Why American schools are failing:

[byzantium]

They Schools - Nicholas D. Kristof - Opinion - New York Times Blog

School doesn't actually teach you anything. It teaches you how to be a menial worker in a Gilded Age factory. Too bad that there are none of those around. Our school system has changed little from the system devised to fill the factories of the Gilded Age's capitalists with compliant, robotic menial workers. Nobody seems to care that that's not what we need. It's more about babysitting than anything else.

School is a prison, home is a prison, these kids live in housing projects with bars on the windows and surrounded by razor wire. Then we wonder why they're perfectly happy in prison. Prison is all they know. It reminds me of the guy who escaped from a Florida prison and managed to get away from his pursuers. He checked into a cheap motel, and listed his prison ID number in the space intended for a driver's license number and "Department of Corrections" under employer. He was only 22! Prison is heaven to them, not punishment.

This board is always getting people saying they're sick of college and are going to quit. That's because college teaches you how to be the factory foreman, how to manage the guys who were taught to be the menial labor. It doesn't teach you how to be an entrepreneur. Look at the modern workplace, all managers with nobody to manage, so they turn on each other. It doesn't help that all they do is push paper all day. Our society is in extremely deep caca, and if we don't change, there won't be a future.

[canadascoffee]

as a current student attending an (arguably) top-25 business college, i highly disagree.

[armenh]

as a current student attending an (arguably) top-25 business college, i highly disagree.

Which business college? What branch of business are you majoring in?

[canadascoffee]

Which business college? What branch of business are you majoring in?

Smeal, the business school at Penn State. Depending on businesweek, usnews, or other rankings agencies, it seems to be ranked 20-35... but all i know is that the career fair last month filled up a basketball arena with 200 employers and as a sophomore i've already had three interviews for internships that start in 9 months...

i'll declare later this year. i was thinking finance, but i might do accounting... it's a guaranteed job (likely at a big-four firm) after graduation.

[canadascoffee]

and fy(and my)i, us news ranked smeal's finance 15th in the country, which beats accounting at 21st... if that means anything

[HeyIdea]

I respect everyone's opinion.. I personally feel that learning varies from person to person. You can be in school.. but it doesn't mean you are learning as much as the person sitting next to you..

Hell, you don't even have to go to school and you can learn tons! There is a wealth of information out there and nobody can stop you from learning..

Some people are more hungry and engaged to learn as much as possible.. to harness as much knowledge as they can.. those people.. regardless their paper produced education.. can succeed in this world if they want to..

We are entrepreneurs.. we bet it all on black.. we know that we can lose it all and make it back.. Determination in anything you do will set you apart from others.

I refuse to kiss some guys @$$ just to help him climb the corporate ladder.. I'm a big believer in my efforts benefiting myself in the long run.. all successes and failures.. experience is priceless.

[pboychuk]

Maybe school can get you a job, but I am sure you will learn more from on the job training than in classes, I plan to be self-employed my whole life and the best thing college has brought me so far is a chance to compete in a business plan competition. I feel like im wasting my time listening to things that have been taught for 100s of years. I am taking two economics classes, and in neither one of them has the financial crisis been brought up. Maybe it will be in 10 years when they can make a stupid graph for it. Anyways, ill graduate so I have a backup plan and to be a good role model for my siblings.

[jasaunders]

I feel sorry for the people who aren't getting anything out of their education, especially secondary education. Instead of blaming the process or the school, maybe the fault is yours. Maybe you aren't taking advantage of the opportunities you have available to you. If you really think your class or your school sucks, you can always change classes and always change schools. I promise you, not every professor, every class and every school is a waste of time. In college, just like you will find out in real life, you need to seek out opportunities and be proactive. Not everything will just come to you. If you sit day in and day out in your same horrible class and do nothing about it, then yes, your experience is going to be miserable and a waste of time. On the other hand, if you seek out activities and programs and classes and professors that interest you, you will find the time much more valuable.

The choice is up to you. You can be one of the many people who graduate college and think, "what a waste, I could have learned this stuff on my own." Or you can be one of the many people who graduate college and think "wow, those were the best four years of my life, I wish I could stay here forever." But if you decide on the first choice, don't blame the school or the process, blame yourself.

[DebtFreeMe]

I agree with jasaunders,

All you really need for education is a book, a pencil, some paper, someone willing to teach, and a willingness to learn. If you’re not learning enough in class go find where you can learn more about what you want to learn.

My second year in college I ended up working for a Noble prize nominee in physics, and then went on to work on a NASA project. I didn't get those opportunities by complaining that I wasn't getting the information I wanted out of my classes, I got it by going to the people that were doing the work I was interested in and saying, "what can I do to help."

They had never had a student come to them and ask to help. People are usually very receptive to those that want to know more. I bet if you go to your economics teacher during office hours she/he would love to discuss the current economic meltdown with you, or talk about and teach you any subject you want to learn.

People have stopped being responsible for their own education and there owns lives in general. Maybe what we need is yet another ineffective, expensive government program to help stymie education even more, that way people will have someone other then their selves to blame for their lack of education.

