, and I was able to take several mentally stimulating science classes. I also very much liked my AP English class. My main complaint is that my history teachers seemed more like they were trying to brainwash me than teach me history. My US history teacher was extremely liberal, and we simply had to agree with him on some points when we did our work. My world history teacher was extremely racist against whites and sexist against men. She fed us crazy propaganda and we were forced to act like we agreed with her. More of our assignments were about how great black people are and how terrible white people are than about world history. It was really disappointing as I was really looking forward to learning about world history. I also had excessive amounts of work in high school, but I learned to deal with it, and I think it helped me get ready for college.

I am very happy with college. I go to a good school, and I am very satisfied with my courses of study; I major in biochemistry and minor in philosophy. Classes are difficult, and I don't get A's as often as I used to, but I feel like I am learning and expanding my mind here. I would like to be able to study a broader variety of fields, but it would take me more than 4 years to really be able to do so, so I am happy with the two that I am focusing on.

I suppose college doesn't quite fit in with what you are looking at, as you seem to be focused on the public school system. The public school system in my county is really very bad in general, but I got lucky and got into a good high school. If I hadn't tested in, my neighborhood school is one known for gang violence, drugs, and vandalism, among other problems. I hate to say it, but, as a white student, I may have been a target for violence. My school system is definitely in need of improvement.

My school was utter rubbish, the only kids that had a chance were the ones that were born smart or came from middle class homes (the school was mostly working class) the teachers only ever praised the bad kids when they were good, I guess they thought if they praised them they would stay good... Idiots. This made the rest of us, the ones that actually tried, feel worthless, like nothing we did was worth praise. They did half a paragraph and it was "that's brilliant" we did two pages and not even a "well done" Unless of course, you were middle class.

Edit: A link to show you - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/a...ed-society.html

My school is the best in northend part of St Joseph, Mo. Both parents and teachers are supported to students and their educations.

Yeah, and like i said, these are the kinds of kids the teachers try to reach out to, leaving those of us who still have good morals to fail.

I answered the poll a while back and decided to finally comment on US schools in general. Overall...most schools in the US are not effective or efficient and ultimately are failing most children. While there are good schools, I think success really comes down to a few awesome teachers, a few awesome parents and students who either are academically gifted or given the opportunity to shine by those few good teachers and who are lucky enough to have a parent who is awesome and involved with their education.

My experiences are a bit more dynamic because I can speak as a student, as a mother and as an educator who has been involved in a variety of school environments (private, public, different states, military, Christian, etc.). Please keep in mind my observations do not apply to ALL schools, ALL teachers, ALL parents and ALL students...just to those that contribute to bad education.

I will only focus on what things make US schools receive an overall grade of F - for failing US kids in my opinion.

Ways SOME US Schools Fail Children
1. Funding is a major issue -
A few schools are overfunded and most are underfunded. There is continuous argument about how to fund schools, while in the meantime, education is often limited by not having materials or access to educational opportunities. I find it sad when teachers feel compelled to spend out of pocket, be fund raisers in addition to teaching and have to find creative ways to stretch a limited budget in order to educate students. I remember one year there were not enough desks for the students in my class. Often there are not enough books for the students. Etc.

2. Too many students in the classes.
Research has always supported smaller class sizes improves the quality of education, yet poor funding forces larger class sizes.

3. Teacher training programs are not as effective as they could be.
I do believe that as far as "content" goes, most teachers are well equipped when they leave college or university. However, in other areas, the training fails (especially depending on the college or university you attend)...1)not enough real world discipline training 2)Too much book training...not enough practical training (in the classroom student-teaching) 3)Not taught how to survive the "politics" of education that can get in the way of teaching 4)Some teacher trainers are out of touch with the realities of today's students...so what used to work, may not be applicable to the children of today 5) some alternative programs that allow people with non-teaching degrees to take mini-versions of a few educational courses and become teachers send many people into the classroom ill-prepared. 6)Not adequately training teachers to teach to bright students and struggling students who don't qualify for Special Education.

