A eulogy for schools
“School makes me….” If you were to ask most, the answer would be along the lines of the search suggestions: “sad”, “angry”, “feel dumb”, and “depressed.” For those who believe that the mental health epidemic is a myth, I implore you to look outside your current sphere of understanding. Only then can you look towards becoming a better you! Be a partaker of empathy, not an instigator of idiocy.
Now let’s real quick put this super real life situation (so real you might actually think it contains a sliver of truth) in context. It’s no surprise that America is diverse. Whether it be racially, ethnically, politically, socioeconomically, or mentally. Kids are in the foster care system, their families never seem to have a safety net, and they’re just trying to change things up for themselves.
In more simplistic terms, they’ve got a lot of hope and so do their parents. Parents who worked various blue collar jobs to sustain their kids and give them a better life with a specific dream in mind. Perhaps their kids could get a one of a kind education offered only in these great states! After all, this is a land of dreamers, visa holders, and even refugees. Let’s just say, anything is possible. If I got you all excited, that’s my bad. Now imagine giving up everything (haha if you had anything in the first place to give up) to get to the land of the free only to be halted by, you might’ve guessed it, tests.
Let’s talk about me for a quick second. My parents gave up everything so that I might be happier when pursuing an education. Only one problem, the system at work does not work in the best interests of people like you and me. I’m not saying I suck at taking tests, but I suck at taking tests. It becomes sort of an issue when teachers then weigh 90-100% of the final grade on tests.
Undermined equity and excellence. A common trend amongst students is their belief in their dignity coming strictly from how well they perform in school. A low GPA being their life grade. A score on a test being their grade for how they will feel for the next few weeks to come until the next test rolls around.
School dampening spirits. It’s sort of an objective truth. Yet, no one wants to change a system that has been in use since the first quarter of the 19th century. Thinking outside the box and venturing into a system proven to be statistically better? Unheard of.
APA reports unusually high levels of stress amongst students in the last decade, ages 13-17. If this wasn’t enough to convince you, there’s more! Testing bias (specifically in standardized tests) of race, ethnicity, sex, and low socioeconomic status are present everywhere.
So how do we combat this? It’s our duty to inform educators of what we have felt and what we have seen. This suffering so prevalent around us must be stopped. Yet, all of this isn’t enough of a reason for initiating any sort of change. I mean, if you can’t see it, it’s apparently not real.
If you can’t see any sort of issue with this, your IQ is probably so embarrassing, your mom was struck dead when she saw. But I also don’t really care about your IQ because this whole article is about how tests don’t take into account individual excellence.
Comment “f” if you’ve seen this. Let’s see exactly how influential this article can get.
Danika • Dec 6, 2019 at 12:59 pm
f
¨Yet, no one wants to change a system that has been in use since the first quarter of the 19th century. Thinking outside the box and venturing into a system proven to be statistically better? Unheard of.¨
So true! Our school system could be changed in so many ways to improve education, alleviate student stress, and even raise grades! But few people want to risk changing the current system for improvement, regardless of how much better it´s proven to be. Let´s let go of our fear, and venture boldly into the future! Why not try it? What do we have to lose?
Thorn • Nov 19, 2019 at 2:13 pm
Eff.
beN dOVER • Oct 29, 2019 at 11:48 am
sAY SIKE righ now
kyle jenner • Oct 23, 2019 at 11:24 am
“is that a rise and shine chicken?”
mitzel • Oct 23, 2019 at 11:24 am
arise and shiyhne
F • Oct 15, 2019 at 11:17 am
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YEAT • Oct 1, 2019 at 9:00 am
F
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super F
big F
THE BIGGEST OOF
B. D. Robin • Oct 1, 2019 at 8:50 am
F
Heyyyyy TAAAAAN • Sep 30, 2019 at 8:33 am
f
Heyyyyy TAAAAAN • Sep 30, 2019 at 8:33 am
F F F F
f • Sep 27, 2019 at 2:24 pm
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yaboy • Sep 27, 2019 at 10:50 am
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jesus christ • Sep 27, 2019 at 8:53 am
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bitch tard • Sep 26, 2019 at 2:29 pm
F P
bombdiggity • Sep 26, 2019 at 11:42 am
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John • Sep 26, 2019 at 11:42 am
comment F if u want to die
Chance Carr • Sep 26, 2019 at 8:41 am
f
Yeat • Sep 25, 2019 at 3:51 pm
f
Anonymous • Sep 25, 2019 at 3:07 pm
f