(Let's ignore the fact that this being posted past midnight because I totally didn't fall asleep on accident)
High school is a place where kids develop in all aspects of themselves, mentally and physically. Students are required by the A-G requirements to take a type of classes, and a certain number of years for each category. I personally think that the school system requires students to take certain classes to long. For example, high school requires students to take 4 years of a history class. Students should be required to take 2 years of history so people know the basis of American and World history, and then be able to use those other two years to be in class that is more tailored to what they want to do after high school. If a student wants to be an accountant, they should only have to take two years of basic history instead of four, and then use those extra two years of class time to take an accounting class without the added pressure of having to memorize the Amendments or knowing the dates of all the presidencies. This goes for any kind of career as well. If you wanted to be a politician, then the 4 years of history is more applicable to that person, but any math passed Algebra 2 is not necessary. I see high school as a place where students should get a starting knowledge in the career they plan to pursue, but instead, a lot of students see it as just another mandatory schooling year that teaches you little to nothing on what you want to do later on in life.
Adding on to that, what affects me the most is foreign language requirements for a-g. I have never heard of a high school language class that is actually effective at teaching a language in any way. I know a senior at Mayfair who says "I've taken five years of Spanish, and I don't know how to speak it." Foreign language classes can be much more effective if used correctly in elementary school, when kids have an easier time learning a language, but in high school, they are ineffective. And personally, I feel I have better things to do than sit though one of those classes.
ReplyDeleteThis could also apply to the 1 year requirement for taking an art class. I am currently taking art this year only because I have to in order to fulfill my requirements. From what I have seen, quite a few people only take it because they have to, not because they actually like art. It seems pointless to require us to take art especially if we are not planning on have a career that relates to art at all. The people who love art and would love to have a career in it are usually in Art Academy thus leaving the regular classes filled with, at best, students who draw as a hobby and, at worst, students who don't want to even be there at all but are forced too anyway. I think it's good that we are promoting art as it encourages creativity, however, making it mandatory only seems redundant and doesn't do much for the average student. This applies to all the other classes that are lumped into the "art" category such as wood shop and ceramics.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your argument. Students should not have to take every requirement subject in the a-g requirements just to graduate. They should be focused on what they want to do with their future and take specific classes to make that possible. I'd like to like to introduce the fact that colleges also require students to take general courses such as English and History before being able to take classes involved in the person's intended major. This is very unnecessary. College students are paying extreme rates for their extended education and should not be forced to pay for these classes that have no correlation with their majors. Students should be allowed to go straight into the studies of their intended major.
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