4. Too many people who teach without passion and should not be teaching at all.
When teaching is "just a job" it shouldn't be your profession. There is an artform to teaching and from my experience, I don't think that most teachers have a passion for teaching, children or the role of education in general. While the politics of education can wear passionate teachers out...when you no longer feel passionate about what you are doing, you should either find a way to rekindle that passion or find another profession. There are other teachers who are out for the accolades and do things not because they are in the best interest of the students, but in order to receive recognition. There is nothing wrong with wanting accolades, but it should never take priority over being the best teacher you can for the students in your class. Sometimes, people who pursue teaching do not have a natural knack for actually doing the job and it ends in a chaotic classroom environment, a structured environment that is about following a lesson plan instead of teaching the kids (basically students don't feel they can ask questions in this sort of room), creating a formula that is teacher focused instead of student focused (basically students feel like an idiot in this classroom), etc. Some people really shouldn't be teachers. We won't even get into poor teaching practices like pitting students against one another, promoting personal agendas, playing favorites with bright students, not being available to students who need help, having low/no expectations for some students, grading students based on their behavior...not on their ability, etc.

5. Too much focus on Standardized Test
Standardized tests are not universal (they vary from state to state). They more than often move beyond testing basic skills. They typically use question methods that often take higher level thinking skills to decipher (which basically is not testing content, but tests the ability to decode the question). They are used as a form of competition between schools, teachers, districts and states instead of a way to assess the basic knowledge of students). Competition and the idea of teachers being fired or removed over not having a specified passing rate has encouraged cheating and passing students. Some teachers are focusing on teaching students to pass the tests or actually teach to the test instead of focusing on the core of the curriculum. The tests are not always in line with the curriculum in a broad way. In some places the test have more value than the daily learning, even determining if a student should pass or fail. Not to mention the impact these test have on students...I've seen it all...students stressing, becoming ill over the test, etc. For what purpose really? Don't get me wrong, having such test can give a general sense of what student's know...however, that is all it should be about to make teachers more aware of what they need to do to improve their educational practices...not as stoppers to students moving forward or as a means to fire a teacher. They should be used to improve educational practices and as long as the test are in line with a revised curriculum...then I think they can be helpful. As things stand now...Standardized tests are hindrances to education and actually undermine the quality of education students will receive.

6. Racial issues play a factor in education.
Past practices by majority teachers continue to thrive against minority students including having lower expectations for minority students, ignoring minority students, passing minority students because they feel sorry for them, using the classroom to spread racial hate, encouraging minority students to into stereotypical professional roles, etc.
Some Minority Educators using the classroom to level the playing field against the majority...thus having a very negative impact on majority students and the overall atmosphere of all children in the class, passing minority students because they feel sorry for them, using the classroom to spread racial hate, etc.

7. Protecting One Group At the Expense of Others
Some smart individual decided that inclusion and mainstreaming was the best answer to leveling the playing field for students who are different (physically, intellectually, mentally, socially, etc.). Unfortunately this has lead to several forms of chaos...now instead of lumping special needs students in one class, they are left to sink or swim in regular education classes with teachers who are not equipped to teach them and just as isolated as in a pure special needs classroom. The solutions to end one sort of Special Needs insanity has created another.

Classrooms are full of a dynamic set of students. The middle of the road average student. The struggling students who don't qualify for Special Education. The bright students who don't qualify for Special Education (Talented and Gifted Programs). Kids with extreme social/emotional/physical needs. Etc. With special needs students in regular classrooms, teaching practices are often suspended in many ways. The teacher has little time to focus on the Special Needs students when there is not adequate assistance in the classroom. Not to mention those students who "barely" miss the cut-offs to qualify for Special Education who also need help. Thus, teaching focuses not on the lowest commom denominator, not on the Special Needs child (who legally has to be accommadated often at the expense of the rest of the class)or on the struggling students...but on the middle of the road child. In order to do this teachers "should" use the average student as a base to create alternative activities to challenge gifted students and to meet disadvantage students where they are. Unfortunately, this is actually not an easy task because it is very time consuming to adequately meet the needs of the various kinds of children in a class of 20 or more.

