America has a serious problem, or should I say another, not to belittle the other serious problems that plague us. However, this problem will haunt us now and forever, and it must be fixed.
A surge wont help, pulling out is truly not an option, and bombing probably crosses the line for morality. The problem is our schools.
By high school, a student either cares a lot about his or her grades and is crazy over them, doesn’t really care what they do as long as they pass, or simply don’t care at all.
For the students who do care, the system doesnt do enough. Some students would give up their right arm to join a program that will start them on the path they want now.
But this isnt about them, they will do well whether they wait a few years or start now. This is slightly about the middle group, but mostly about the last group. Those kids who dont care at all.
Why dont these kids care? They dont think they will get into college, or they think they’d fail if they did. They think that school is therefore pointless, and guess what? They are right. High School has no use for them, and they have no use for it. All they contribute to is the crime that plagues a school, but that is a different story.
How can we help these kids? We cant, we have already messed up. By high school, despite popular opinion, teens are not impressionable. They have got their impressions sorted out, and they are stubborn about it.
Therefore, the focus must be on our elementary and middle schools, and on the family. even middle school is too late, elementary school is when it must be drilled into a kid’s head that school is fun, good, and awesome. This cant be allowed to drop in middle school, and should continue all the way to high school, instead of building a net to catch those who fall through the cracks, lets seal the cracks.
I, being a high school student myself, see this first hand. There are three groups: 1) I must, will, and shall excel. 2) I’ll pass, i need school, somewhat. and 3) f**** school. I have never, in three years in high school, seen a single person shift from group to another.
However, I do not remember these groups in elementary school. That is the point, there weren’t.
Let us face the band and listen to the music, we cannot fix our high schools, but we can fix our newest generation.
I am not saying we should abandon our high schools, there are kids, myself included, who care. However, most, if not all of our problems stem from that third group. Drugs, alcohol, Sex, Gangs, this is group is the dealers, the buyers, the bangers (more ways then one), and they like it.
Slowly, if we fix the first years of school, we will see a turn around in society. By instilling the love of learning in an early age, we can be sure they will stay out of the third group and graduate with at least decent grades. When they start families, their life will be better than what preceded them. In other words, we fix families by fixing our schools, instead of fixing our families to fix our schools.
It wont be an immediate change, probably not for many decades, but if we fail at this, America will cease to be worth living in.
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