Do most school age kids have any real interest what is being taught in school? (medical school, pay)

[TouchOfWhimsy]

Originally Posted by RDSLOTS

The exercise is not to learn the US Presidents in the order of their terms in office, but to practice committing things to memory, even if only short-term. Memorizing a poem is less important in terms of being able to recall the poem twenty years from now, as it is in using the brain.

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Based on the teens that I know (and this number is admittedly few), I will say that their short term memory skills are quite honed: They can memorize their friends' cellphone numbers, myspace handles, etc with no problem. When something is deemed useful by the individual, even if it's deemed "not useful" by someone else, it is easily memorized, and becomes a part of what's learned.

I will agree with you that some adults I know in their 30s and 40s seem to be living out an extended form of adolescence... but I don't think it necessarily correlates with what these kids/adults learned or didn't learn in school.

[Tricky D]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

But isn't it wonderful if you actually know what you love by the time you go to college?

True, but how many people can earn a living with their hobby?

[pammie78]

"Do most school age kids have any real interest what is being taught in school? "

I think it depends on the school and teachers. Here are a few examples of when I was most interested in school. (Georgia) In the 5th grade, my teacher was a collector and a big fan of the movie - Gone With The Wind . She incorporated this into our social studies. She brought her "dolls" and the movie and so many props for us to understand the Civil War. She made it come alive and I think it was the beginning of my love for history.

When I was in high school (Alabama), I loved the school I went to. They offered the following classes that were incredible - Psychology, Creative Writing, Line Dancing (mostly country music), Advanced English - mostly literature, Parenting, Sewing, Spanish and many more. These were not your typical classes, I assure you. It was a public school. I think the school really tried to help high school kids prepare for being adult and gave us new experiences. I don't remember feeling like I was forced to learn everything. Our spanish class took a 2-week field trip (for the kids that wanted to go) to Central America. I will never forget that. We had to speak spanish (very funny indeed for a southern girl) the whole trip, because we each stayed with a different family that couldn't speak english.

My experiences with school as a young person was incredible and it set the standard very high. I have 2 children who I homeschool, because the schools do not live up to the expectation I want for my children. We do not homeschool for religion (we don't participate in religion at all). I knew there was a problem when the teachers would tell my children they couldn't read a book because it wasn't available for the school quiz program. I had them in public school for 3 years before I decided that my children would hate learning if I didn't do something about it.

[K-Luv]

While I was in high school I would have said that I hated it, and there were moments when a statement like would have been true, but to be quite honest, I actually liked high school. I pretty much enjoyed most classes that I took (even though half the time I was day-dreaming about something else). I actually looked forward to new semesters as they brought new classes with them.

Originally Posted by cpg35223

What the heck does a high school student know about what is important in life?

Originally Posted by beanandpumpkin

Well, teens know what's important in THEIR lives.

Teens also tend to believe that they know everything about the world as well. Yes, they may know what is important to them at that moment in their lives, but so do most people. I have a friend who received a new Saturn when she was sixteen. She drove the car for three years, then it just died. She completely fried the engine. During those three years she never knew that you were supposed to periodically change the oil. I had another friend who went to college straight out of high school. The guy was twenty-three before he came to the realization that he had to pay taxes.

Neither of those examples has anything to do with school, but they just point out that teenagers do not know diddly squat outside of their bubbles (okay, some do).

Ask a group of teenagers if they know where Afghanistan is located. I can (almost) guarantee that the typical response is going to be Who Cares! Yeah, teenagers sure do know what is important in their lives.

Originally Posted by beanandpumpkin

Based on the teens that I know (and this number is admittedly few), I will say that their short term memory skills are quite honed: They can memorize their friends' cellphone numbers, myspace handles, etc with no problem.

Uh, teenagers, nor anyone else, memorize phone numbers anymore. Ask one of these teens for so-and-so's phone number, heck, ask anyone; 99% of them will have to look it up in their phone. We do not dial phone numbers anymore, instead we dial what ever name we programmed into our cell phones for a particular person.

[jps-teacher]

There are several very good answers above mine, already, so I'll try not to just repeat what they said.

There is a difference between 1st grade and 9th-12th grades. From your post, it looks as if you are focused on secondary education, so I'll respond with that in mind.

"Real interest" is unlikely to crop up in most subject areas for the vast majority of students. Few students are ardently interested in more than one or two subjects.

Even if one has a "real interest" in a subject, that does not mean that one will have a fit with the person who is teaching it in any given term or year - and a lack of fit can dampen an interest very quickly, on either a temporary or permanent basis. "Any subject that would attract somebody like him is nothing I can see myself doing!"

Conversely, for some students, an unexpected fit with a teacher in a field one had thought to be of little or no interest can stir interest and even excitement. Kids have been changing fields of interest for many years because of this - not just in secondary school but in college, as well.

Mostly, though, high school is not about passion for the academic or even for applied knowledge. It is largely viewed as something to get through, with little independent purpose. It's almost like asking people "Do you like stairs?"