Students with disabilities are more and more put into mainstream environments without the proper support system in place to really ensure they are receiving the best education possible. In addition, to be in special education is seen as a hindrance and often treated like a disease (not only by society and parents...but sadly also by educators as well). This thought process not only devalues the quality of Special Education programs, but it devalues the child. In theory mainstreaming students, putting students in inclusive environments, etc. sounds good...but without proper funding and staff...it only creates a chaotic environment for all involved.

Special Education is often underfunded and understaffed. This can only mean that what was intended for Special Education students is done minimally. I find that Special Education students with involved parents get more accomplished. Teachers in regular education cannot introduce new materials when students are pulled out of classes for Special Education purposes. The very idea of this is limiting and a grand waste of time for the students remaining in the class.

And the Talented and Gifted programs are another source of insanity usually under the Special Education umbrella. Even Talented and Gifted (TAG) classes (which often fall under Special Education) are failing the students because most are simply prescribed programs with pre-made materials that cater towards Language Arts skills (Reading, Writing, Grammar, Vocabulary Building Skills) and a few brain building activities. While the testing practices are at a higher level...the classes rarely ever push the students beyond a "harder" form of what is basic. In addition, Talented And Gifted classes are not typically filled with Talented And Gifted Students. Since such classes are seen as "Elite", it means they are prime targets for people who feel that appearances are everything. I have found that some of the students who are "accepted" in the classes are not done so in logical or practical ways... There are tests, but other things factor in whether or not a student is accepted (some written and some spoken).To give an example, in at least 3 of the schools where I worked the TAG classes were filled with educator's children, the children of the socially elite (mayors, doctors, etc.), higher ranking military officers children, etc. This does not mean that some of those student's did not qualify on their own accord, but it also speaks to another factor that discrimation against students without connections, gifted minority students and qualified students being denied because unqualified students have filled the position. Sometimes "bright" children are also added to these classes. Often the process for choosing a Talented And Gifted teacher are suspect as well and you have a teacher in a class full of gifted students who has no clue as to how to teach them. Let's not talk about the pressure parents put on their children in these classes (mainly because they are concerned with how it reflects on them if the student isn't top of their class).

8. Understaffed
There are alternative and special programs that require additional staff (especially teacher aides)...yet the aides are stretched thin and expected to be in too many places. Unfortunately teaching aides are often not respected in the educational environment and I truly feel are really undervalued (as are custodial staffs, lunchroom staff, etc.).

9. Reform/Re-evaluation Needed
Curriculum, Homework, Extracurricular Activities, Community Involvement, Funding, Teacher Training, Standardized Testing Practices/Value etc.

10. Teachers Are Undervalued
Teachers are overworked (and in some respects underpaid - especially in comparison with other degreed professionals) and expected to be miracle workers under a myriad of crazy conditions to include but not limited to dealing with extreme behavior/social problems, large classroom sizes, time consuming administrative red-tape and meetings, poor in-class support (especially when it comes to special education), ridiculous demands on time (before/after school programs that should be done during school hours but no time is allotted to accurately do so), poor/expensive benefits, inefficient materials/supplies, restrictions on necessary materials/supplies, extra-curricular activities interferring with personal time, poor support systems for teachers (health/childcare/etc.)....If a teacher is not valued, it is difficult to give 100% to the students and teaching itself.


