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My high school had windows you couldn’t see out of at all. They were made of plastic when built in the 70s and the material degraded within a few years and turn

My high school had windows you couldn’t see out of at all. They were made of plastic when built in the 70s and the material degraded within a few years and turned opaque. Class started at about 7:20, which meant I “woke up” at 6 (usually after staying up super late hacking on things on the late 90s Internet). Lunch was at like 10:45 and was barely food with no water, if I ate at all. It definitely felt like we were trapped in there and held against our will.

badrabbit 6y ago
I think Japanese schools are something to learn from. They usually have openable windows to let fresh air in, the "commons" area is usually outdoor and students cleanup and care for the school itself -- which teaches students to be responsible and it makes them feel like they are an essential part of the school, not brains to be herded. I don't care much for the uniforms though. Now I am curious how schools in scandanavia are, given their famous prisons.
- sosborn 6y ago
  Uh, Japanese schools are way more prison like. There are some positive attributes (as you mention), but overall it is not a great system to model.
  - rosseloh 6y ago
    There's a lot to...not like, about Japanese schools, but the whole "students take care of cleaning" thing is something I do think would be nice to see in the US. But that's the same part of me talking that wishes everyone was "forced" to work a retail or food service job for a year or two of their life. Probably impossible to actually do and enforce here, but would definitely make people overall be nicer and more considerate of others (and in the case of cleaning schools, more likely to clean up after themselves).
kickout 6y ago
Come on, if you are referring to schools in the U.S this is a gross misrepresentation of reality. School lunches are mandated by federal law (milk and/or juice is to be provided). Its hardly 'no food at all'. The fact _you choose_ to stay up all night hacking on things does not matter in the hours of school operation. What about the people that go to bed at 8 and are morning people?
- mtalantikite 6y ago
  You went to bed at 8 as a 16 year old? That seems... atypical for a teenager or even an adult. Even my father, who is definitely a morning person and wakes up at 4:30 or 5 every day, doesn’t go to bed at 8. I was and am a vegetarian, and maybe in wealthy districts they have better lunch options, but certainly not in mine. The fact that we largely tie school funding to property taxes is a huge problem. Regardless, let’s not pretend that school lunch, at least in the 90s, was actually healthy or good or even at a reasonable time for lunch.
- Balgair 6y ago
  We had three lunches per day, mostly overlapping with other classes. As in, you were either on A, B, or C lunch while the other kids were in class. Often, A lunch wasn't prepared yet and C lunch didn't have enough by the end of it. This was a chronic condition in a few CA schools when I attended. My SO was a teacher for a few years too. Despite Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) being offered and encouraged, many kids' parents still could not be bothered to sign their kids up until late in the year. My SO kept food in the drawers of the desk for these kids. In addition, FRL did not cover the weekends, so many kids would come in on Monday having not eaten for that weekend. Though not common, it was again chronic with these kids. Food scarcity in the US is still very much a 'thing', unfortunately.
  - badrabbit 6y ago
    I remember being very hungry most of the day. If I ate, it was usually because I had enough change to buy junk-food snacks from a vending machine. I didn't know until recently other people also had similar experiences.

badrabbit 6y ago

I think Japanese schools are something to learn from. They usually have openable windows to let fresh air in, the "commons" area is usually outdoor and students cleanup and care for the school itself -- which teaches students to be responsible and it makes them feel like they are an essential part of the school, not brains to be herded. I don't care much for the uniforms though. Now I am curious how schools in scandanavia are, given their famous prisons.

sosborn 6y ago
Uh, Japanese schools are way more prison like. There are some positive attributes (as you mention), but overall it is not a great system to model.
- rosseloh 6y ago
  There's a lot to...not like, about Japanese schools, but the whole "students take care of cleaning" thing is something I do think would be nice to see in the US. But that's the same part of me talking that wishes everyone was "forced" to work a retail or food service job for a year or two of their life. Probably impossible to actually do and enforce here, but would definitely make people overall be nicer and more considerate of others (and in the case of cleaning schools, more likely to clean up after themselves).

kickout 6y ago

Come on, if you are referring to schools in the U.S this is a gross misrepresentation of reality. School lunches are mandated by federal law (milk and/or juice is to be provided). Its hardly 'no food at all'. The fact _you choose_ to stay up all night hacking on things does not matter in the hours of school operation. What about the people that go to bed at 8 and are morning people?

mtalantikite 6y ago
You went to bed at 8 as a 16 year old? That seems... atypical for a teenager or even an adult. Even my father, who is definitely a morning person and wakes up at 4:30 or 5 every day, doesn’t go to bed at 8. I was and am a vegetarian, and maybe in wealthy districts they have better lunch options, but certainly not in mine. The fact that we largely tie school funding to property taxes is a huge problem. Regardless, let’s not pretend that school lunch, at least in the 90s, was actually healthy or good or even at a reasonable time for lunch.
Balgair 6y ago
We had three lunches per day, mostly overlapping with other classes. As in, you were either on A, B, or C lunch while the other kids were in class. Often, A lunch wasn't prepared yet and C lunch didn't have enough by the end of it. This was a chronic condition in a few CA schools when I attended. My SO was a teacher for a few years too. Despite Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) being offered and encouraged, many kids' parents still could not be bothered to sign their kids up until late in the year. My SO kept food in the drawers of the desk for these kids. In addition, FRL did not cover the weekends, so many kids would come in on Monday having not eaten for that weekend. Though not common, it was again chronic with these kids. Food scarcity in the US is still very much a 'thing', unfortunately.
- badrabbit 6y ago
  I remember being very hungry most of the day. If I ate, it was usually because I had enough change to buy junk-food snacks from a vending machine. I didn't know until recently other people also had similar experiences.