Let Kids Rule The School By Susan Engel

The President of Bard College, Leon Botstein, wrote the opinion piece Let Teenagers Try Adulthood (1999), argues that American high schools should be abolished. Botstein uses school cliques and brain development to develop the argument. The author's purpose was to argue that high school are dangerous to kids mental health and the school system should be modified in order to keep children safe from wrong ideas that are often present in high schools. The audience of the opinion article are school officials and people who have the power to change the educational system.

In the year 2001, the United States government passed and established a law called the No Child Left Behind Act. This law created a set of standards for public schools to follow to prepare their students for college. For that to occur, schools must have their students to meet the minimum testing score in Math and Reading. If students do not reach the minimum requirement, that school would not receive federal funding. Diane Ravitch was an original supporter of this law but later changed her mind after realizing that schools became more focused in basic skills like Math and Reading and started to ignore other subjects that were deemed irrelevant since these subjects would not help a school recieve federal funding. In her essay, The Essentials of a Good Education, Diane Ravitch uses effective reasoning and pathos to persuade her audience that there is more to education than just the quality of test scores and that incorporating other subjects can be crucial to a student’s participation in society.

In “Let Teenagers Try Adulthood,” Leon Botstein argues that the “American high school is obsolete and should be abolished.”(Botstein 254) He explains that this obsolescence is because high school does not represent the way real life works, that real life is not based on popularity and athletic abilities. Botstein suggests that our society isolates students in high school because adults “do not like adolescents.” Botstein wants more options for teenagers and suggests that they graduate at 16 and have the ability to choose what they want to do from there; such as joining the workforce, attending specialized schools for professional training, or going to college. Botstein also states that high school teachers are employed because they are popular, whereas college professors are employed because they are experts in their fields. I agree with Botstein’s statement that the American high school system should be changed, but I do not agree with his belief about the “poor quality of recruitment and training for high school teachers.”(Botstein 254)

A lot of people understand as parents “Failure is the way to success”, and yet parents try to protect their children from danger and failure by restraining their freedom. The article Free the children written by Nancy Gibbs advises parents to love yet left alone so they can try a new skill. Efforts to guide and guard can sometimes be a barrier for their children to experience the mistake and learn from it. In my opinion, this article is definitely true because one can correct their mistake easier through experiencing. One can also understand the reason of a failure from a real situation. In addition, this prevents one from making the same mistake over and over again.

At Hazelwood High School, they do things differently than at my school. At Hazelwood, most of the people worry about themselves and nobody else. Most of the school doesn’t get good grades and the school does not do anything about it. One day in English class Andy walked out when they were reading Macbeth because it was too emotional for Andy to handle. His friends were concerned and told the school counselor. They said, “But… but… it seems like… like… he needs help or somethin’.” Then the counselor said, “Well, I probably shouldn’t tell you boys this, but he is getting some outside counseling… So you boys can relax and be assured that he is getting whatever help he needs”(100). At Harrisburg High School, if someone had an issue like that, the counselors and teachers would be concerned, even if the person was getting outside help. Another thing about education that is different than mine is the school. In Ronda’s English homework, she wrote, “Our school building must have been built about a million years ago, because it was brown and tall and raggedy-looking, but it fit right in with the rest of the day”(16). At my high school, we are very fortunate to have a very new building to learn inside of. At Hazelwood High, they were not fortunate enough to have a new high school be built. Culture and education are very important pieces of people’s

I selected the book The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth by Alexandra Robbins because I was interested to read about an adult author’s perception of a modern American high school experience. I also chose the book because the reviews mentioned that it related to a TV series I enjoyed, Freaks and Geeks. As I read through the book, I found that it centered around the theory that if a student is excluded or dismissed in high school for having different traits than what other students considered normal, those same traits that made them different will allow them to succeed in an adult life after high school. As soon as I got about a quarter of the way into the book I was not as enthusiastic as I was at first glance. I did agree that these traits could benefit someone, but they don’t define what you have the potential to be when you’re an adult. This high school cliché, despite the seven heartwarming storylines, is inaccurate in describing what the future holds for high school students because our future is unpredictable, and a book with a little statistic and seven high school experiences can’t solidify someone’s adulthood. I also noticed that there were no counterarguments present in the book, leading me to assume that Robbins may not have heavily researched both sides of her ‘quirk’ argument. Although I had differing opinions than the author, the seven characters, their storylines, and the promise of a young James Franco continued to perk my interest and

Botstein starts his argument by stating the various parts of the high school experience that are harmful and pointless to students. The first is the “untouchable” category which consists of coaches and high school athletes whose exclusive ranking is based off of the team’s success rather than their own educational achievements. Secondly, Botstein addresses teachers and curriculum that “hold so little sway” over the minds and attitudes of students, since the average student is constantly worried about growing up, popularity, and their friend groups. Next, Botstein claims that the “primary reason” high schools are flawed and broken is that the teens in the twentieth century era are maturing “substantially earlier” than in the past decades. Lastly, Botstein develops a new method for teenager’s education experience by eliminating the 10th through 12th grades, permanently making high school obsolete. If Botstein’s plan is achieved, teenagers will have many different options to choose after their secondary schooling. Students would be able