Ways SOME US Parents Fail Children When It Comes to Education
1. Not ensuring basic needs are met before sending students to school (Food, Sleep, Clothing for warmth/fit, etc.)
2. Not getting involved in child's education (homework, grades, etc.) until last minute or not at all
3. Not taking an interest in things children are interested in or supporting your kids as far as school goes
4. Being too hard on (negative) kids who are trying
5. Not doing enough to encourage kids who are slacking
6. Not doing supplemental things to compliment a child's education (as parents are the first/primary educator)
7. Having negative attitudes about education that are shared with kids
8. Not supporting teachers in general

Ways SOME US Students Fail Themselves When It Comes to Education
1. Not being responsible about school related things (homework, studying, grades, projects, etc.)
2. Not being opened to learning new things (even things you don't understand why you must learn)
3. Not being opened to learning at all
4. Not attending classes
5. Not giving your best when it comes to school

Understand that while I do believe US Schools fail children overall, there are many people and educational practices that actually work for the betterment of education. There are also many great schools where everything fails into place and children benefit tremendously. There are also some wonderful things about US school systems (when compared with other school systems) that I wouldn't change for the world. However, I wanted to stick with the topic at hand.

Obviously, everything I say here is based on my experiences at school and my opinions and I apologise for the length in advance! I'm from the UK and left school in 2002. I can honestly say that I completely hated it. I like learning, and when I started college I loved that and now I'm in uni I love that too, but school was just horrible.

Over here we have Ofsted: a government department that inspects and reviews schools to basically make sure the school is up to scratch and doing their job. A year after I left my secondary school it had an Ofsted review and came third worst in the county, which is really bad, and was consequently put on special measures to make it improve. This was down to the useless headteacher who resigned not long after that, and since having a new head it is actually doing really well.

Yes I agree with this. We had about 3/4 decent, nice teachers. Most were just... meh, but there were some really awful ones (including the teacher who had lied about her qualifications, who could barely speak any English and could not control a classroom so would give out handouts and then just stand and "teach" whilst everyone sat there ignoring her and talking).

I did actually have a friend who was sent out of the classroom for asking a genuine question once. She had been off sick, didn't understand something and when the teacher wouldn't give her the answer, she questioned why and got sent out! It was quite unbelievable.

If I had to describe my school in terms of how it looked I would say 'grey cardboard'. It was drab and shabby. I went back a few years later as it was hosting a play my mum was in and was shocked at how much better it looked.

My school was quite small so when it came to choosing which subjects we wanted to take for our GCSEs (end of school exams you sit aged 16, are very important) we didn't have much choice at all. I found that although the subjects we were given were useful in theory, what we were actually taught was a bit useless. School doesn't prepare you for the 'real world'; it prepares you to pass your exams.

I took ICT, Maths (all types of it), Science (all three bunched into one), English Literature and Language, Food Technology, History, Religious Education, and French. I genuinely think the most useful were ICT, Maths and Science, I've not really had much use for the others since leaving.

The biggest pet-peeve in this respect was how we were treated by teachers: as though we were little children. I believe that if you treat someone like a child then they will act like one, and I think that if we were spoken to and dealt with as though we were the young adults we were, then perhaps we might have behaved a bit nicer (I was well-behaved, but there were some vile kids in my year).

My brother attended a different secondary school to me. He had ADHD which wasn't picked up and diagnosed until he was 14, by which time a lot of irreparable damage had been done due to no one understanding why he was the way he was. Even when he had his diagnosis - which was very valid, he wasn't one of these kids who is put on Ritalin because sometimes they are a bit hyper - the teachers still didn't know how to handle him. One teacher even made the comment, "your father should have gotten to grips with you sooner", which was complete balls because me and my sister were the complete opposite to him, therefore if it were a parenting issue then we would be exactly the same.

I think because of things such as understaffing and lack of awareness that children's individual needs go unmet.

I didn't find the amount of homework to be excessive tbh because we didn't get given much! I see on here people complaining about how much they have to do and we definitely got given a lot less than that.

One girl in my year attempted suicide whilst we were in the middle of our GCSEs because of the pressure she felt under from her family to do exceedingly well, and she wasn't the only one whose parents were expecting a huge amount. I'm lucky in that whilst my parents wanted me to do well - as all parents do - they didn't push.

