Ending Adolescence?
August 3rd, 2009There are points I agree with, and a great many more that I don’t. I think we can make better schools without sending people into the workforce at 13. But it’s worth a watch.
Is anyone still listening to Newt? Hmm.
August 6th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Newt does have a point: Adolecence is, for many, a wasted time of their lives. They do, overly generally speaking, spend too much time watching tv, playing video games, and learning nothing about the world around them and what impact they will have on its future. Like paupers in a Dickens’ novel, many of our children are living on the handouts and forgiveness of society for their lackadazical attitudes and behaviors without a care in the world beyond the four walls of their bedrooms. Albeit, once again, I do not believe that schools or a government institution should shoulder the responsibility for raising our kids. That’s what we have parents for! Also, Benjamin Franklin turned out all right after being sent to live with his uncle at age 13; however, what about all the other 13 year-olds in the 18th century we never heard about? Did they turn out okay? In today’s world market, would it be a wise move to teach our kids one skill and one skill only– especially when a machine, computer, or eight-year-old child in an Asian country can master the same work for a lot less money?
Maybe we should be treating our high school kids more like young adults than older children. Maybe we should be teaching them more like business executives taking a seminar course rather than squandering away precious class time lecturing little on a little of everything. Maybe we should have some type of work study program set in place for those kids who do not or can not fit in the current teaching models our schools support. Quite often we say that these are good questions and silently pat ourselves on the back for delving into these foreign ideas, but why are we always the minority?
It is hard not to “get down” on our education institutions. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve toyed with the idea of home schooling my own children and signing them up for various camps and clubs so that they’ll get the socialization part of schooling. I don’t know. I just don’t know.