I hated each and every moment I was forced through American schools from Kindergarten until college. College was better but still I disliked it. I was the kind of kid found in the back of the room who just slipped through the cracks because the teachers did not have the time or the resources to deal with me. I would sit in the back and read a book, daydream, or do something I felt was productive.
All these post have listed to many issues.
- Lack of passion
- School being a brainwashing norm to fit one into society
- Boring students
- teaching kids to be good puppets
And to make matters worse, when you enter the work force, people want you brainwashed and a little piece of paper that says you have been appropriately reprogrammed.
Ok, I realize this is a bleak view. And I sympathize with kthdsn who sees no way out with her daughter.
To save my sanity as a child when there were nights I went to bed hungry because we did not have food, and I had to get up and go to a place I hated all day, I would daydream and read. And I learned alot from myself and from what I stared at all day.
First I learned, my mind will always keep me busy, because no one can stop what I think (this was before I read One Flews Over the Cuckoos Nest lol).
Second I learned how easy people allow themselves to be taken over. I watched the students around me, struggle then give up to mediocrity and complacentness, and I swore I would never end up like that.
Third, I learned just because people are older, "smarter," and have a piece of paper does not mean they actually "know" anything.
Forth, I leaned I can do whatever I want.
I was so happy to finally be done with college when I was 20. It was a wonderful feeling.
My point is, the people who have it in them, will fight against the conformity, but those who live out of fear, struggle only a bit before they love the security of the conformity brought on by their fear based want be ideals.
I have a younger cousin who is alot like me sometimes. He has some of the same issues as I did with school. His school however is much better. I use my experiences to show him how to use it to show his personality and solidify who he is. He has learned, with me as a coach, how to play games with robots and not be part of them. That is a skill I hope by the time he grows up, he will not need.
Kthdsn, the fact that you are aware of what they are doing to your daughter is great, it means you can stop it or slant it. I slant Ethan's (my 9 year old cousin) experiences by continually getting him to question everything people say and do. This works well for him because he asks himself the questions and he questions everything including me (which is great, keeps me on my toes). I also tell him, this is his life, his experiences, he can change them to be anything he wants. So he has managed to make school a game of questions, and outsmarting the "cults" which is the term our family uses for anyone who is a robot of society.
Ok that was my long winded ideas of how my family has dealt with the school system. Honestly tho, if and when i ever have children, i dont think "normal" school is something i could do to them.
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