I do have to say though, the reason I hated it so much was because of a select few people that I had to go to school with. They were nasty, they made you feel miserable and they picked on people often ,for no reason at all, but especially if you dared have any intelligence that meant you did well in your classes. For five years I felt I couldn't be myself so when I left and started college it was just brilliant. Finally being treated like an adult and surrounded by people who wanted to learn, just like me!

ETA: definitely take any article in the Daily Mail with a bucketful of salt!

This. I love my current school- I go to a private boarding school that has students from all over (I'd estimate 45% from US, 45% from China, Taiwan, and South Korea, and 10% other). However, most people cannot afford to go to private school. When I went to a public school, it was a little rough. We really should be using our taxes more to fund them.

Your education is entirely subjective. Be pleased and you will feel pleased, study what you're given and you will exploit the opportunities of any education presented. I've known too many idiots from good schools with every opportunities who hated everything about the process and too many brilliant minds who succeed and enjoyed their learning in miserable circumstances. You get out of school, like everything else in life, what you invest in it.

I def understand the special ed gets under funded. I was in special ed math and study skills. My math class.. Was exactly the same, every year. Without anyway for me to learn it properly.. I just went through the same motions every year, because i could not keep it in my brain (not for lack of trying, of course..). Result? I still cannot pass the lowest math class at the college i was attending. I tried.. Three times. This class isn't even worth a credit. My study skills class wasn't much better.. We just did our home work and then talked. =/
I think another problem with schools is that they over fund some sports (when i went, our football team got a new uniform like every year) while under funding in other places.. Mostly art...
I'm another 2002 gradute.. I also hated school horribly. lol... Though i LOVE to learn.. If i could just pass math.. >.<

My uncle Jamie and my boyfriend Lee's younger brother (Shaun) both went to the same special school here in the UK, and although my uncle Jamie went about 15 years ago, and Shaun just left this year, they both left unable to read or write. "because they are special?" no. Jamie was only there because he was partly deaf, he had no learning difficulties, and luckily he was moved out only a few years in and went to a normal school, but he can still barely read or write and it's all down to that school. Shaun is 16 now, but when I first met him, he was 14, almost 15 and he couldn't even recognise basic words like "and" or "the" because of how bad the education was. His mum and dad thought it was because of his "special needs" he was born deaf in one ear and blind in one eye, and as far as his intelligence - He can tell you about almost any animal you ask about, because he watches a lot of animal programs, so there is nothing wrong with him, he is able to absorb information easily, I mean, since he started collage in September he's now able to *almost* string a sentence together on his own. (in writing, i mean. he can talk fine).

So, a perfect example of "Special" schools here. They put perfectly able kids in with the kids with severe mental disabilities - i mean, just a little while after me and Lee got together he came home and told us "one of the boys in my class was suspended for raping a girl in the toilets today" SUSPENDED!?!? not arrested?! No. Because he's "special needs" and he told us about it like it was an everyday thing, even Lee wasn't that shocked (after all, he must have heard things like this from him all the time!)

Oh yeah.. I'm not surprised, either. There was a girl in the special classes.. She went nutso and STEPPED ON SOMEONES NECK.. In a POOL... o.o; Got back from being suspended.. BIT SOMEONES BACK.. Then got chased down to the class room i was in (art)... She sat right across from me. o.o; Then got excited that the police were coming... Then actually realized the police were coming and tried to run away.. A assit. principal got her to the floor, and we were all ushered out into the lunch room. I dunno what happened to her after that..

StephSim pretty much nailed everything i could think to say....

even better than i could think of how to say it.

