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Add metal detectors, wands, and barbed wire to the mix and you'll really know what it's like for some inner city high school kids (like myself once upon a time)

by lerie 9y ago

Add metal detectors, wands, and barbed wire to the mix and you'll really know what it's like for some inner city high school kids (like myself once upon a time). Kids today have more time away from school than I did, I had more time away from school than my parents did, this article wasn't much of an eye opener, sorry. Personally, high school is a waste, a transition period for students to truly find what they want out of life; in my opinion.

looklittlejohn 9y ago
I can agree with you partially that high school in America is really poor in general. Having spent time in an inner city high school during my academic career, I agree with you that at the majority of the time, it felt like I was in some sort of government funded baby-sitting service. Man, I could go on for hours if you asked me about my experience there. However, when I was a junior, I was relocated, started living with my aunt and uncle, and started going to a really nice public school. The difference was night and day. In fact, it took me weeks to stop walking around the hallways looking ready to bite someone's head off simply because that's just what you did in rougher schools to keep people from picking a fight with you. The things I found at this nice high school were teachers who cared for my success and worked with me to get there, friends who shared an interest in computer science, UIL computer science academics, robotics, and so many other options and facets that have helped me to get a head start on my career. This school has options and extra-ciriculars that help students become young adults. I remember being on my high school campus an average of 10 hours with all the clubs, extra-curriculars, and athletics I participated in. Sure, high school is always going to be a transitional time for people. But it doesn't need to be young-adult day care or a few steps up from jail. I earned three college credits and my CCENT in high school.
Eric_WVGG 9y ago
Yesterday there was a discussion here about antidepressants. I was tempted to jump in and comment that: sometimes depression isn't clinical, it can also be situational, that I had tried SSRIs and gotten nowhere, and the only thing that cured my depression was dropping out of college and finally getting a real life started. School is a nightmare. Mix in bullying, antipathetic adults who behave like prison guards, teenage hormones. I don't know what the solution is, but American high school is a failed experiment. Bravo to this principle for bothering to eat the dogfood. (I was in cozy suburban schooling, incidentally; it felt like a prison. Now I live around your kind of schools, and I don't understand how anyone survives them.)
- deleted 9y ago
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white-flame 9y ago
Right, internationally there are a lot of places where high school age is career prep, which makes a ton of sense. This is the age at which people were considered to be becoming adults, and the mind craves exploring autonomy and personal engagement. It's ridiculous that people are shielded from adulthood until they're in their 20s. 21 years old is when a person should be reasonably expected to know how to be an adult, not the age at which a protected child gets their first glimmers of adulthood, but has full responsibility along with their naivety. 16-21 is when they need to practice being adults.
VLM 9y ago
We had security theater in the burbs, in fact we probably had more and better guards and metal detectors. The big difference I see as an older parent is police involvement, at the good schools the cops occasionally lay down the law on loitering, possession, occasional fist fight requiring no medical treatment. The bad schools are full of daily police calls for all of the above plus stabbings, graffiti, handgun possession, rape, hospitalized beatings. It seems the biggest danger at the good schools is boredom and rebellion, and at the bad schools the biggest problem is physical danger.

by lerie 9y ago

looklittlejohn 9y ago

I can agree with you partially that high school in America is really poor in general. Having spent time in an inner city high school during my academic career, I agree with you that at the majority of the time, it felt like I was in some sort of government funded baby-sitting service. Man, I could go on for hours if you asked me about my experience there. However, when I was a junior, I was relocated, started living with my aunt and uncle, and started going to a really nice public school. The difference was night and day. In fact, it took me weeks to stop walking around the hallways looking ready to bite someone's head off simply because that's just what you did in rougher schools to keep people from picking a fight with you. The things I found at this nice high school were teachers who cared for my success and worked with me to get there, friends who shared an interest in computer science, UIL computer science academics, robotics, and so many other options and facets that have helped me to get a head start on my career. This school has options and extra-ciriculars that help students become young adults. I remember being on my high school campus an average of 10 hours with all the clubs, extra-curriculars, and athletics I participated in. Sure, high school is always going to be a transitional time for people. But it doesn't need to be young-adult day care or a few steps up from jail. I earned three college credits and my CCENT in high school.

Eric_WVGG 9y ago

Yesterday there was a discussion here about antidepressants. I was tempted to jump in and comment that: sometimes depression isn't clinical, it can also be situational, that I had tried SSRIs and gotten nowhere, and the only thing that cured my depression was dropping out of college and finally getting a real life started. School is a nightmare. Mix in bullying, antipathetic adults who behave like prison guards, teenage hormones. I don't know what the solution is, but American high school is a failed experiment. Bravo to this principle for bothering to eat the dogfood. (I was in cozy suburban schooling, incidentally; it felt like a prison. Now I live around your kind of schools, and I don't understand how anyone survives them.)

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

white-flame 9y ago

Right, internationally there are a lot of places where high school age is career prep, which makes a ton of sense. This is the age at which people were considered to be becoming adults, and the mind craves exploring autonomy and personal engagement. It's ridiculous that people are shielded from adulthood until they're in their 20s. 21 years old is when a person should be reasonably expected to know how to be an adult, not the age at which a protected child gets their first glimmers of adulthood, but has full responsibility along with their naivety. 16-21 is when they need to practice being adults.

VLM 9y ago

We had security theater in the burbs, in fact we probably had more and better guards and metal detectors. The big difference I see as an older parent is police involvement, at the good schools the cops occasionally lay down the law on loitering, possession, occasional fist fight requiring no medical treatment. The bad schools are full of daily police calls for all of the above plus stabbings, graffiti, handgun possession, rape, hospitalized beatings. It seems the biggest danger at the good schools is boredom and rebellion, and at the bad schools the biggest problem is physical danger.