Just my thoughts on the subject.

[jasaunders]

All you really need for education is a book, a pencil, some paper, someone willing to teach, and a willingness to learn. If you’re not learning enough in class go find where you can learn more about what you want to learn.

My second year in college I ended up working for a Noble prize nominee in physics, and then went on to work on a NASA project. I didn't get those opportunities by complaining that I wasn't getting the information I wanted out of my classes, I got it by going to the people that were doing the work I was interested in and saying, "what can I do to help."

I'm right with you. You need to go out of your way to find these opportunities. During my time in college I also went out of my way to get involved in a 2 year NASA research project as an extracurricular activity. It was a lot of hard work and long hours, but it was one of the best experiences of my life. Not only was I working with some of the smartest young engineers and intelligent professors I have ever met, I ultimately got to fly aboard NASA's KC-135 zero-gravity laboratory, an experience I wouldn't give up for anything in the world.

My point being, you can float right through college as just another nobody and get nothing out of it, or you can go out of your way to make the experience invaluable.

[pboychuk]

I'm right with you. You need to go out of your way to find these opportunities. During my time in college I also went out of my way to get involved in a 2 year NASA research project as an extracurricular activity. It was a lot of hard work and long hours, but it was one of the best experiences of my life. Not only was I working with some of the smartest young engineers and intelligent professors I have ever met, I ultimately got to fly aboard NASA's KC-135 zero-gravity laboratory, an experience I wouldn't give up for anything in the world.

My point being, you can float right through college as just another nobody and get nothing out of it, or you can go out of your way to make the experience invaluable.

Yes, and every time there is a college conversion on the forum people say the same thing. College is great! You meet people, network, have opportunities. But, rarely is anything said about the actual classes, Because classes are standardized, you learn the same thing everywhere that has been taught for who knows how long. You learn a lot of stuff you will forget by the time the semester is over. All for the sake of becoming a corporate drone, who makes less for more risk than an business owner.

[jasaunders]

Yes, and every time there is a college conversion on the forum people say the same thing. College is great! You meet people, network, have opportunities. But, rarely is anything said about the actual classes, Because classes are standardized, you learn the same thing everywhere that has been taught for who knows how long. You learn a lot of stuff you will forget by the time the semester is over. All for the sake of becoming a corporate drone, who makes less for more risk than an business owner.

I strongly disagree with you. But it doesn't appear this is an argument worth getting in to. I would just say that through my personal experience, of working in several positions for several companies where I have utilized what I have learned and experienced in school and in starting my own businesses, your statement is not true. But in 5-10 years when you graduate and are working for a living, you will see what happens for yourself... or you won't because you are being near-sighted.

[1entrepreneur]

I think schools should concentrate more on the fundamentals:

1. Budgeting
2. Safe sex education
3. Anger managment
4. Health education
5. Parenting
6. How to create resumes, job interview techniques
7. Substance abuse

As it is, alot of young people coming out of school don't know how to function as productive people, and end up being a drain on society.

[Hooman]

I think schools should concentrate more on the fundamentals:

1. Budgeting
2. Safe sex education
3. Anger managment
4. Health education
5. Parenting
6. How to create resumes, job interview techniques
7. Substance abuse

As it is, alot of young people coming out of school don't know how to function as productive people, and end up being a drain on society.

All of these are already being taught in schools through supplemental courses any student is free to take.

I agree, textbook knowledge is sometimes outdated and partly brainwashing about what is not possible. I posted a thread last week about how I made $600+ online and promised to make $800 in a few days. I did just that, and I made an additional $1200 today. That's in a single day each time folks.

Now most people, such as teachers would scoff and say it's not possible, or that I'm a complete scam. Most of you in this thread would even think that. I fooled myself into believing I would have to work my ass off for an entire year and try to launch a real local business to make money. Anytime I discuss starting a business with professors they always say go write a business plan first. I've made over $30,000 on eBay selling yard sale junk with no business plan ever. And these days I'm making more in one day than most people make in a week.

BUT, I'm still in school, because it's about the full experience. Who cares if my classes suck. There is a wealth of resources in and around the school environment. And it's not just about networking, etc. It's the fact that when you're in school you have to learn things that cannot be taught in the classroom, but you learn them as a byproduct of being in school. For example, social and speaking skills, presentations, time management, motivation. These are all things you could read on forever, go to seminars, or buy programs/CDs, but I bet you trying to go to school full-time and work or start a business, you will learn all of these skills simultaneously in no time.

I know for a fact, that when I am currently taking classes, I am a lot more creative with my time and online marketing ideas, because it seems courses, while dull, stimulate better use of my brain power, which makes me think up cooler stuff.

Stay in school, unless you really have a multi-million-dollar idea on the verge of explosion. Otherwise, you're really losing out on great opportunities in the school environment.

[small-guy-sites]

A lot of these jobs and task are still relevant. Schools just need to offer a choice between being a free thinker/entrepreneur or an employee that just wants to put in that 8 hours and move on.