EDIT: though, on this note: Ways SOME US Parents Fail Children When It Comes to Education
1. Not ensuring basic needs are met before sending students to school (Food, Sleep, Clothing for warmth/fit, etc.)

i must add...

ensuring students food, sleep, and clothing sounds easy enough...but when the student cant fall asleep until midnight and has to wake up at 6, be clothed by 7 ( hating every step that takes them further from bed ), it doesnt leave much time to be fed and well rested.
usually, my sleep pattern changes. fairly regularly. no matter how i conform myself to a sleeping schedule, there is no curbing it.
most of the time when my sleep schedule turned in such a way that i would be awake at night and asleep during the day...id be awake at night, sleep in class ( half of the time, because you could never be 100% sure about dropping off around your hooligan classmates ), go home, and pass out. then be up, eat, shower, etc, and by the time i was sleepy again...it was time for school.
( sleeping pills were also not an option, as my family pretty much scraped the barrel each month to get rent paid and such. couldnt spare a freakin dime for anything outside of the budget. )

and as for special needs..ive never had any direct problems with a special needs student.
one was wheeled in, im not sure what he had, but he was included with our class. sat near the desk closest to me. i was always very tolerant and sometimes id talk to him--not because i thought he was much past a little strange, i just didnt like to talk to anybody.
later on, my teacher and i got to talking about him, and i expressed my sympathies after she pretty much told me that i was the only kid she'd met who wasnt a complete asshole to the disabled guy.
and that made me sad at the time because, really... that guy was harmless, far as i knew. people shouldnt let their kids be so stupid. it makes us all look bad.
i was just baffled that nobody had bothered to try to be understanding, much less succeed.

Dutch universities are on average very good. The only thing that needs REAL improvement is help for disabled people. I could have finished my study if it wasnt for repeat fighting against 2 lazy teachers who werent interested to help out on not beeing able to draw cut open fish. And those 2 teachers were crucial in passing the first year. All other teachers were very helpfull. My results have always have been above average and the direction I would have chosen would require no handwork, just mindwork. But no, not beeing able to draw a cut-open fish because my hands malfunctioned was the bottleneck. I now have a job, but its not thanks to the university disability help, which is virtually non existing. Too much burocracy and everyone points to another as the responsible person.

I'm not the only disabled person with issues on university - the biology/medical faculty is listed as wheelchair friendly - but many departments only have stairs. One of my friends could not follow a lot of colleges because no way they were going to move them downstairs and the lack of evelators was not their problem. Thats just ridiculous.

Well Does the school in my country make students miserable and helpless??? kinda the schools in the US SUCK teachers dont do anything about bullying the schools are falling apart in some areas in my school when it rains the auditorium floods the gym locker rooms SMELL HORRID the desks are terrible some even broken and held up by other desks its just garbage the only "good schools" there are are RICH SNOTTY WHITE PEOPLE SCHOOLS THAT LOOK DOWN AT OUR POOR DIVERSE SCHOOL AND SAY RACIST COMMENTS my friend in Florida was crying when i called her she played against a SNOOTY WHITE SCHOOL AND WON AND WHAT DID THE SNOOTS DO WHAT ELSE SAY RACIST COMMENTS ABOUT HER AND HER TEAM THEY SAID "THE ONLY REASON THEY (SHE AND HER TEAM) WON WAS BECAUSE THE N*##$@% WERE THERE TO PLAY"

I failed math and science this year because of a number of reasons, one of them being the continent switch, Canada to Australia, another being the teacher switch, and yet another being the fact that nobody gave a damn. In Canada we were so behind Australia in math, and I still failed in Canada, multiple times. So what happened when I got here? I failed. Horribly.

I go to a private school that's very uptight and very "rules-are-rules, let-me-show-you-the-door-if-you-can't-follow-them". If you are missing a button on your dress shirt, a month's detention for damaging school property. If you miss homework, a month's detention for defying teacher's authority. I know. WTF.

The transition from "Okay, kids, let's go take some pictures around town for that arts slideshow on Tuesday" to "I don't care if I broke your stereo, you're all suspended" was difficult and proved too much, and because I have a learning disorder where I can't handle basic math but can do complicated Algebra perfectly, I didn't even bother trying to understand. The back of the worksheets was my homework, basically. I was in "assisted math", and my teacher, though funny and nice, knew nothing about being a teacher. He tried to be our buddy and didn't write us up for anything, but in return he didn't really *teach* us anything. He'd just write everything out before class, hand out 'worksheets' (we didn't have textbooks) and leave us to fend for ourselves. Whenever I asked for help, I got glares from any of the 4 teacher's aides for "slacking off", when really they had no idea (and neither did I) that I was afflicted beyond just needing 'assistance'. My brain's perfect at English and Humanities, but anything numbers and it shuts down. I can't focus for the life of me. I can subconsciously do complicated problems (say, in baking) but on a sheet, I draw a blank. They even let us use calculators, which I think is bull . . . all in all I ended up failing and I don't blame it on me. I blame it on the teachers for not recognising my symptoms sooner.