According to one study, over 7,000 American students drop out of high school each day; that equals about 1.2 million students every year! (“11 Facts,” n.d., p. 1). Mike Rose, the author of “I Just Wanna Be Average” was almost included in this statistic. Luckily, Rose was “saved” by one of his teachers, who stoked his love for learning. In his story, Mike Rose effectively addresses the issues with public education by sharing his anecdote about taking vocational classes and providing “several reasons for the ‘failure’ of students who go through high school belligerent, fearful, stoned, frustrated, or just plain bored” (1989, p. 1). Rose’s purpose for writing “I Just Wanna Be Average” is to inform the general public of the current education system and how it needs to change. Through a relaxed, yet passionate tone, Rose showed that teachers need to be more energetic and engaging with their students. Because schools are unengaging and boring, student dropouts are occurring-- and for the same reasons today as they were thirty years ago. A study that was released in 2005

Cathy Davidson is an English and humanities professor at Duke University. She has published over twenty books, many dealing with technology and education. In “Project Classroom Makeover,” she argues that the way the United States teaches students is not preparing them for the skills needed for success in the twenty-first century. To illustrate her point, Professor Davidson presents the historical development of the educational system in the U.S. She differentiates “high standards” from “standardization” and stresses the need for education to offer rigor, relevance, and relationship (201).

Botstein starts his argument by stating the various parts of the high school experience that are harmful and pointless to students. The first is the “untouchable” category which consists of coaches and high school athletes whose exclusive ranking is based off of the team’s success rather than their own educational achievements. Secondly, Botstein addresses teachers and curriculum that “hold so little sway” over the minds and attitudes of students, since the average student is constantly worried about growing up, popularity, and their friend groups. Next, Botstein claims that the “primary reason” high schools are flawed and broken is that the teens in the twentieth century era are maturing “substantially earlier” than in the past decades. Lastly, Botstein develops a new method for teenager’s education experience by eliminating the 10th through 12th grades, permanently making high school obsolete. If Botstein’s plan is achieved, teenagers will have many different options to choose after their secondary schooling. They can

Change takes on the course of a gradual shift away from the traditional and into the modern. Such a process can take on the identity of many forms but in the end, they all contribute to the advancement of society. Throughout “Project Classroom Makeover,” Cathy Davidson explores the need for such change in America’s educational system as it lags years behind the modern standards. Technology serves as an impetus to change and reform this antiquated system through facilitating new means of learning not previously available. While technology does have its benefits in the classrooms, it cannot alone replace the interactions between students and teachers because there are limits to the extent computerization can recreate human connections.

In the short essay, Lies My Children’s Books Taught Me, it primarily focuses on The Pleasant Company and the ways they advertise, market, and sell their American girl merchandise. Lies My Children 's Books Taught Me, is written by Daniel Hade, who is a professor of language and literacy at Penn State College. In Eric Schlosser’s essay, Kid Kustomers, he explains the injustice of marketing, and the idea of “cradle to grave” advertizing. This idea of advertizing is basically to get a kid so attached or devoted to a brand/toy that they don 't just buy it for themselves but for their kids in the future. Kid Kustomers helps us to better understand the book Lies My Children’s Books

With the recent advent of social media we are now more aware to the plights of the less fortunate. Former Vice Provost of Duke University Cathy Davidson, author of the essay “Project Classroom Makeover”, discusses the rise of our interconnected society through the use of social media in her essay. In tandem with Davidson is Maggie Nelson, whose essay “Great to Watch” explores the violence that is so entrenched in our society. The advent of the internet created social media platforms for previously unheard of connection. Giving everyone an equal voice, this platform was prime for being used for activism. However it is not that simple, being an activist for human rights will expose a complex world of parallel and sometimes contradictory ideas. Well used is social media for activism, and for good purpose, it is the most powerful tool for exposing the oft overlooked humanitarian issues of our world.

Recently I read the book How Children Succeed, by Paul Tough. This book had five main sections. These sections included How To Fail (And How Not To Fail), How To Build Character, How To Think, How To Succeed, and A Better Path. In each of the five sections the book talked about many different points. Each point had a number. These numbers would go through about one to seventeen per each section of the book. Along with giving a summary of the book I will analyze it. We will start with section one, How To Fail (And How Not To).

High school is a crucial period for all adolescences, it’s a time where teenagers are approaching young adulthood, their learning new skills rapidly, and making important decisions (Blakemore, 2011). For this reason, it is highly imperative for high school students to have positive influences in their lives, especially in their educational setting. In high school, educators play an important role in their student’s lives because they have the opportunity to have a stronger impact on their future and their goals. In addition, they also have the opportunity to, inspire them to learn and try new things, teach them how to make sound decisions, and encourage them to collaborate with their peers (Bellanca & Brandt, 2010).