[TouchOfWhimsy]

Originally Posted by jps-teacher

Mostly, though, high school is not about passion for the academic or even for applied knowledge. It is largely viewed as something to get through, with little independent purpose. It's almost like asking people "Do you like stairs?"

I really like that analogy! How sad that the majority of us have to "put in our time" in something with such little purpose (other than biding time, waiting for us to grow up out of early adolescence) for four years.

For many teens, high school is a building that they must go to and hoops they must jump through while waiting for real life to start. The bonus is that all (or most) of their friends have to be there too, so at least there's some entertainment value in that.

For most adults, we look back at high school and remember hanging out with our friends, maybe sports, prom, maybe an excellent teacher, maybe a horrific teacher. Other than that, it's mostly a blur. Ick.

Teens also tend to believe that they know everything about the world as well. Yes, they may know what is important to them at that moment in their lives, but so do most people. I have a friend who received a new Saturn when she was sixteen. She drove the car for three years, then it just died. She completely fried the engine. During those three years she never knew that you were supposed to periodically change the oil. I had another friend who went to college straight out of high school. The guy was twenty-three before he came to the realization that he had to pay taxes.

Neither of those examples has anything to do with school, but they just point out that teenagers do not know diddly squat outside of their bubbles (okay, some do).

Ask a group of teenagers if they know where Afghanistan is located. I can (almost) guarantee that the typical response is going to be Who Cares! Yeah, teenagers sure do know what is important in their lives.

Ask a group of adults where Afghanistan is located, and I'll bet while they might not say "who cares?" a good percentage won't know. Some adults don't change the oil on their car until the little oil light has been on for a month. Sixteen year olds who have jobs know that you have to pay taxes out of each paycheck. Twenty three year olds who have never had a job might not know/realize/care about taxes. While I agree that many teens-through-25-year-olds think they know everything, many adults do too... that's just an annoying part of adolescence which is extended in some people. It really has nothing to do with making teens sit through 4 years of listening to adults blather on about irrelevant stuff that they won't remember next year anyway. It's not really anything important that they'd be missing if they, oh I don't know, didn't go to school.

[TrekRockStar]

I am 16 1/2 year in NOVA and I very much into the education no matter how menial it may get.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by beanandpumpkin

Ask a group of adults where Afghanistan is located, and I'll bet while they might not say "who cares?" a good percentage won't know.

I agree that a good amount of adult Americans probably cannot point out Afghanistan on a map, let alone name at least one bordering country, but that is for a different topic.

Originally Posted by beanandpumpkin

Some adults don't change the oil on their car until the little oil light has been on for a month.

But this is out of laziness, or they are just being cheap. The person that I used as an example honestly did not know that you were supposed to change the oil, let alone even check it. By the way, I only used this one person as an example to point out that the teenage world does not always equal the 'real' world. The person that I used is relevant to the statement that you made to which I was responding. I was not then, nor am I now, saying that this applies to all teenagers.

Originally Posted by beanandpumpkin

Sixteen year olds who have jobs know that you have to pay taxes out of each paycheck. Twenty three year olds who have never had a job might not know/realize/care about taxes.

It is one thing to know and/or realize that taxes are being taken out of your paychecks, it is another thing entirely to know that you need to file taxes each year. I don't know about you, but I did not file taxes when I was a teenager, even though I worked. Whether you know about, or care about taxes at twenty three are two different things.

Originally Posted by beanandpumpkin

While I agree that many teens-through-25-year-olds think they know everything, many adults do too... that's just an annoying part of adolescence which is extended in some people. It really has nothing to do with making teens sit through 4 years of listening to adults blather on about irrelevant stuff that they won't remember next year anyway. It's not really anything important that they'd be missing if they, oh I don't know, didn't go to school.

Yes, many adults do think that they know everything, but many adults also have the years of experience to back up, or to help form, those ideas.

While I have my own opinions about high school, I still think that it is important for society. I just wish that more emphasis would be placed on arts and sciences instead of sports. I mean, who cares to remember where Afghanistan is when they have more important things to remember; like who scored the winning point during the homecoming game

Idiocracy, here we come.

[skreem2]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

What the heck does a high school student know about what is important in life?

Heck if high schools only taught what high school students wanted to know about, then it would be a steady diet of classes about video gaming, music, and how to coax a member of the opposite sex into performing the humpalumpadingdong with you.

I hated math. Despised it, in fact. Funny thing is, I use algebra every day of my life.

Exactly, but I suspect that high school students differ from each other depending on geographical location and cultural background.

I know that in urban Los Angeles this poster captures the reality.

[keriharwood]

I loved all my classes. I've always been studious and taken the hardest classes for my own benefit. I like to be challenged. I took honors and AP classes in high school so of coarse I loved learning the material. I'm afraid that most of my peers were not interested in school however. Yet me and a few others were.