On the science end of things, my teacher quit halfway through the second term. He made everything make sense. I can recall sitting there and going "wow, this guy is a genius". He used all the latest and greatest technology, Powerpoint, MacBooks, YouTube, you name it, he used it. He was awesome, until the school refused to fund his sick days when he was in a car accident and he quit, leaving us hanging. Then we had sub after sub, until a lady from the USA came to fill in. She sounded (and looked) a lot like Sarah Palin, if she were overweight and didn't wear glasses. But back to the point.

She just stood there and did the same thing as the math teacher, except she had NO FREAKING CLUE. She didn't understand people's accents, and for Sex Ed she talked about religious influence instead, because "she was a virgin". I had to help her set up the powerpoint, which she gave up on for the old school projector, which had a dimming bulb so we couldn't see what she was writing. One day I came into class bawling my head off because my friend had just committed suicide back in Canada. I had known her for a while, and I sat there for 40 minutes before I was sent home for having "a cold". I went into the washrooms instead only to find a girl I hated (who has caused me a lot of harm) videotaping me on her phone through the gap in the stall. I crushed her phone under my foot and walked out, and when I got back my teacher asked me if I had seen a doctor about my symptoms.

All in all, I hate private schools. They're just one big joke IMO.

Unfortunately, I had *the pleasure* to be in polish educational system. I left High School in 1999 and I can honestly say those were the worst years in my life, despite attending one of the best then high schools in South East Poland.

Long hours, too much homework, useless subject, unimaginative schedules (two hours of tough PE in the morning when you still have six other classes to go) and un-supportive and in many cases under qualified teachers, with their little group of so called *shining stars*. Rest could basically go and space themselves.
But I think the worst part was no support for bullied kids as there was this stupid assumption bullying only happens in other countries.
Compulsory religion classes was another *gem* - not every religion, oh no, are you mad? - Catholics only. If you were non believer or different religion well...tough. Of course you could always choose Ethics but then you would be ostracized. By everybody.

Grim picture.

-Long Post Ahead, and might be slightly distorted due to memories-

My case is not very likely to be experienced by many people, but boy, was it a case, and one that I am less than happy (putting it lightly) about.
-Country of Education: American-

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I was a little kid, 5 or so, when I started kindergarten. I was always a big kid in the literal sense, and I was only able to go to school half-days because I made a lot of tantrums. Around this time, my father had died (he was the one who helped me get ready for school and all, and I was - well, Daddy's Little Girl) and I had been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome (an autism spectrum disorder which mainly affects social skills).
Also, I was a very smart child; according to my mother, they wanted to move me up a grade, but she knew that I wasn't great socially. Knowing that I was intelligent and yet also had an emotional/social problem might help with some understanding. I had been getting counseling throughout this.

From 1st-4th grade, I was pretty much doing my work by myself and preferring to be alone; I rarely ever played with anyone if they even allowed it (I was still a big kid, I'm still big now). 5th grade, things started to rear their ugly head - I had been having tantrums more and more. They tried to modify my school attendance based on the times I had tantrums (I was still in normal classes, but I had only went for a few hours in midday, I think?). Guess what? One of those days, I ended up pinning my psychologist to the wall in a fit of rage. I then got expelled from the 'regular' (per se) school system in my town and had to be tutored until 6th grade.

6th grade, I was placed in a special education classroom, which was also a problem. I couldn't learn. The class was being guided how to read/do something - say, there was a book people took turns reading. Not to be offensive to them, but while I may have been special education, that had nothing to do with my intelligence, only my emotional problems, but they had to do the classes so everyone could participate. I was finished with my assignment within minutes and was pretty much bored to tears (and honestly probably more) for the rest of the class. It was also pretty kind of the teachers to have us attend some classes, such as art and gym, with mainstreamed students. I love art. I hated the fact that my art class had people present from my 5th grade class. After a while, the tantrums came again, so I had to be tutored for a while until I went to another school which was touted to have good special ed classes.

The 6th-9th grade year-round education there was a farce. It was pretty much the same deal as the 6th grade classes with SLIGHTLY harder work and SLIGHTLY more focused people, as well as having mandatory summer school (I have a brain, but being special ed is higher priority). I still tended to be a loner, people would comment on my drawings (the 'I can't draw like that, you're good' sort; I just said thanks). I still had outbursts, though they were slighter until about 9th. I had hit people, thrown tantrums, would bang my head on walls constantly, thrown objects - when I had broke the hinges of a copier, I had gotten too many youth referrals and probation. Then I stopped going to school at all. I wanted to learn, I didn't want to hurt people or throw tantrums, but after having so many youth referrals, suspensions, whatever, I didn't want to hurt any more people.

Fastforward a while, and I'm now in juvenile detention with the state. I would be getting the rest of my schooling through this. Well, lack of schooling.
While this place actually challenged me sometimes, some of the other times were readalongs. Culinary Arts was horrible, especially for someone who sweated very easily in heat and never usually put their hair up, much less in a net. The fact that I couldn't get much out of my middle school classes, though, was a major downfall now, especially in the math classes I was horrid in to begin with. Science was my best subject, but I'm fairly sure that was because the work I received there was actually brain/grade appropriate. Language Arts and Social Studies I was middle-road. Anytime they showed movies for those classes, though, I would get bored to tears and had to make any effort possible not to fall asleep. Art and Office Skills would have been decent, if you didn't include the fact that due to this being an actual school serving delinquents (most of these girls were from city areas and came in on assault charges, I'm sure you know of those people who act 'hood' - any time they started an argument or fight, I would be about to scream and cry, giving me problems too) that the courses each year were the same ones each quarter. Here's the best part.

I finish my Earth Science exam. I had taken all the other Regents exams that I would need to get a diploma, besides one which I didn't need to graduate. After I get my score (which was a few minutes post-exam; I was the only one who took it), the principal and the science teacher were making sure to double-check that I got everything done, but one big gap was missing. Oh, yeah... the math teacher let me drop Math B in my Senior year, which I had requested because my grades had been slipping very far in it. Since he was always helping other students who needed a little thing answered (and the constant pulling to help other students was in ALL classes, some of which needed help to trace a piece of printed-out clipart for their work in art class), I was left with my Math B book trying to solve problems the exact wrong way that had yet seemed right and couldn't answer any questions. He told me it wasn't required to graduate anyhow so we agreed to drop it.

Due to that, I instead took a GED test (passed with flying colors, I believe I got a perfect score in a category, reading?). I was in 12th grade and life was beyond hellish going to school there. No way I was going to keep trying to go through it for a math class that I won't have any chance to improve on there.

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I only know just how much that, even though I screwed up, I hadn't learned when I tried going to online college. I couldn't comprehend some of the material and as a lot of the questions/assignments in that class consisted of 'tell us about yourself, your daily life, your study schedule, etc.' I couldn't answer them properly either. Do tell me how many people want to hear about someone's past as a juvenile delinquent?

I feel like I have cracks in my brain. I know I've screwed up, and I'm not as smart as I can be, but when sometimes there's no option to reach for the stars, you don't bother trying. I don't know if I can put in plaster to fill up the cracks from middle school, but I can say that I was pretty unhappy about school.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4pN-aiofw - 20/20 Stupid in America


A pretty sad but interesting report on why the system is the way it is. I live in Canada but our System isn't much better anymore.